Challenging the process and a new way to teach

I have a lot of ideas in my head. Sometimes, I get lost trying to understand all of them and don't always know where to focus my energy. Today I want share an idea with you that I recently stumbled upon. It might change the way you view education in the 21st Century. This idea is still under-developed and rooted in my obsession to “challenge the process,” so just roll with me on this one. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

To give you a little background, I constantly see myself challenging the process or the status quo. As a leader, I'm never satisfied with "the way things are" and I strive to constantly monitor progress and push for excellence. I believe leaders implement change, but not just for the sake of change; they do it with the purpose of finding the best practice. I want to see my athletes challenge the process, as well. I do my best to foster an environment that encourages it so they can become the best they can be.

Challenging the process isn’t a call to challenge authority; it’s quite the contrary. Challenging the process is often interpreted as challenging someone's authority because people take things personally, even when they’re not personal. Before challenging the process, one must first appreciate that everything put in place was put there because it accomplished something important at the time. At Victory, my athletes need to learn to do what we want them to do the way we want them to do it, but at the same time, have some context in which they can question all of it. This requires humility from all sides. We need to be open-minded when pursuing new ideas and also be able to admit when a new idea isn’t worth pursuing.

With the ability to challenge the process, our mission and vision is permanent, but our model is temporary. How we approach things is up for grabs. In the wrestling world, there are certain aspects that are permanent (like staying in good position), but our approach to success is ever-changing. We don’t prescribe a cookie cutter style or approach to technique. Through challenging the process and experimentation, athletes take ownership of their training and they’re EMPOWERED to do what is best in each scenario and situation. It’s never my responsibility to micro-manage their athletic endeavors. We need to present wide ranging principles so they can apply them according to their strengths during each practice. They need to determine what is best on their own (with guidance).

Here’s why all of this is important (this is the idea that I’d like to share with you):

We are all part of a system or set of systems and sometimes we need to break free from them. The reality is my athletes are preparing themselves for jobs in the real world that don't even exist right now. Education is invaluable, but they may very well be employed in something entirely different than their chosen field of educational study. I have many friends who completed their education only to find themselves in a career that didn't exist 10 years ago. Today's generation doesn't need to comply to a prescribed system; they need to be creative, innovative and passionate. They need to challenge the process and it's paramount that I create an environment for my athletes to do this. I encourage it and teach people how to do it because chances are, 10-20 years from now, they are going to be working in an industry that doesn't even exist yet and they will need to function outside of the current system(s).

I believe Victory School of Wrestling is an example of this idea. My job didn't exist 10 years ago. Wrestling schools were nothing more than dreams. Nearly every single person believed what I'm doing wasn't possible. It took a lot of creativity, innovation and passion to move from a dream to a reality. Now I have the unique opportunity to impact a generation that has the potential to change the world and we plan on being THE change we want to see in the world.



"So, leaders must challenge the process precisely because any system will unconsciously conspire to maintain the status quo and prevent change." – The Leadership Challenge by James Kouzes and Barry Posner.