Hey, I’m Burke.
I run school operations for a living - buses, boilers, budgets, and everything in between.
Each week, I share the lessons nobody’s teaching in leadership books - just what works when you’re actually in the building.
If you’re in the trenches too, this is for you.
Let’s jump in.
The Good Enough Trap
Most resistance to change in school operations isn’t stubbornness.
It’s not laziness.
And it’s not a lack of care.
It’s bias.
More specifically, implicit bias, the unconscious shortcuts our brains use to make decisions quickly and safely.
And in facilities and operations, those shortcuts often sound like this:
“We’ve always done it this way.”
“It works well enough.”
“Let’s not mess with it.”
That’s not leadership failure.
That’s human nature.
Fast Thinking vs. Slow Thinking
In Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman describes two modes of thinking:
System 1 is fast, automatic, emotional, and instinctive.
System 2 is slow, deliberate, analytical, and effortful.
Operations environments live in System 1.