Jim Collins new book titled "Great by Choice" identifies the factors that enabled companies to survive - and exceed  the competition 10x over despite living through times of great uncertainty and unstable environments. The leaders of these 10x companies, or the 10xers as they are termed by Collins, are not more creative, greater risk takers, more visionary, more ambitious or more charismatic than the non 10xers.
So what are these factors that enable certain leaders to not only survive but thrive in difficult times?

1.These leaders take full control over the situation at hand - not blaming the situation or difficulty on anyone else or attributing the challenge to external forces.
2. These leaders have fanatic discipline Collins termed the 20 mile march. They are in it for the long haul; identifying clear performance markers and reaching them each time.  The most difficult part of this, and the part that 10xers do so successfully is work very hard to maintain the performance goals in difficult times and holding back in good times.  The 20 mile march is used as an analogy because of the importance of maintaining consistency.  If the goal is to walk 20 miles a day, it is critical to maintain the goal even when the weather is making it near impossible.  When the weather is great and energy is plentiful, it is equally important to maintain the goal and resist the urge to exceed the goal.
3.The next area of strenghth that the 10xers possess is their ability to use empirical creativity.  Rather than big leap innovations they test the waters through firing bullets and if the bullets prove successful then they fire cannonballs, and all is based on empirical evidence.  The bullet is low cost and low risk which enables the leader to learn about the potential of the innovation without much lost in the process but with the potential for gain.  The cannonballs that are fired are calibrated - based on empirical validation. 
4. Productive paranoia is the next effective characteristic found in 10xers. An example was provided of two mountain climbers who led groups up Mt Everest; one group survived and the other didn't.  The group that survived the expeditition planned very carefully and with paranoia for anything that could possibly go wrong. They were overly cautious, carried extra cannisters of oxygen and paid very careful attention to the impending weather conditions.  Collins termed this - staying away from the death line. Effective companies build reserves and buffers (extra oxygen), stay away from potential danger and remain hypervigilant to changing conditions.
Collins closes by explaining the importance of maintainng the SMaC princple - specific, methodical and consistent.  The success formula is that the operating practices in the organization are concrete with clear guidelines of what to do and what not to do - actions are based on empirical data and methodological practices and these practices remain consistent over time.

There are many interesting analogies that can be made between the factors identified in the success of businesses and these same factors as it applies to effective schooling.  We are certainly living through challenging times in the world of Jewish education.  Challenges are many and competition is often fierce.  How could we look at the challenges and be aware of them  yet maintain control over our own destiny?  
How could we identify optimistic and measurable performance goals and use the discipline to maintain those goals in difficult times as well as in good times?  We might think that exceeding goals is a positive trait yet it could be problematic if we don't have the resources to support them.
How could we continue to use empirical data to goven our actions - and then shoot bullets to test the waters? If the bullets prove successful, then we can move on to callibrated cannonballs.
How could we maintain a level of paranoia - plan for the best but ensure we are ready for the worst? What is the day school's oxygen cannister that we can keep in stock as our buffer?