VOLUME X – CHAPTER  16

KNOW THE JARGON

Every subject has its special usages which are known as Jargon. A single word will compress a lot of meaning- In any conference you will find this use of Jargon by specialists. In Economics we have words like ‘quid pro quo’ or ‘laisez-faire’. Like the management also has its own jargon like these

  • AIR BALL 

Someone who makes a lot of noise disturbs everyone or disrupts everything. Someone who the boss thinks is likely to mess up everything but finally does nothing.

This is taken from sports where a shot misses completely the net, post and goalie. This is also called ‘Air puck’ in ICE Hockey.

This is used by a Boss who loves showing off using sorts metaphors. In office.

You may have a staff like this who behaves as if he is doing a lot, but finally has a zero to his credit.

  • CROWD SOURCING

A school had nearly 220 students appearing for the Board Exam. To reduce the pressure on the existing teachers it recruited additional teachers in each subject [@ 1:10 ratio] from among the recently retired teachers. The type of employing an undefined net-work of people to complete the task rather than an assigned group of staff is called ‘CROWD SOURCING’.

  • JOB SNACKING

With the implementation of the 6th Pay commission salary scales many young men and women are attracted to the teaching profession, but they adopt ‘a’ wait and watch’ attitude and if they find another school which pays better they witch over to it. They take a minimum of 5 years to find their permanent abode where they can lay anchor.

  • FOAM THE RUNWAY

A school was having minimum capital assets. It had a lot of liquid assets in the form of investments in equities. When the stock prices were soaring they made much money which helped them run the school comfortably. But when there was an apprehension that a crash was imminent, they undertook, some fire fighting measures like selling the shares, mortgage some assets, requesting the parents for a long term interest free loan, voluntary cut in staff salaries etc.

This is called ‘Foaming the Runway’ taken from Aviation industry. It refers to preparing for a likely disaster. Foaming the runway just delays the inevitable. A plane may crash land or over shoot the runway. Anyway foaming the runway may at the most reduce the intensity of the impact but not avert it.

  • ZOMBIE BANK

A private aided school’s management suddenly goes red and finds it difficult to run the school as usual. It tries to keep the school going with the help of Govt funds for paying the salaries. All other activities for want of funds are put in cold storage.

Then you compare that school to a Zombie Bank.

  • LADY MACBETH’S LOYALTY

In a school some teachers did not like the Principal. They wanted to get rid of him. One of them slowly gained his trust and ingrained himself into the Principal’s confidence. A little later he turns around and treacherously joins with the unfriendly team thus transforming himself from a white night into a dark night.

  • UNFRIEND

A person who is neither a friends nor the enemy, these are wily types of whom you must be very careful. Don’t befriend them, don’t antagonize them. Better to side step and avoid, without at the same time giving an impression that you are neglecting them.

  • GROUND HOG DAY

When the institution’s management fails to notice visible problems and thereby given them chance to surface again and again. Unclean bath rooms and toilets, unhygienic lunch room, lack of wash basin, uncomfortable furniture in the staff room, non ergonomic chairs, transparent staff rooms, lack of parking space, poor maintenance of school building, uncouth behaviour of office staff towards other staff and parents, haughty sub staff- all these problems were found in the schools at the time the author took over as Principal. Setting these things right was his first priority. When these small irritants were removed, the school began to function smoothly.

  • THROW IT OVER THE WALL

This refers to passing on a project or activity to another person or group, without giving him/them much information about what has already been done. It shows an attitude. “Let us complete our portion of the work, so we can throw it over the wall and move on to the next work.

When you divide an activity into various divisions- say Annual day, Sports day, Exhibition etc and allot each group an item of work, there seems to be always a tendency for each group in isolation and feel happy with finishing their portion without any thought of integrating or linking it with other groups.

  • PARTHIAN SHOT

The author has found in some schools one person or a small group of staff set against the Principal, work out a plan to surprise and annoy the Principal with hit-and-run tactics giving pin-pricks often thereby disturbing his peace at the same time without giving the Principal any chance to find out the perpetrators. They don’t come to the front but set others to destroy the Principal.

  • RUBBER ROOM

In New York the teachers suspended for misconduct are not allowed to enter the class room but when they await a long trial by court they report to any off campus location called the “Rubber Room”. In Govt institutions like KVs and NVS and state schools this may be thought of. But sitting there idle they will start scheming.

  • GREYED OUT

In some schools the author has found that a particular teacher who has fallen out of favour with the Principal/Secretary is not assigned any work or designated as Reception Officer and asked to sit in the lobby along with the students and guide the visitors. He/She is not invited for meetings or discussion and if he comes he is totally neglected. It is a very subtle way of saying “You are ignored, you are unwanted”. He may be allowed to draw the pay but in due course he feels ashamed to get salary for doing nothing. He reads the sign on the wall and makes an exit silently.

  • ANALYSIS-PARALYSIS

A Principal may not be able to make any progress because he has bogged himself down in micro details. When after a long time of hair splits thinking, this analysis-paralysis results in non-execution.

The opposite of this is the ‘Right Shiny Object’ syndrome where a person hops from one bright idea to another without compromising on its consequences.

  • EATING YOUR OWN DOG FOOD

In a private school the teachers get the privilege of educating their children free in the same school. But when a teacher got her son admitted in class XI in another school she was shown the door.

Mani High School, Coimbatore is run by the owner of Lakshmi Mills Sr.G.K. Devarajulu. He put his son D. Jayavardanavelu to study in the same school. Later he became the chairman of Lakshmi Machine Works Ltd. Coimbatore.

  • CLAW BACK

Means taking back the privilege given earlier for good performance, because subsequent performance was bad.

This system serves as both as an incentive and a negative incentive (disincentive). It keeps the staff always on their toes and prevents them from slipping down from their heights. This leads to a constant striving for and pursuit after excellence. This new idea is worth trying.

  • SUPER FUSION

When two reputed schools join hands to launch a new project this helps both the schools as their individual strengths can be leveraged for the benefit of both.

  • HERDING CATS

When you want to initiate a new idea activity or project if you find some of your staff uncooperative or want to go at a tangent you have to bring them around [Herding the cats] to your path.

The Principals of Govt schools will face this problem. Even private schools aided by the Govt [As it pays the staff salary] may face this problem. In one private aided institution some staff joined together and compelled the management to delete one verse from the morning prayer because it mentioned about caste. This was done 50 years after the institution was started. Those staff members were not even born when the institution was started. Perhaps they have forgotten that there is a column in admission forms asking one’s caste and also elections are fought on caste basis! When will we have teachers?

  • A-SALMON DAY

The mathematics teacher had been working on the computer the whole day. At the end time the hard crashed and all data gone. When he told the Principal about this, the latter said, “perhaps it has become another salmon day. Don’t worry. Start afresh tomorrow. You may do it better”.

You have been working on the schools Annual Budget the whole day. But at the end of the day you find that it is not getting into a final shape. At that you say “All day’s work gone wrong. Guess it is another salmon day”.

You have made a lot of effort, the whole day, to complete a work. But you have got nowhere in the end.

  • B-GLIBIDO

In the monthly District Development Council meeting of MLAs Ms, Block Development Commissioners, Panchayat Samithi Chairmen one BDO used to talk much but in his panchayat union not much of action was seen after the meeting. When the author was having tea with the District Collector the latter referred to this BDO and said “His speech is just Gulibdo. Nothing real will emanate out of it”.

  • BETAMAYED

The author once told a Principal “Unless you do some PR [public relations] operations, you will be Betamayed by the other school which is moving fast”. Even though your standards are good meaning that this school will be overtaken by the better marketing of the competitor.

During a weekly visit to the super market at Muncie [Ball state varsity] in 1961 the author one evening found 3 boys pestering their mother struggling to do her shopping with a baby strapped to her back. Frequently the boys were calling out Mummm/Mummm.

Her patience exhausted, she yelled at them saying ‘For the next 5 minutes I don’t want to hear this word!

After 5 minutes one boy pulled his mother’s gown saying in a mellowed tone ‘Sorry, Miss’.

A biology professor pressed himself up in a green suit to attend the college annual day. He asked his daughter of class VII, “How is it?” She replied, “I feel you are ready for photosynthesizing!”

David Kelly, founder of IDEO Design firm and the design school, which consists of a K-12 Lab says-

“In the class room of the future education will be customized, to each student. Every child will have a laptop programmed for his or her learning style and speed. Home schooling may also continue to increase, since you can tailor the teaching. To the child also, since we don’t want computers to do all the teaching we will see more hands-on projects and group work. More students will go out into the community to learn from business owners. And you will see more retirees in school as Mentors.”

  • HERMIT CRAB

This crab lives with some other’s shell on its back. A person who seeks shelter or protection in some other person’s shadow he could himself with another person’s protection. A staff who is a relative of a MLA or MP has the audacity to do wrong things because of his relationship/political influence.

  • BANANA PROBLEM

A little girl said, “I know how to spell banana, but I don’t know how to stop” A Principal said, “My PGT English knows how to start a speech but doesn’t know how to finish it”.

  • CUBE FARM

In 1960s cubicle filed work space appeared in USA to isolate workers from noise and distraction. It makes the life of staff very mechanical devoid of any human interaction. This is hardly a good work atmosphere for your staff. Make your staff room a free flowing atmosphere.

  • SPACATION

When you combine your holiday vacation trip with a plan to visit a SPA if you can afford if it is called spacation.

  • ZEROX SUBSIDY

During the depression of 2000-2001 the American companies fired thousands of employees. They were allowed to take several copies of their resume as a SOP.

But in your school some teachers are in the habit of taking copies of their children’s college project reports in the school’s photo copier by taking care of the Head clerk.

One principal and an exam in charge had the habit of using plain paper of the school for their personal use.

These practices are highly unethical and are known as zerox subsidy.

It will be interesting to learn that Sir. M. Visweswariah Dewan of Mysore had two pens and to ink bottles, one for official and another for personal use!

  • GREEN COLLAR

Refers to a staff member keenly interested in environmental protection.

  • SLAY OFF

An inhuman way of treating or terminating a staff by keeping a note [ink slip] on his table on Monday morning or preventing entry into the office remises or keeping him isolated in a room forbidding any contact with other staff ordering that no files should be sent to him, assigning no work but asking him at the end of the week to submit a report on work done during the week.

Only a sadist officer will behave like this.

  • POLKA DODGE

When two people who did not want to meet accidentally meet and they try to avoid each other. In one school the music teacher and the Maths teacher were both good at music. The Principal asked both to give programs. So they disliked each other and it was amusing to see them both dodging each other.

  • FLASH MOB

In troubled times if a group of students or staff suddenly assemble together and discuss and disperse immediately on seeing you.

  • CURB STONING

Mushroom growth of schools operating without license.

  • ASSMOSIS

Flattering, endearing yourself to the boss to ensure future success.

  • EMPTY SUIT

A person ineffective or incompetent in his/her position of authority. Ineffective professionals are remembered only for what they wear and not what they accomplish.

  • HOME SHORING

Hiring employees to work from their homes in vogue in the West. Has not yet surfaced in India.

  • TWEETUP

An opportunity to meet people who can be useful contacts for developing your career.

  • CHAIN SAW CONSULTANT

In schools in USA the author found the Principal requesting the Education Supdt of the country or an Education Expert to visit his school and observe the classes of all staff and suggest who are not good and so [good enough] for not renewing the contract for next year. So this external person has been given a name ‘Chain Saw Consultant’.

  • WOMBAT

A head who wastes or money, brain and time on projects that are not useful but only act as a drain of resources without producing any visible results.

  • SEAGULL MANAGER

A head who talks to the staff only when there is a problem situation, decides hastily and creates a mess only to be cleared by the next Principal.

When some PGTs are placed in charge of schools, it goes too much into their heads, they assume power which is not theirs, take erroneous decision leaving behind a stinking “Cooum” to be cleaned by his successor because this mess would have resulted in his transfer as a PGT!

  • JAW BONING

The use of public appeals to influence action.

The school is in dire straits, Jaw Bonding alone can save the school from going under.

  • FACIPULATE

A mix of ‘Facilitate’ and ‘Manipulate’ – means influencing the course of a discussion by indirectly promoting a particular line of thought.

A Principal was very clever in directing the discussions in the staff meeting in such a way that appearing to agree with what they say, slowly he will bring them round to his point of view.

  • TRIANGULATE

Mr. Joshi submitted a proposal for research to the Principal, who said, “Fine. Thank you Sir”. We shall triangulate your proposal with the Principal of the college of Education.

  • BETAM DYED

Our school Cricket Team has been betam dyed by the other school’s media campaigns.

(A superior product or service is overtaken by an inferior but well-marketed competitor)

  • CLOCK SUCKER

An unproductive employee afflicted with poor time management skills. A waste of public money.

The new office superintendent is a clock sucker. He talks an inordinate time to draft letters.

  • EXTRAPEDIATELY

Used when a task is to be completed almost instantaneously.

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ONE WHO KNOWS (VOLUME X – CHAPTER  16)

(DIMENSIONS OF THE LIFE AND WORK OF A PRINCIPAL)

1481) One who is “not so introverted that he can’t speak up or so extroverted that he can’t shut up”

1482) One who never starts a paragraph with the word “I” because “that at once makes the reader think you are more important than the person you are communicating with”

1483) One who wakes up early and gains more time to do important work

1484) One who when he receives a letter in the complaint boy, sends it to the concerned person just adding one character—? To make them react double fast.

1485) One who has 3 simple rules like Arianna Huffington:-
a. No emails for ½ hour before bed
b. No rushing to email immediately after waking up
c. No emails when he is with his family

1486) One who knows that to make his life worthy he has to follow four principles
a. Connect & understand
b. Aspire & achieve
c. Ask & answer
d. Relax & rejuvenate

1487) One who knows that leadership is about asking the right questions and creating it without relying on rank

1488) One who listens, tries to understand what the other person is trying to say us what they are saying

1489) One who believes that if the top team of his school shows “unity and respect their behaviour will be mirrored by everybody”

1490) One who does not take things as a given

1491) One who asks his staff to walk him through their lives from the time they were young through the present and pay particular to transitions, because that says a lot about people’s values and judgment and the basis on which they make decisions

1492) One who through this (above) exercise uncovers their problems and their patterns and also mistakes he has made, did he understand it, did he repeat it and attaches important not what he did but how he reached those decisions

1493) One who knows that he has to move from command and control to sense and respond that innovation is created with people whom he respects that he will be measured by how he handles a crisis. How he is able to manage both certainty and uncertainty.

1494) One who deals with uncertainty himself and give people authority to do when the situation is certain.

1495) One who knows that staff engagement means 3 things:-
a) Vigour: When the staff are beaming with high energy and really can’t want to go to work
b) Dedication:  To the mission vision of the institution
c) Absorption:  So absorbed in something that he loses track of time

1496) One who when faced with a difficult situation asks each staff to come up with 3 suggestions to solve it.

1497) One who follows the “Hero” approach of Mandela
H – Hope
E – Efficiency belief – I can do it
R – Resilience – I can bounce back
O – Optimism things will change for the better

1498) One who knows that one of the most elusive challenges for leaders revolves around getting people to be ENTHUSED and ENTERGISED on a continuous basis, that E&E are not difficult but ensuring a climate of “Business As usual” is difficulty

1499) One who knows the 3 reasons why managers do not leverage the power of positive enforcement for drawing the best out of people
a. Belief that praising people will spoil them
b. Praise and you invite a problem of expecting a raise or promotion
c. Why praise when it is their job to do it well

1500) One who knows that children in classroom thrived when the ratio of teachers feedback to the pupils was 5 parts positive and a part corrective while when the ratio deteriorated to 2:1 the children’s attitude be can despairing

1501) One who practises the Japanese “5s” philosophy
a. SEIRI – sorting everything has a place each in its place
b. SEITON – Streamlining
c. SEISO – Shining
d. SEIKETSO – standardising
e. SHITSUKE – Sustaining

1502) One who knows that when teams form to take up tasks, they are seldom able to tap the full knowledge of every member, in large part because the most confident out-going people get the most airtime, even if they are not the most expert the real experts take a back seat and so have a limited impact

1503) One who knows that early in a task team members should be encouraged to discuss the relevant knowledge the relevant knowledge each brings to the table

1504) One who knows that the best performance will come from teams that had inventoried their members’ knowledge as a group they will use it to divine strategies

1505) One who knows that the centre of power should change from social influence to informational influence

1506) One who knows that each Rolls Royce car is customised and each part perfected and as its president miller olives said they are not in the business of selling cars, but helping people highlight and celebrate their personal tastes and no one buys a Rolls Royce to go from one point to another and that the customers shouldn’t find the car they bought in every nook and corner.
He tries to make his school a Rolls Royce

1507) One who tries to translate in his life what LA021, a Chinese visionary said centuries back
“Nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it” and be like water.

1508) One who knows to insolate his staff against microaggression – i.e. “Brief everyday exchanges that send out denigrating messages to certain individuals because of their group membership – affirming stereo types and demeaning members of minority groups – off colour jokes about our accent, region, colour, language, gender or even body weight “micro assaults” are over forms on discrimination behaviour “micro insults” polarise different groups of employees “micro invalidations” are verbal statements that deny negate or undermine the realities of members of various target groups

1509) One who knows that if he wants to be in control he need to retain control.

1510) One who remains fresh and energetic because he has built his management concepts at the speed and temper that he wanted

1511) One who initiates Paul Smith – the designer who rang up Ashley Lovell MD of a big store and said:- it looks it may rain so pot the umbrellas – black outside and funky prints inside – in the window shopping area and at the end of the day got a call from Ashley saying he had sold a dozen umbrellas.
This made Paul “A natural shop keeper” who tracked everything with detail.
One who like Paul smith has become a ‘Natural Principal’ who feels the pulse and fashions his day-to-day management

1512) One who asked a fresher how she was doing and when she rattled off all she had been able to accomplish in her first 3 months, he stopped her saying, “No, not all that but are you? Are you alright? Are you settling in?”
One who has a reputation for treating all his staff with genuine concern.

1513) One who knows that to raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle requires creative imagination.

1514) One who knows that being scientific is in contradiction to unquestioned acceptance of what is currently true and that is the mark of an educated mind is to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it”.

1515) One who sees the fate of a new movie being decided in the first weekend by what people say on social media as people are empowered. He knows that since the web has changed the world, the institution has to change with it.

1516) One who knows that change management is about executing changes at a micro level with minimal disruption with minimal disruption and cost and that change leadership is about inspiring a transportation in culture.

1517) One who knows that the key to smooth transition starts with figuring out what needs to be changed and what doesn’t

1518) One who knows that success is the biggest barrier to change and anticipating changes in the environment before they start damaging the institutional fabric is the essence of leadership

1519) One who knows he needs to communicate to everyone what he is trying to do, how he is going to do it and that he needs inputs from everyone.

1520) One who knows that he has to maintain a pace of change that is digestible and doesn’t cause disruption.

1521) One who knows that communication and persuasion are slow processes and take up much of a head’s time and energy.

1522) One who knows that connecting with the staff is not easy, that he has to look them in the eye and convince them – that is the way the world is headed

1523) One who knows that his work is about changing mindsets and in culcating a digital culture and that chance can be a pleasure if the benefits are obvious.

1524) One who knows that leadership is a combination of talent, skill mind power, physical strength and execution in a very precise way.

1525) One who knows that education management in future should think in terms of:-
a. Sharing resources
b. Part – time staff for specific time and work
c. Use of technology
d. Variable compensation
e. Creation of skills
f. Automation for routine physical jobs
g. Creation of specific jobs

1526) One who makes the students understands the meaning and value of their names and inspire them to practise that value in their lives

1527) One who knows that what counts as risk varies from person to person and that if he can do something which another can’t then what is risky for that person is not risky for him

1528) One who knows that for most it would be suicide to walk across the Niagara water falls on a tight rope, but not for Jean Francois Gravelet Blond in who crossed it many times once blind folded and another time carrying his manager on his back (stopping to prepare a meal along the way) – to him the walk might seems less risky!

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AT school, the first lesson is “Baa Baa Black Sheep, Have you any Wool?”, and the second is “Ding Dong Bell, Pussy in the well”. Gone are the days when the first lesson was on Rama, Krishna or some great sage or saint? Getting to know about black sheep will make children black sheep; getting to know about the great and the good will make children great and good. Children of Baba Vihar are therefore told stories of Rama, Krishna and other Divine Persons. Learn those tales and decide to live like them. Learn Indian ways and Indian tales, and be true Indians. – Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba