What We Do, We Do Together

The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups by Daniel Coyle
Random House, January 30, 2018

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Fascinated by an interaction between a six-year-old girl and a tennis coach at a Russian tennis academy (which has produced more champions than the entire United States), Daniel Coyle began to ask some simple questions: Where does great culture come from? How do you build and sustain it in your group, or strengthen a culture that needs fixing? Infiltrating some of the most effective organizations to uncover what makes them tick, Coyle found very clear, simple signals about connection, about sharing risk, and about direction. Particularly relevant in our schools, where human connections are at the heart of all student development, this book offers practical applications for leaders and teachers, offering suggestions for building a sustainable and equitable ethos. From in situ discoveries in inner city schools, the U.S. Navy’s SEAL Team Six, Pixar, Google, and IDEO, among others, Coyle shares stories that highlight how leaders and team members in these organizations strengthen cohesion and maintain motivation, drive learning, ignite collaboration, reaffirm trust, and facilitate positive change –  all necessary to successfully overcome challenges that can trouble today’s schools. He reveals that cultures are expressions of relationships working towards a common mission; culture is not what groups are defined by, but what they collectively do.