In schools, consistency is often mistaken for effort.

When things wobble, leaders push harder. They rely on goodwill, experience, and people going the extra mile. It works for a while. Then it exhausts the organisation.

In this episode of Simplicity in the Noise, Michael Everett makes a clear distinction between horsepower and engines. Horsepower is individual effort. Engines are systems. One burns people out. The other creates reliability, scale, and calm.

This episode explores why sustainable schools are built on engines, not heroic individuals, and why most systems fail not because of resistance, but because they were never designed with human behaviour in mind.

You’ll learn:

• Why horsepower leadership always has a ceiling

• What effective systems actually feel like in practice

• The real reasons systems fail in schools

• The three principles that make systems usable, humane, and sustainable

• The four essential engines every school needs to create consistency

A practical episode for leaders who want fewer fire-fights, less dependency on individuals, and systems that quietly do the heavy lifting.

One action for this week:

Identify one area of your school that currently depends on individual effort to function. Ask what system would make the right behaviour obvious, easy, and automatic. Start small. Reduce friction before adding structure.

Connect with Michael:

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More tools and frameworks at simpang.org