The Anatomy of Failure

The Anatomy of Failure Image

There is no reason to waste a tragedy. Congress takes advantage of every one to pass legislation to protect us from the next one. Business learns from each lost sale, failed experiment, and product failure. in sports, loss is justification for training that is more intensive or new skill building. Why should parochial schools closures be different?

The key thing that is present in all of the preceding is that future success is under the control of the current leadership. Trouble is unavoidable but failure is unnecessary.

A Lutheran school decided on June 28th to close (They were not a client of ours.). for a variety of reasons, we have been able to stay close to them. The school started in the 1850s. it is in a market that has always valued Christian schools. however, over the past 10 years a number of parochial schools have closed or merged. Many of the merged schools are struggling. The mergers caused the rate of failure to decline but failed to arrest the decline.

For more than 10 years, the parish membership in the church has been in decline along with school enrollment. The school has had three principals over that time. The church has had three pastors during the same period. The leaders were all experienced individuals.

Here are the primary reasons for the closure of the school:

Vision. The school lacked a vision. While it said it provided a Christian education to its students, it was unable able to tell the students, families, or the community how to translate the education into something (better career, stable marriage, escape from poverty, etc.).
Ministry. The school and churched lacked a common ministry. Therefore, it was always a competition for money. The competition fostered a division in the membership. as a result, members withheld support from each other.
Reputation. The school was indiscriminate about whom it served. it needed money, so every willing family was accepted. sometimes the student was an impressive success, other times the student floundered. with unpredictable success, it is hard to say what part the parents, school, or luck played. The school's reputation was uncertain in everyone's mind.
Leadership. there were multiple camps rather than a unified leadership.
Advocates. The school lacked internal advocates. no one can remember any of the pastors preaching a sermon on the value of Christian education even though every year there is a National Lutheran Schools Week. The students were applauded for their academic success but the congregation never heard about the impact the school had on the students' lives. The principals never spoke to the congregation except at the annual budget meeting and only then to justify the need for money.
Board. The school board spent most of its time on money and budgets. it was rare for it to discuss planning, students, mission, or ministry. it was common for it to handle disputes between various parties. it never invited parents, students, donors, staff, or others to talk with it.
Communication. The internal communication was poor. in January, the congregation president was asked if the school would close. his response was that things were going well. in March, an emergency meeting was held because of the dire condition of the school. When the announcement of the closing of the school occurred, it surfaced that there were serious problems between senior staff members.
Turnover. as mentioned previously they have had three pastor and three principals in the past 10 years. in addition, they have had many more congregational presidents and school board presidents. The membership of their school board and church council has been equally unstable.

Three years ago, they were told their school would close in three years. their response was, things are better than they look. they failed to take the warning seriously and were unwilling to test their assumptions against the closure assumptions. as predicted, the school closed.

The closure was avoidable. it could have been prevented as late as June 1st of this year. however, reversing the trend depends on doing an objective assessment of the situation, being willing to make hard choices, and admitting that things are different today. What worked in the past is unlikely to be the best process for the future.

It is important to note that closure had nothing to do with the denomination, parochial education, the quality of the teaching, fundraising, marketing, demographics, competition, or their geographic location. The school closed because of internally controllable factors rather than changes in demographics, economics, birthrates, or other external events.

Geographic location deserves exploration. The church is an inner city church in a struggling neighborhood. there are members of the leadership who were willing to blame the local demographics for the struggles. however, several of the readers of our weekly newsletters and this article are prospering schools in struggling urban areas. If you take a moment, you can think of a few in your area also.

Success can occur in any location. Location does sometimes determine how hard one must work and how creative or innovative one must be to achieve success.

Objectively evaluate your school or hire someone to do the evaluation

Have a frank discussion of the state of the school

Identify the collective three wishes for the school excluding money

Develop a plan to make the wishes come true

Please also note, the school could have been successful without spending money. You can too. Money is necessary if you want outside help. Outside help will accelerate the change process. If you have the time, will, and courage, success is cheap. If you need outside help and lack the money to pay for the help, there are ways to solve that problem also.

It is impossible for the external events to cause the failure. it is possible for external events to blind one and make it difficult to see what is possible. it is possible for the external events to be a distraction. Success comes from focusing on what one can control and responding thoughtfully to external events.

There is a message of hope in the preceding: Failure is unnecessary. every organization and especially every Christian school can be successful and strong. All of the requirements for success are under the control of the leadership. sometimes success requires great effort and imagination but it is possible.

Please keep your ministry strong. The students and the community need what your school does and can do.

The Anatomy of Failure

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