Paint Around the Edges

When painting a house or a room in a house, we tend to want to get that roller in our hands and get the bulk of the square footage done with a few broad strokes. Completing the ‘cutting in’ and the trim work generally takes a lot of time, a lot of tape, a lot of patience, and a steady hand. When the job is done, it is rare to find imperfections in the broad strokes, they are easy and cover fast. However, it is the work around the edges that really shows the quality of the work and where we notice those imperfections. When we get a glob of blue paint on the white ceiling, our eye is drawn immediately to that spot every time we walk in the room. Being content with the work requires a strong focus on those outliers, on the work around the edges.

Moving now to education, we know that we can reach most of our students with the broad strokes of the roller, with our standard methods and curriculum. But the true measure of our effectiveness is how we address our high-flyers, low-performers, and other outliers- differentiation is our work around the edges and it is difficult. It takes time. It takes patience. It makes all the difference.

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This is a post I wrote on LinkedIn about 4 years ago. As I consolidate my content here, I’ll breath new life into a few of the highlights from other platforms in the past.