Act without doing;
work without effort.
Think of the small as large
and the few as many.
Confront the difficult
while it is still easy;
accomplish the great task
by a series of small acts.

The Master never reaches for the great
thus she achieves greatness
When she runs into a difficulty,
she stops and gives herself to it.
She doesn’t cling to her own comfort;
Thus problems are no problem for her.

I opened the Tao te Ching to this Chapter on the first day of school, which also happened to be my first day as a Division Head, and it seemed like providence. I was nervous, a little afraid, and arrived at school two hours ahead of time in a full sweat. The role I was stepping into was not one I had held before, and there were many unknowns. I had stayed up all night trying to visualize what they may be.

But, Chapter 63 seems to hold within it all the wisdom needed at the beginning of a Division Head’s career. It begins with the foundational idea of Taoism; effortless action. We have all known Division Heads who believe themselves to be deciders, to be hammers, and who see the rest of the community as nails. These Division Heads inflict blunt force trauma on their communities and damage the energy in the building because they act against the Tao of the school. I spent my morning meditation reflecting on those past Division Heads. I was able to see their motivations now that I had found myself in that role, cloaked with the anxiety that comes with it, but I also made sure I visualized how I would be different. I knew I wanted to change some parts of my new Middle School, but I also knew that it could only be accomplished by feeling the Tao of the school and ensuring that my decisions would flow with its’ current. I had to try and flatten the leadership structure, bring all voices to the table and most importantly listen deeply, intently and earnestly to the faculty. The faculty know the Tao of the school better than anyone else, and their words speak to it constantly. They may not be aware, but the Tao can always be found in their words.

While a chance to mediate on effortless action is always welcome, I believe the power of 63 really lies in its focus on facing difficulty. Anyone who has ever moved from teaching to being a Division Head did so with full recognition that many difficulties lie ahead. Angry parents, classroom conflicts, cliques, bullying, perhaps poor teaching, shirking of duties or a flat out refusal from a teacher to buy into a new initiative. All of these are “difficulties” we will face at some point. There will certainly be moments ranging from discomfort to sheer panic. But 63 has words of wisdom for us:

Confront the difficult
while it is still easy;
accomplish the great task
by a series of small acts

A Division Head can mitigate the difficult by chopping away at it while it is still “easy”, thus accomplishing “great acts in small steps”. As my father likes to tell me, “You eat the elephant one bite at a time”. Visualization, preparation and strategy are important tools for the Division Head to tap during while doing this work. I spent a lot of time over the summer trying to visualize the school year; how will it play out? where will my sticking points be? what if I changed this, added this, or subtracted this? how will my faculty react to a new Division Head? how can I address their concerns? how can I successfully make the difficult transition of entering a new community, in a leadership role?

The simple answer is strategy. I picked up an excellent book titled “Good Strategy/Bad Strategy” this summer, and it went a long way in helping me design a consistent and effective approach to all of my questions. The approach follows a few basic steps; 1. Recognition (my addition), 2. Diagnosis, 3. Guiding Policy, and 4. Concrete Action. It sounds simple, but it goes a long way towards stopping ones self from resting on ones laurels, or becoming a victim of over confidence.

The final stanza of 63 is perhaps my favorite, and contains the sage advice that when a Division Head runs into difficulty, they should “give themselves to it”. Don’t run from it, don’t retreat into your comfort zone, rather face the difficulty head on with the confidence that you have taken the small steps necessary to accomplish this great task. Difficulties are what push a Division Head into their “learning zone”. If you are spending your days in the comfort of your office, behind the safety of your computer then you are not growing, and you are not helping your division grow either. (That being said… I won’t go looking for difficulties just for the sake of it!)

I was meant to read this passage on day one. Every line gives me pause and I believe I will return to it often this year.

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