The Principal Exchange Podcast
Aug 2, 2026 · 26 min · 12 segments
*Part of our "Systems That Free You" series* You solve it. Two days later, it's back. A behavior issue, a hallway expectation, a staff frustration—you handle it, and then somehow it just…
Yeah.
So if you've ever felt like you solved something at school, so I think this happens a lot.
Like we talk about something, we think we've addressed it enough.
We think we've solved it.
And then two days later you're sitting there and it just pops right back up.
And like you thought just when you stopped thinking about it and you thought it was taken care of, it just pops right back up again.
And it's something you have to keep dealing with over and over again.
Maybe it's like certain behavior issues or maybe it's a hallway expectation or you were having like We've seen in a lot of schools we go around where they have like the tape on the floor, especially in elementary school, where you thought you figured out a way to figure out we go this way down this way, this way, or like at a certain bell time in a high school, you've got a jam in your hallway.
Or maybe it's like something that keeps frustrating your staff or a communication issue or a parent complaint, but you thought you've handled it.
You address it.
So you didn't ignore it.
You actually addressed it.
But you think it's done and here it is again.
And so it's not that.
And the problem is really the problem.
It's that you actually probably don't have a system in place to address the root cause.
You know, we're always so big on root causes, but it's bigger than the actual behavior problem.
It's bigger than the traffic flow issue.
It's that you haven't addressed the system.
You've just brought to the attention of your staff or yourself or the students or whoever that the issue is there, but you haven't addressed the root problem.
Yeah, you've just faced the symptom of it.
And so are we're going to think today that typically good principles think that they can solve like that means that you're solving problems quickly and that you're dealing with them like fast.
You're getting them done.
You're moving on so that you can focus on what what else matters, what else is on your list.
But.
Yeah.
So if you've ever felt like you solved something at school, so I think this happens a lot.
Like we talk about something, we think we've addressed it enough.
We think we've solved it.
And then two days later you're sitting there and it just pops right back up.
And like you thought just when you stopped thinking about it and you thought it was taken care of, it just pops right back up again.
And it's something you have to keep dealing with over and over again.
Maybe it's like certain behavior issues or maybe it's a hallway expectation or you were having like We've seen in a lot of schools we go around where they have like the tape on the floor, especially in elementary school, where you thought you figured out a way to figure out we go this way down this way, this way, or like at a certain bell time in a high school, you've got a jam in your hallway.
Or maybe it's like something that keeps frustrating your staff or a communication issue or a parent complaint, but you thought you've handled it.
You address it.
So you didn't ignore it.
You actually addressed it.
But you think it's done and here it is again.
And so it's not that.
And the problem is really the problem.
It's that you actually probably don't have a system in place to address the root cause.
You know, we're always so big on root causes, but it's bigger than the actual behavior problem.
It's bigger than the traffic flow issue.
It's that you haven't addressed the system.
You've just brought to the attention of your staff or yourself or the students or whoever that the issue is there, but you haven't addressed the root problem.
Yeah, you've just faced the symptom of it.
And so are we're going to think today that typically good principles think that they can solve like that means that you're solving problems quickly and that you're dealing with them like fast.
You're getting them done.
You're moving on so that you can focus on what what else matters, what else is on your list.
But.
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