Gather All the Pieces
Source/Author: Mike Murphy, Headmaster
October 13, 2017
One of my favorite quotes from Paul Ehrlich is, “The first rule of intelligent tinkering is to save all the parts.” I would add that the second rule of intelligent tinkering is to get all the parts working together. But in order to do that, we first have to “gather” all the parts.
From time to time, we learn that we have made a mistake because we acted without all the information needed for the proper solution. I believe school is a safe place for students to learn that lesson. Recently, we had what I believe was a charming example of students letting their emotions get the best of them because they acted without all the information they needed.
The Director of Facilities, Dave Sharlow, and representatives from a soil firm were on the Lower School Morean-Manning Campus pounding in stakes in the 12 locations where they will take soil samples in preparation for the construction of the proposed Community Commons and Innovation Center.
Two second grade girls approached and asked what they were doing. Mr. Sharlow replied that they were pounding stakes in the ground. The girls asked, “Why?” Mr. Sharlow replied that we are going to build a new building. The girls walked away.
When Dave and the soil sample firm finished placing the 12 stakes, a teacher approached them to report that the girls got mad because they thought they were going to have to leave Shorecrest because we were constructing a new building. So the girls starting pulling out the stakes before their teacher intervened.
In the coming week, Dave will meet with second grade to explain how the new building will enhance Shorecrest and not lead to the demise of the school. On the one hand, I understand how someone might think the girls were being disrespectful. What right did they have to disturb the work of the construction team? On the other hand, I see a great opportunity for a lesson to be learned. Hopefully, the girls and their peers will learn that they could have asked more questions and received answers that probably would have allayed their concerns.
The girls and their peers may learn a lesson about gathering information from a source with knowledge, rather than relying on a source with little knowledge and a strong opinion. They may learn a lesson that not every person will be understanding when they jump to a conclusion without all the facts.
Ironically, we are reading and seeing that facts do not matter nearly as much as one’s opinion. In 1975, researchers at Stanford University started a series of experiments that led them to the conclusion that facts do not change a person’s mind. As irrational as that may seem, both research and everyday life observations substantiate that facts do little to reshape an opinion.
Hopefully, our second graders will find the positive side of the planned construction, and more importantly will learn to gather all the pieces before they tinker.
Cheers!
Mike
