Why Staff Resist “One More Thing”

Welcome back, Educational Leaders, to our 61st edition!

We know the school year is back in full swing, and we appreciate you continuing to take the time to read our newsletters. We hope that somewhere along the way, each edition has offered an insight or two that you can take back to your school, your leadership team, or even your own daily work.

For today’s edition, we want to zoom in a little and talk about the people who carry so much of the work happening in our schools every day: our school staff.

Most school leaders have probably experienced some version of this. A new initiative, strategy, process, or expectation is introduced, and almost immediately, you can sense the reaction: One more thing?

Sometimes it comes as a question. Sometimes it is a sigh, a shrug, or simply a noticeable change in the room. And while it can be easy to interpret that response as resistance to change, there may be much more behind it.

Our staff operates in environments where priorities compete for their attention every day. They are teaching students, responding to individual needs, reviewing data, communicating with families, attending meetings, completing required tasks, and adjusting to the unexpected. Add enough new expectations over time, and even a worthwhile idea can begin to feel like another item being placed on an already full plate.

So today, we want to look more closely at that reaction. What really makes staff hear “one more thing” and immediately feel drained by it? And perhaps more importantly, what can leaders learn from that response?

The Challenge: What Is Behind the Shrug?

There is rarely just one answer.

For some staff, it is simply exhaustion. Their day is already filled with responsibilities that demand attention, decisions, and emotional energy. When capacity is already stretched, a new request may be heard very differently from how leadership intended it.

For others, it may be initiative fatigue. Staff have seen programs launched with enthusiasm, new priorities announced, and new processes introduced, only to watch some of them gradually disappear when the next priority arrives. One of our previous newsletters described what happens when schools fall into this pattern: initiatives are introduced with limited follow-through, staff become unclear about what is actually being prioritized, and professional development touches many areas without going deeply into any one of them.

After experiencing that cycle enough times, staff may naturally begin to wonder: How long will this one last?

There can also be a lack of connection. Staff understand what they are being asked to do, but they cannot clearly see why they are doing it. How does this connect to our school’s goals? What problem are we trying to solve? Where does it fit among everything else we have already committed to?

These reactions can come from different places, but they point leaders toward an important consideration: before assuming staff is unwilling to change, we should understand what they are already carrying.

Maybe Staff Isn’t Resisting the Work. Maybe They Are Feeling the Weight.

A teacher can believe in a new instructional strategy and still wonder when there will be time to learn and implement it well. A staff member can understand the importance of collecting new data and still question how another requirement fits alongside existing responsibilities.

From a leadership perspective, each new initiative may be perfectly reasonable on its own. Improving attendance is important. Strengthening instruction is important. Supporting school culture is important. 

But staff do not experience those priorities one at a time. They experience the cumulative weight of all of them.

This is where good intentions can unintentionally create initiative overload. Our previous newsletters have emphasized that when schools attempt to address academics, behavior, culture, attendance, engagement, and other priorities simultaneously, each area receives only a portion of the organization's attention.

There are only so many hours in the school day. There is only so much attention people can give. Eventually, something has to give.

When You Add Something, What Are You Taking Away?

If we are asking our staff to give more time and attention to this, what are we giving them permission to give less time and attention to?

Schools are often very good at adding. Removing something can be much harder.

But focus requires choices. In a previous edition, we discussed how true focus sometimes requires setting aside good ideas that simply are not the main idea right now. That might mean pausing a pilot program or reconsidering processes that are competing for attention.

This does not mean schools should stop introducing new ideas. It means leaders should be intentional about what earns a place on the plate.

Before introducing something new, consider whether you can clearly answer: Why does this matter? What problem does it solve? What outcome should it influence? How does it connect to our larger goal? And do our people actually have the capacity to execute it well?

Those questions can make the difference between another initiative and meaningful work.

Focus Is Also About Protecting Your People

We often discuss focus because of what it can do for performance. Focus creates clarity, helps teams build deeper expertise, and keeps effort from becoming scattered. Those ideas have been central to several of our previous discussions about keeping the main thing the main thing.

Focus can protect your people.

It protects staff from having to guess which of ten priorities is actually the priority. It protects time from work that does not meaningfully contribute to the school's goals. And it gives teams an opportunity to become good at something through consistency and repetition instead of continually starting over with something else.

It may also mean saying, That is a good idea, but it is not where we need to focus right now.

Before You Introduce “One More Thing”…

The next time you consider a new program or expectation, remember the shrug.

Instead of immediately asking why staff might resist it, take a moment to consider what that reaction could be telling you.

What are our people already carrying? Does this work clearly connect to our North Star? Have we explained why it matters?

And if this deserves more of our staff's attention, what can we simplify, pause, or remove so they have the capacity to do it well?

Schools do not achieve breakthrough performance simply because people are doing more. Progress comes when people understand what matters most and have the clarity, support, and capacity to execute that work consistently.

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And with the first day of fall right around the corner, we’ll connect again as we welcome a new season. Until then, thank you for continuing to lead, support your people, and keep your school focused on the work that matters most!