May 2009
Volume 74, Number 4

Doing It Right 
An Editorial Essay

Patrick Deaville

 Right Way vs. Right Thing 

We spend a great deal of time every day trying to make our students do things the right way.  When I observe teachers, read lesson plans, and reflect on rehearsals, “doing things right” always seems to be a big part of the thought process.

But sometimes, even when we succeed in getting the student to “do things right”, we fail because the student is not “doing the right thing.”  These really are two different concepts.  “Doing the right thing” requires just as much thought and planning as “doing things the right way.”   

Am I confusing you?  Here is an example.  A cat is in the tree.  You get a ladder to rescue the cat.  Climbing up the ladder needs to be done the right way if you want to get safely to the top.  That’s about doing things the right way. 

But what if the ladder you climb is leaning on the wrong tree?  Well no matter how safely you climbed the ladder, the cat isn’t going to get rescued.  That is doing the wrong thing.  It’s not enough to do something well.  You must also do specifically what needs to be done.

Strategy vs. Tactics
Business World

Two of the most misunderstood words in the English language are “strategy” and “tactics.”  Professionals in business, industry, education, and government get the two mixed up.

We confuse the two words and often use them interchangeably as if they mean the same thing.  Strategy is more about “doing the right thing” while tactics is more about “doing things the right way.”

Here is an example from the business world.  You build a great product.   It is sturdy, dependable, and efficient. You price it affordably and market it well.  This is all about good tactics.

Yet you could go bankrupt because of this product.  Unless the product is actually useful, needed, and desired by your clients, you will have failed miserably in your strategy.
 

Strategy vs. Tactics
Music World

Here is an example from the music world.  You need to rehearse a new musical selection that will be performed in public at the end of the week. You plan a warm-up to be used in every rehearsal.  The warm-up emphasizes appropriate phrasing, balance, dynamics, and other important musical considerations. The warm-up is a good tactical process.

Come the end of the week, your ensemble performs the new musical selection in public.  The performance is very poor.  The audience is very disappointed.  You realize all you did that week was warm-up.  You never really targeted the difficult and complex components in the musical selection.  Strategically, you failed.

(Yes, you can rationalize that all the lessons learned in the warm-up made your ensemble better.  Possibly did.  Probably it is something you should keep in your tactical toolkit.  But you would have performed better had you balanced the time properly. You should have given the musical selection sufficient attention when you knew a performance was upon you.)

Priority vs. Process

Priority and process are also two very important words.   Priority tends to be more strategic…do the right thing.  Process is more about tactics…do things the right way. 

Successful directors, coaches, teachers, CEO’s and generals understand that priority is critical.  Unless you can identify and focus in on that which is most important, you will ultimately fail.

But the same can be said for process.  It’s important to know exactly what the right thing is.  It is just as important to do it the right way over the long haul. 

Yes, there is room for adaptability and flexibility in all this. (Wisdom comes into play every now and then.) Sometimes you do break the mold because of time constraints or odd circumstances beyond your control.  But if that becomes a pattern rather than an exception, you and your program will eventually (1) crash and burn or (2) float in comfortable mediocrity.

Conclusion

Do the right thing and do things in the right way.  Understand the proper application of strategy versus tactics.  Accept that both priority and process play equally important roles in long term success. 

Which comes first…the chicken or the egg? Do I focus first on doing the right thing or doing things the right way?  I say let them hold hands and cross the street together.  Look both ways.