DIT Bits

A quotable quote from a ballplayer gave rise to one of my work-related New Year’s resolutions.

Last season, Philadelphia Phillies’ player Jimmy Rollins got a hit in 38 consecutive games, the longest hitting streak in Major League Baseball in nearly twenty years (the streak actually began at the end of the prior season).

Interviewed by ESPN’s Jayson Stark after the streak ended, Rollins commented:

“I know this sounds funny [to say], that I wasn’t trying to go up there and get a hit every day,” he says. “But I wasn’t trying to get a hit every day. I was trying to take the right swing every day. And I wasn’t worried about hitting the ball here or there. I was, like: If I take the correct swing, I’m trusting that the bat is going to hit the ball.”

Sometimes in school technology we are so focused on particular outcomes that we don’t pay enough attention to developing the techniques necessary to bring them about. How do you find “the right swing” to take every day? While each of these factors could be a chapter of its own, in summary I think the “right swing” has these components:

- the right people on your school IT staff
- a clear mission for the IT group
- a good “scouting report” on your user base
- the right tools for the job at hand
- time to plan, review and evaluate what you’ve done

We can’t let the urgency of momentary situations or the pressure of escalated demands change our “swing.” There is a right way for each of us to do school IT, and my New Year’s resolution is to take the right swing every time we step up to the plate. We may not always succeed — Rollins’ streak did end — but we will stay focused on our technique and expect good outcomes because we did.

May the new year find you happy, healthy, and prosperous.

Posted on January 8th, 2007 by Curt Lieneck
Filed under: General Interest, Quotable Quotes