One of the best books I have read over the past few years is Good to Great by Jim Collins. The focus of the book is on how eleven American companies moved from ‘good’ to ‘great’. In the book, companies that Collins considered 'great' were those who were able to sustain a profit of at least three times the stock market average for 15 years. These eleven companies, on average, returned a profit margin 6.9 times greater than the market average!
Each of these companies faced significant adversity along the way to greatness. One of the key factors that each of the successful businesses had in common was that, on the one hand, they accepted the brutal facts of their reality, and on the other hand, they maintained an unwavering faith in believing that they would one day achieve their goals. They had an unwavering commitment to overcoming their adversity, no matter what challenges they faced. This psychological contrast came to be known as the ‘Stockdale Paradox’.
The term 'Stockdale Paradox' was coined after Admiral Jim Stockdale. He was the highest-ranking United States Military Officer to be held at the Hanoi Hilton Prisoner of War camp during the Vietnam War. Stockdale is to have reportedly been tortured 28 times during his eight-year imprisonment. He did not know whether he would survive to see his family again throughout this time. Stockdale shouldered the burden of command during his occupancy, in charge of all the other prisoners. He took it upon himself to do whatever he could to create conditions that would increase the number of soldiers who would survive unbroken. At one point, Stockdale intentionally beat himself with a chair and disfigured himself so he could not be used as an example of a 'well-treated' prisoner of war in propaganda videos.
You can only imagine the horrible conditions these men must have faced during this time. In an interview with Stockdale, he was asked how he dealt with the continual oppression. He responded that he never lost faith in the future; Stockdale faced the harsh reality and facts of his situation, yet never doubted that he would one day be released and return home. When asked who didn't make it out, Stockdale replied that the optimists struggled the most. These were the people who would say they would be out before Christmas. Then Christmas would come and go, and they would say they would be out by Easter. Surprisingly, Easter would come and go and then, all of a sudden, it was Christmas again. The optimists all died of broken hearts and broken spirits. Stockdale goes on to explain that this is a fundamental life lesson. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail, in the end with having the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality.
I think about this story from time to time. Like most people, I do not live or have a perfect life. There are times when life has been unfair. Sometimes, this might be to our advantage, and other times it might be to our disadvantage. Throughout life, we all experience disappointments and events that set us back for which there appears no reason or no one to blame. It might be an illness, a broken bone or a relationship breakdown. If I have learnt anything from this story, what separates us as individuals is not whether we have or don't have problems, but how we deal with the inevitability that problems will arise in our lives. By facing challenges head-on, you have an opportunity to emerge from the encounters even stronger.
As Christians, we also can apply a Biblical lens to these situations. We have all heard people question, "Why does God allow suffering?" In Romans 5:3-5, we can find the answer to this:
> 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
Experiencing suffering causes our attention to turn inward, to face the parts of ourselves we might otherwise ignore. God can use suffering to shape and form us into people who can withstand adversity and develop us into children who can love and enjoy our Heavenly Father, both now and into eternity.
Emmanuel is a good school, but we are far from being perfect as a school. If we achieve our association and school Vision, which is to be a transformational Christian learning community, we can, I believe, become a great school.
So, as we move forward, we need to keep this vision front and centre in our thinking. We need to continue to work in partnership with each family and each child that is placed in our care; through solid and healthy relationships, I believe that we can achieve this goal.
Drew Roberts - Acting Principal