It Turns Out, I don't Even Know Why I'm Doing This

I recently re-watched my favorite TED Talk.  In it, Simon Sinek explains why companies whose “why” drives their “what” find astronomically more success than companies whose “what” drives their “why.”
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While Sinek is addressing the mission of businesses and organizations in this talk, I like to try and apply his thought process to career as an individual, too, and I have for a long time.  In re-watching Sinek’s talk and reflecting on it, I think I’ve come to two realizations:

1. My “why” changed last school year, and then again this school year
   
2. Seeing my “why” change means my “why’s” were actually “how’s”
   

What’s my why?

Prior to the pandemic, I would have told you my “why” was something along the lines of:

“I want to help kids be far more successful in school with far less boredom than they experience now.”

Even reading it now, it feels just right.

The whole series would be:

Prior to the pandemic, I would have told you my why was something like "I want to help kids be far more successful in school with far less boredeom."

Why →	How →	What
I want to help kids be far more successful in school with far less boredom than they experience now.	I go over the top in planning learning experiences that bring math and science to life	I’m not sure, but Simon Sinek makes it sound like this is kind of trivial if you get the first two right (“wanna buy one?”)

The Covid-19 pandemic changed the situation so drastically that, while I still believe deeply in this why and how, I had to change it. ​

A lot.  

If I look back on last year (2020-2021), my why became:

“I want to prevent kids from being screwed whenever this ends and they’re just put back into the system like nothing happened.”

The whole series would be:
​

It felt like the "why" changed a lot in 2020.

Why → ​	How →	What
I want to prevent kids from being screwed whenever this ends and they’re just put back into the system like nothing happened.	​I go over the top in: Assuring I still teach (and you hold accountable for) 100% of math content that will be built upon next year with every bit of fidelity I normally would Assuring I still present science as a fascinating and important field of study Refusing, all the way to the bitter end, to allow you to opt out of a year of education just because you’re at home, no matter what it takes and no matter how much you resent me for it	​I’m not sure.  I was too tired and emotionally spent to get past the how.

Very cynical and very different from my previous “why” and “how,” but it worked.  I teach 54 of the same kids I taught last year, and I’m proud to say that 0 of them appear to be screwed once they, as I predicted, just got dropped back into the system like nothing happened.  Even the ones who I was the most sure I had lost last year are experiencing success this year.

Cynical, yes.

But boy am I proud of how it turned out.
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This year (2021-2022), as I’m sure you have heard, has come with a whole new set of challenges.  The circumstance is drastically different than last year, and those new circumstances have changed my “why” for the year yet again:

"I want to be the exception to the rule that kids who fall behind rarely catch up and I want to expose them to enough inspiration to believe that their education matters again."

Where does that leave the whole sequence?

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The post-lockdown school year brought new challenges and new goals - and consequently a new why.

Why → ​	How → ​	What
I want to be the exception to the rule that kids who fall behind rarely catch up and I want to expose them to enough inspiration to believe that their education matters again.	I go over the top in  Applying accelerated learning design Regressing and progressing wherever possible “Learning in” to the science and engineering practices that bring science to life Owning the reality that one bad year isn’t usually the end of the world, but two bad years usually is.	I’m not sure.  I’m too tired, discouraged, and emotionally spent to get past the how.

Maybe it has actually been my HOW changing, and not my why

I don’t think “why’s” change very often.  “Why’s” are steadfast; they are backbones; they are foundational values and beliefs upon which the rest is built.  I’ve come to believe that if I’ve had three different “why’s” in three different years, I probably didn’t have a “why” at all.

I think all my “why’s” were actually “how’s.”

“How’s” change with circumstances.  How I drive changes depending on weather, traffic, and location; why I drive doesn’t change.  How I cook changes depending on time, audience, and available ingredients; why I cook doesn’t change.  I’m pretty sure how I’ve taught has changed a lot because of the pandemic; why I teach probably hasn’t.

So I’m sliding everything over a column.

	Why?	How?	​What?
pre-pandemic	??	I want to help kids be far more successful in school with far less boredom than they experience now.	I go over the top in planning learning experiences that bring math and science to life
20-21 lockdown	??	I want to prevent kids from being screwed whenever this ends and they’re just put back into the system like nothing happened.	I go over the top in: Assuring I still teach (and you hold accountable for) 100% of math content that will be built upon next year with every bit of fidelity I normally would Assuring I still present science as a fascinating and important field of study Refusing, all the way to the bitter end, to allow you to opt out of a year of education just because you’re at home, no matter what it takes and no matter how much you resent me for it
	??	I want to be the exception to the rule that kids who fall behind rarely catch up and I want to expose them to enough inspiration to believe that their education matters again.	I go over the top in  Applying accelerated learning design Regressing and progressing wherever possible “Learning in” to the science and engineering practices that bring science to life Fighting the reality that one bad year isn’t usually the end of the world, but two bad years usually is.

So now the question begs - what’s my why?  What’s the why that binds the last three years together?  All these years I thought I was following Sinek’s vision and starting with why.

Turns out, I’ve been starting with how.



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