Why Not Get Rid of Grades?

Why Not Get Rid of Grades?

“Why Not Get Rid of Grades?” was written by author Daniel Pink. As education moves into an uncertain future, now is the time to reassess our methods and change what no longer serves us.

If you’re looking for continued signs of inflation, bypass your local supermarket and head to Harvard Yard. Twenty years ago, the mean grade-point average for Harvard University undergraduates was 3.41. Today, Harvard’s average GPA has ballooned to 3.8. At America’s oldest university, 79 percent of the grades are now A’s and A-minuses ― a 32 percent increase from 10 years earlier.

 

Down the road in New Haven, Connecticut, grade inflation is equally rampant. In the 2022-2023 academic year, nearly 60 percent of the grades Yale University professors awarded undergraduates were an outright A, not even an A-minus. Only 20 percent of grades in the entire college were a B+ or below.

 

And so, it goes on campuses across America: Last century’s Gentleman’s C has become this century’s Everykid’s A.

 

When nations face hyperinflation, they sometimes resort to what’s called  “redenomination.” They change the face value of the currency, often by lopping off zeroes, or even assign the currency a new name.

 

Why not consider something similar in higher ed and replace letter grades in college?

 

From Mount Holyoke to Mount Rushmore

 

Grades are so pervasive at all ages and stages of American education that we assume they are a natural component of learning. In fact, they are a recent invention. For most of human civilization, people learned perfectly well without letter grades. It was only when education became more democratized (a good thing) that it became simultaneously more systematized (sometimes a less good thing).

 

Grades and rankings emerged gradually through the 18th and 19th centuries, with Mount Holyoke College introducing the first modern letter grades in 1897. Other institutions — including Harvard and Yale, which had experimented with their own grading schemes — followed suit. And by the 1940s, the A-to-F scale became the standard: five letters carved into our schooling edifice the way four presidents are chiseled onto Mount Rushmore.

 

From their inception, grades were designed more for the efficiency of institutions than for the education of individuals. As student populations increased, grades were simple to calculate, easy to administer and convenient to communicate across an expanding education infrastructure. As Jeffrey Schinske and Kimberly Tanner write in their 2017 history of higher education grading, grades have always reflected “the constraints of institutional systems rather than the needs of learners.”

 

The notion that letter grades enhance learning was something that teachers, administrators and parents merely presumed. If every classroom from elementary schools to public universities was assigning grades, they must be a meaningful measure of learning. Besides, rewarding students with an A for doing schoolwork, while threatening them with an F for not doing it, seems like a smart way to motivate youngsters to master algebra or English.

 

But using grades as both a measure and a motivator was an inherently flawed pursuit. For starters, grades are far less consistent and reliable than their simplicity implies. A blood pressure reading will be the same in Austin as in Durham, North Carolina. But a Python coding assignment or an essay on the causes of the Spanish Civil War might receive different grades at the University of Texas than at Duke University. Ample evidence  shows that grading can vary considerably from professor to professor even within a university; that some instructors aren’t even consistent with themselves, assigning different marks for identical work ; and that extraneous factors like penmanship and a student’s attractiveness can affect grades.

 

Le problème, c’est moi

 

More important, the letter system ran smack into Goodhart’s Law, an adage named for British economist Charles Goodhart, which holds that when a measure becomes a target, it ceases being a good measure. Grades began as a tool for assessing learning but quickly became the point of the exercise. For many students, the goal of school isn’t to learn. It’s to get an A.

 

Decades of research, at all levels of education, has demonstrated that grades can promote short-term performance rather than long-term understanding, encourage both superficial studying and outright cheating, and can undermine a student’s intrinsic interest in the material.

Stanford University’s Carol Dweck and other researchers have shown that “performance goals” (earning a high grade) and “learning goals” (mastering material) run on separate tracks. Meeting a performance goal doesn’t necessarily signal that someone has achieved a learning goal.

And if piles of peer-reviewed studies don’t convince you, there’s someone you should meet: Moi. I took French for six years in both high school and college. I received straight A’ss in every class, every semester.

 

I can’t speak French.

 

The reason: I was laser-locked on performance goals (getting an A on Friday’s quiz) rather than on learning goals (speaking French). I could cough up the third person singular subjunctive of irregular verbs on command. But if I ever found myself in Toulouse with a flat tire, I’d remain stuck on the side of the rue.

 

Goodhart’s Law also helps explain the relentless rise in A’s. Grade inflation first appeared in the 1960s, when professors awarded high grades to keep students in school and out of the Vietnam War. Today, the measure has become the target for other reasons. For example, a large portion of undergraduate courses are now taught by part-time temporary lecturers. Those instructors often dole out high grades because their continued employment depends in part on students’ course evaluations, and students give high ratings to lenient graders. Meantime, as tuition has soared, and colleges compete ferociously for parent dollars and student enrollment, high grades have become like swank dorms, gleaming gyms and gourmet dining halls: another amenity to keep customers happy.

 

Replacing rigor mortis with rigor

 

The flaws with grades are not some recent revelation. Thinkers like Alfie Kohn have been critiquing the A-F industrial complex for decades. And in elementary and secondary education, Montessori schools, Big Picture schools, , schools in the Mastery Transcript , and others have abandoned traditional grades.

 

But higher education offers promising territory for reform. For well over half of America’s young people, college operates as the gateway to adulthood. Yet large studies have consistently found that the correlation between college grades and job performance is minuscule. In the world that college students are about to enter, a 19th-century lettering scheme is about as useful in promoting excellence as a quill pen.

 

So, what’s the alternative?

 

At Hampshire College and Evergreen State College, professors provide narrative evaluations of student work rather than letter grades. Sarah Lawrence College assigns grades but places greater emphasis on written descriptions of how well students have mastered six critical abilities. Reed College records grades but doesn’t distribute them directly to students (provided they maintain a strong performance), instead promoting intellectual growth through detailed instructor evaluations and conferences. At Brown University, students can elect to take courses for satisfactory/no credit instead of a grade and can request written “course performance reports” on their work.

 

These reforms undo the current regime’s two main defects. They are measures, not targets. And they prioritize the growth of individuals over the convenience of institutions. They demand vastly more time and money than multiple choice tests and letter-studded transcripts because they regard students as complex individuals, not interchangeable parts. They treat college students the way we treat artists, athletes and scientists: by setting high expectations, demanding rigor, and offering detailed individualized feedback and opportunities to improve.

Some might say that these grade-eliminating methods are appropriate only for certain kinds of colleges: those that, shall we say, have a high granola-to-student ratio.

 

Nonsense.

 

Many innovations that began on what seemed like the hippie fringe have gone mainstream. Think yoga, vegetarianism and solar power. Other critics might deride these methods as “soft.” Nonsense again. What’s soft is letting some students fall through the cracks and giving others empty accolades for meager accomplishments.

 

In education, perhaps more than any realm of American life, the status quo is difficult to dislodge. But this is a starting point because once we pull on the thread of grades, the fabric of college education starts unraveling. Why does college last four years for just about every student in every major at every university? Why do courses run in rigid 15-week segments rather than allowing students to move at their own pace? Why do we segregate learning into discrete subjects when real-world problems span disciplines?

 

If we’re serious about preparing young people for the complexities of the 21st century, a radical shake-up of higher ed is in order. And what better place to begin than with A, B, C?

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Pros and Cons of the Letter Grading System

Pros and Cons of the Letter Grading System

This piece was originally published in The Week US on March 30, 2023. Theara Coleman writes about the Pros and Cons of the Letter Grading System in higher education, and the move away from traditional letter grades by some colleges.

How does the traditional school of thought stack up against ‘un-grading,’ an unorthodox assessment method gaining traction among the nation’s educators?

By Theara Coleman, The Week US

Published March 30, 2023

In an attempt at easing the high school-to-college transition, some U.S. universities have begun implementing unorthodox student assessment methods, reigniting a debate over whether the traditional letter grading system still works. The new trend, called “un-grading,” is a part of “a growing movement to stop assigning conventional A through F letter grades to first-year college students and, sometimes, upperclassmen,” NPR reports. Though it existed before the pandemic, un-grading has “taken on new urgency” as of late, “as educators around the country think twice about assigning those judgmental letters A-F to students whose schooling has been disrupted for two years,” The Washington Post wrote last year. Teachers and faculty at Texas Christian University, the University of New Hampshire, and Florida Gulf Coast University, for example, are among the growing group experimenting with some form of un-grading, which might involve allowing students to pick between written and verbal exams and letting them choose how their homework impacts their final score.

To help make better sense of the debate, we’ve outlined a few of the pros and cons of traditional letter grading below:

Pro: Letter grades hold students accountable

Advocates for the conventional grading system say it helps students easily identify “their improvements, mistakes, and areas they can work on,” per Harlem World Magazine. Indeed, a precise scale for performance feedback allows students to discover their strengths and weaknesses and “build self-analytical skills.”

“Things like grades and clear assignments can be enormously useful handrails to help you make your way,” Frederick Hess, director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, told NPR. Assuming that students are “too fragile” to receive feedback from the teachers “strikes me as missing a pretty significant element of the purpose of higher education,” he added.

Con: Letter grades de-emphasize learning

Critics of the letter grading system say that “students have become so preoccupied with grades, they aren’t actually learning,” NPR summarizes. “Grades are not a representation of student learning, as hard as it is for us to break the mindset that if the student got an A, it means they learned,” said Jody Greene, special adviser to the provost for educational equity and academic success at the University of California, Santa Cruz. In fact, Greene added, letter grades “are terrible motivators for doing sustained and deep learning.”

The use of “letter grades as a currency” has “negatively distorted student motivation for generations,” Jack Schneider, professor of education at the University of Massachusetts, wrote for The New York Times “Regardless of their inclination to learn, many students strive first and foremost to get good grades.”

Pro: Letter grades are universally understood

“Grading systems are universal in nature,” Harlem World explained, and using a system that is understood across institutions makes it easier for students to “analyze and figure out where they stand in the world on the basis of their grades.”

Indeed, that the letter grading system is easy to understand is “one clear advantage over other models,” Evan Thompson wrote in a blog for ‘The Best Schools, an education resource website. “Everyone knows what grades mean,” making it “easy for students to understand where they stand in a class or on a particular subject.”

Con: Letter grades perpetuate an unfair system

Champions of un-grading say it addresses “the unfairness of a system in which some students are better ready for college than others,” NPR summarizes. For instance, UCSC’s Greene told NPR, lower-income students are most likely to feel anxiety about grades. “Let’s say they get a slightly failing grade on the first quiz. They are not likely to go and seek help. They’re likely to try and disappear,” Greene said.

Letter grades have been used to “justify and to provide unequal educational opportunities based on a student’s race or class,” Alison Yoshimoto-Towery, chief academic officer of the Los Angeles Unified School District, and Pedro A. Garcia, senior executive director of the division of instruction, said om a 2021 letter to principals. In continuing to use the old system, educators “inadvertently perpetuate achievement and opportunity gaps, rewarding our most privileged students and punishing those who are not.”

Pro: Letter grades encourage competition

Letter grades incentivize students to perform well by encouraging them to compete with each other, wrote educator Patricia Willis in a blog for Study.com, an online learning platform. Competitive students “are willing to work hard because they want to be first among their peers.” A pass/fail system, on the other hand, leaves “little incentive for students to work hard.” This can be especially true if students “feel that extra effort makes no difference in the end.”

Con: Letter grades fail to provide room for improvement

“The A-F letter-grading scale offers little room for improvement once the assignment, assessment, or course has concluded,” said Jon Alfuth, senior director of state policy at the education nonprofit KnowledgeWorks, in a letter to the editor at Education Week.

“Just because I did not answer a test question correctly today doesn’t mean I don’t have the capacity to learn it tomorrow and retake a test,” Yoshimoto-Towery told the Los Angeles Times. “Equitable grading practices align with the understanding that as people we learn at different rates and in different ways and we need multiple opportunities to do so.”

Personal Integrity: The Only Thing You Truly Own

Personal Integrity: The Only Thing You Truly Own

Guest writer Jim Dettore gets into the fundamentals of character with his blog post this week. Personal integrity really is the only thing you truly own, and it builds your reputation.

There’s an old saying that a man’s word is his bond. I believe that with everything in me. If I say I’m going to do something, I do it. At least, I try. And when I fail, which happens more often than I’d like to admit, I do my best to make it right. I’ll apologize, own up to it, and ask how I can fix it. That’s what integrity looks like to me.

But here’s the thing: integrity isn’t about perfection. Only one man ever walked this earth in perfect integrity, and He was nailed to a cross for it. The rest of us? We stumble, we fall, we make mistakes. But what separates people of integrity from everyone else is what happens after we fall. Do we get back up, dust ourselves off, and try again? Or do we shrug, make excuses, and let our failures define us?

For me, faith has played a huge role in my understanding of integrity. My belief in God has helped me stay on track when I could have easily veered off the rails. When I let someone down, I don’t just feel bad about it, I feel convicted. And that conviction doesn’t just weigh on me; it pushes me to do better. To be better. Not because I expect to reach perfection, but because striving for it is the right thing to do.

Teaching Integrity to the Next Generation

I try to teach my kids the same thing. I tell them that at the end of the day, their word is all they have. Make it golden. If they say they’re going to do something, I expect them to follow through. And when they don’t, I expect them to make it right. Not because I’m some drill sergeant of morality, but because life is hard enough without people who say one thing and do another. The world has enough of those. What it needs is people who stand by their word, even when it’s inconvenient. Even when it costs them something.

And I tell them this, not because I had a perfect example growing up, but because I didn’t. I grew up without a mom around to teach me these things. My dad worked hard, but he worked different shifts, and that meant he wasn’t always there to pass on the lessons that come from just being around. So, I learned the hard way. What I call “training by trauma.” Some people call it the school of hard knocks, but whatever you call it, it’s a brutal teacher. You learn by failing. You learn by getting burned. You learn by trusting the wrong people, making bad decisions, and realizing, too late, that you should have listened to that little voice in the back of your head.

But I also learned by watching. I learned from friends who had strong character. From mentors who didn’t just talk about integrity, but lived it. People who made me realize that integrity isn’t about what you say, it’s about what you do. And when what you do doesn’t match what you say, people notice. And trust? Well, trust disappears faster than a paycheck on Friday night when integrity goes out the window.

Trust: The Foundation of All Relationships

Trust is the foundation of every relationship we have. Marriages, friendships, business dealings, you name it. When trust is there, things run smooth. When it’s broken, everything falls apart. And you can’t fake trustworthiness. People see right through it. You don’t get to call yourself a man of integrity. Other people decide that. They watch you. They see how you handle tough situations. They notice if your word holds weight or if you throw it around like it doesn’t mean a thing.

And once you lose trust, good luck getting it back. It’s possible, but it’s an uphill battle. Like rebuilding a burned-down house with nothing but a pocketknife and some chewing gum. You have to be consistent. You have to show over and over again that you mean what you say. And you have to be patient because trust takes time. You can destroy it in seconds, but it takes years to rebuild.

The Hard Lessons of Integrity

I’ve had my fair share of hard lessons. Times when I let people down. Times when I thought I was doing the right thing, only to realize later that I’d missed the mark. But every failure has taught me something. Sometimes, the lesson was about humility and realizing that I wasn’t as reliable as I thought. Sometimes, it was about perseverance and learning that just because I failed once doesn’t mean I can’t try again. And sometimes, it was just about owning my mistakes, standing up, and saying, “I messed up. That’s on me. How do I fix it?”

That’s not easy to do. Nobody likes admitting they’re wrong. But I’ve found that people respect honesty more than perfection. They’d rather deal with someone who messes up and owns it than someone who pretends they never make mistakes. And the truth is, the people who act like they’ve got it all together? They’re usually the ones you need to watch out for.

The Bottom Line

At the end of the day, integrity isn’t about never failing. It’s about how you handle failure. It’s about whether you keep your promises, whether you stand by your word, and whether people can trust you to do what you say you’ll do. It’s about trying your best, even when it’s hard. And when you fall short, it’s about getting back up and trying again, maybe with a different approach, maybe with a little more wisdom than before.

Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that life is full of second chances. And third chances. And fourth chances. As long as you’re willing to do the work, as long as you’re willing to own your mistakes and make things right, there’s always a way forward.

That’s integrity. And that’s what I try to live by.

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The Schools Reviving Shop Class Offer a Hedge Against the AI Future

The Schools Reviving Shop Class Offer a Hedge Against the AI Future

A Paper by Te-Ping Chen

This article was originally published in the Wall Street Journal on March 1, 2025.

In America’s most surprising cutting-edge classes, students pursue hand-on work with wood, metals, and machinery, getting a jump on lucrative old-school careers.

 

School districts around the U.S. are spending tens of millions of dollars to expand and revamp high-school shop classes for the 21st century. They are betting on the future of manual skills overlooked in the digital age, offering vocational-education classes that school officials say give students a broader view of career prospects with or without college.

 

With higher-education costs soaring and white-collar workers under threat by generative AI, the timing couldn’t be better.

 

In a suburb of Madison, Wis., Middleton High School completed a $90 million campus overhaul in 2022 that included new technical-education facilities. The school’s shop classes, for years tucked away in a back corridor, are now on display. Fishbowl-style glass walls show off the new manufacturing lab, equipped with computer-controlled machine tools and robotic arms.

 

Interest in the classes is high. About a quarter of the school’s 2,300 students signed up for at least one of the courses in construction, manufacturing, and woodworking at Middleton High, one of Wisconsin’s highest-rated campuses for academics.

 

“We want kids going to college to feel these courses fit on their transcripts along with AP and honors,” said Quincy Millerjohn, a former English teacher who is a welding instructor at the school. He shows his students local union pay scales for ironworkers, steamfitters and boilermakers, careers that can pay anywhere from $41 to $52 an hour.

 

“Kids can see these aren’t knuckle-dragging jobs,” Millerjohn said.

 

Welding teacher Quincy Millerjohn in one of the campus shops at Middleton High School in Middleton, Wis.

 

In Wisconsin, 32,000 high-school students took classes in architecture and construction during the 2022-2023 school year, a 10% increase over the prior year, state data show: 36,000 enrolled in manufacturing courses, a 13% increase over the same period.

 

“There’s a paradigm shift happening,” said Jake Mihm, an education consultant in the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. “They’re high-skill, high-wage jobs that are attractive to people because they’re hands-on, and heads-on.”

 

Renewed interest among local governments, school districts, businesses and voters has triggered the investment in shop classes, which for decades have lost enrollment, pushed aside by demand for college-prep courses. Ohio and other states offer schools financial incentives for classes that lead to industry certifications in such high-demand jobs as pharmaceutical technician and pipe fitter.

 

 At Middleton High, wood shop teacher Justin Zander added classes to accommodate the 175 students who enroll each semester, up 75 from four years ago. He said he still had to turn away students.

 

Zander, who has taught shop classes for three decades, said students and parents better understand that blue-collar work can pay well. “People are more accepting now,” he said.

‘Good choice’

 

American high schools began jettisoning shop class following the 1983 publication of “A Nation at Risk,” a federal report that urged high schools to raise academic standards. 

 

The 2002 No Child Left Behind Act emphasized standardized test results to measure student achievement. Many schools, under pressure to show academic improvement, spent less on art and music classes, as well as cut back on auto repair and other shop courses. 

 

For decades, shop programs were dogged by allegations that schools shunted students from low-income families into blue-collar careers, while well-off students headed to college.

 

If there is a stigma to taking shop classes, Andres Mendoza Alcala, a Middleton High senior, isn’t seeing it. “I haven’t met a single person that looks down on someone else, just because they’re doing the trades instead of college,” the 18-year-old aspiring carpenter said. “They just say it’s a good choice. These are secure jobs.”  

 

As white-collar hiring slows, more younger workers are finding blue-collar careers. The share of workers ages 20 to 24 in blue-collar jobs was 18% last May, two points higher than it was at the start of 2019, according to an analysis by payroll provider ADP. Enrollment in vocation-focused, two-year community colleges jumped 14% in fall 2024 compared with a year earlier. Enrollment at public four-year colleges rose 3% during that period.

 

Students participating in wood shop and home maintenance classes at Middleton High School.

Brandon Ross at PBK, an architecture firm based in Houston, sees the boom firsthand. School construction projects tied to vocational education account for around 10% of the firm’s work, he said, a figure that has doubled in the past five years.

 

PBK is designing a $140 million career and technical-education center for students in the Spring Branch Independent School District, which serves the Houston area. There will be an auto-repair shop, which hasn’t been available at district schools for years, as well as courses in fields as varied as healthcare, digital animation, filmmaking, culinary arts, cosmetology, and computer networking. 

 

“Not everybody wants to go to college, and some people don’t want to go to college right away,” said Jennifer Blaine, the district superintendent. Enrollment in vocational classes is up 9% over the past four years, she said. The project, supported by a voter-approved bond issue, will accommodate 2,200 students each semester when completed.

 

About 150 students at Sutherlin High School in Sutherlin, Ore., take Josh Gary’s woodworking class, a number equal to nearly half the student body. When Gary took over the shop class in 2014, he had 30 students and little equipment. He bought used tools on Craigslist with his own money and raised funds selling picnic tables he made with students.

 

The wood shop now features laser cutters and computer-assisted routers that enable high-level detail work. Last year, Sutherlin High opened a $750,000 metal shop. A $375,000 state grant paid for new tools, and $50,000 from Harbor Freight Tools for Schools, a program launched by the tool-retailer’s founder, bought a pickup truck for use by the classes.

 

Gary likes to joke that he is a shop teacher who never took shop. When he was in high school during the late 1990s, he said, his father wouldn’t let him enroll. He went to college and law school but decided to teach.

 

“The trades are just more valued these days,” said Gary, noting that class valedictorians have taken his classes. “Electricians and plumbers make great money, and some of our higher-end students see that.”

 

Teacher Justin Zander’s wood shop at Middletown High School.

 

A welding student working at Middleton High School.

 

Test drive

 

Roughly half of college graduates end up in jobs where degrees aren’t needed, according to a 2024 analysis of more than 10 million résumés by labor analytics firm Burning Glass Institute and the nonprofit Strada Education Foundation. 

 

Yet many high schools aren’t equipped to help students who want to skip college. One hurdle is cost. Vocational education is generally more expensive than math or English classes. Shop teachers at Middleton High spend around $20,000 a year on wood, steel, aluminum, and other materials. Updating equipment for manufacturing, woodworking and metalworking cost the district $600,000.

 

Recruiting shop teachers is tough, given the generous wages paid for skilled trade work.

 

For 22 years, Staci Sievert taught social studies at Seymour Community High School in Seymour, Wis. After the school went through three shop teachers in four years, Sievert told the principal she would learn to weld, work with wood, and teach the classes herself. She became a shop teacher in 2017.

 

“I just felt like we were shortchanging our kids, our community and our families if we weren’t raising the bar in tech ed,” Sievert said. In her region of northeast Wisconsin, more than a fifth of the jobs are in manufacturing. “This is who we are,” she said.

 

For some students, shop classes are a steppingstone, not a replacement for higher education. 

Shop teacher Staci Sievert at Seymour Community High School.

 

While Breana Brackett was an honors student at Highland High School in Bakersfield, Calif., she took a construction class at the district’s Regional Occupational Center. She is now at California State University, Chico, working toward a degree in construction management.

 

The course she took in high school, Brackett said, “helped me be sure this is what I wanted to do before I spent money to go to college.”

 

Kern High School District, which encompasses Bakersfield, spent $100 million from a voter-approved bond measure and state grants to build a new vocational center in 2020 and expand its Regional Occupational Center. The two campuses are open to high-school juniors and seniors to take classes, some for-college credit. Roughly, 70% of the students who take courses there continue their education after high school, mostly at community college or trade schools, said Natasha Hughes, who recruits students for the district programs. 

 

A teenager can make $20 an hour as a welder’s helper after graduating from high school with technical-education classes, Hughes said. Another year of welding instruction at a community college can boost pay to $60,000 a year for pipeline jobs in Bakersfield-area oil fields.

 

Even with the expansion of the district’s vocational classes, student demand outpaces available seats. Last school year, 6,200 students applied for 2,500 spots at the two vocational campuses. The waitlist for auto shop is 300 students, said Fernando Castro, one of the instructors.

 

Castro took a $50,000 pay cut when he left his job as an automotive technician in 2015. He said he was inspired by his mother, also a teacher. The district has since adjusted its salary formula to reflect industry experience. Castro now makes $100,000 a year, matching his former income.

“It’s the best job I’ve ever had,” he said, helping launch young adults into well-paying careers and having his summers free.

 

Tom Moser, service manager at Jim Burke Ford Lincoln, said the Bakersfield car dealership employs around two dozen graduates from the school district’s Regional Occupational Center, including two people he hired out of high school last year.

 

Experienced employees have been hard to find. “You’ll post a job and not get a qualified applicant in months,” Moser said. The dealership decided it was better to train workers who graduated from high-school shop classes. Workers who start at $19 an hour can work their way up to six-figure incomes in four years, he said.

 

“You can pretty much write your own ticket once you’ve acquired the skills,” Moser said.

Some students taking the district’s vocational courses learn they aren’t cut out for hands-on work. A number of students who sign up for Chad Wright’s early morning construction courses quit every year, he said. Some aren’t happy about having to rise as early as 5:30 a.m. to catch the bus for class. Others are surprised by how much endurance the course requires.

 

“Once they get in here and realize it’s three hours of actual standing up doing some work,” Wright said, “some of them get a little glassy-eyed and wonder what they signed up for.” 

 

Yet, it is best to learn early about the rigors of the construction trades, he said, especially when early mornings are the best time to work during the hot summers in this part of California. 

“I’m not trying to run anybody off,” Wright said. “But at the same time, I want them to understand what the real world has waiting.”

A Time to Astound

A Time to Astound

A Muddy Boots Blog

Our new guest writer, David Griffith, returns with part 3 of A Muddy Boots Blog: A Time to Astound.

The principle of Muddy Boots is straightforward. You put on your boots, go into the world, ask questions, listen, learn, and act on that knowledge. The asking is easy. It is listening that is hard. So, too, is the acting on the knowledge part. That thought is brought into focus by a quote from Thomas Edison that I recently reread. 

“If we did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves.” – Thomas Edison

Hold that thought and do a little bit of self-reflection. 

How many times have you tried and doubted your ability to pull it off? If you look back and are honest with yourself, you have some examples. In my experience and observations as a manager over 40-plus years, I have seen individuals exceed their own expectations time and time again. 

Opportunity is how we inspire the leap, the stretch, to try and discount the fear of failure. There lies the art of management, both of ourselves and the individuals we lead. 

If you create a safe space, support risk, and challenge yourself to get out of your comfort zone, your team will not only astound themselves but also delight your customers and stakeholders. Do not miss the opportunity to learn and grow, even when you fall short, as scar tissue from such an event is often the best teacher and sets the stage for future success. 

It is also an opportunity to coach. To be straightforward, coaching is not telling an individual what to do. It is often the questions you ask, testing the data, understanding the why of an approach, and the support and space to try. There is a place and time to say no, but use that as a coaching moment by explaining why. 

History tells us that performance breakthroughs come from pushing the limits and often doing the uncomfortable. As I have said here, doing the uncomfortable is where I have learned the most. It is rarely fatal. Granted, there are many ways to improve the odds of success, like collaboration, being open to a range of thoughts and experiences, data, pilots, etc. All that, but in the end, you still need to take the leap—both yourself and your team. 

As we emerge from COVID-19, the election, climate changes, and policy uncertainty and take on all our challenges, we would do well to listen to Edison’s advice. We are capable of more in so many places and opportunities—not just ourselves but the people we lead and the customers we serve. 

It’s time to astound ourselves. 

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Transforming IT from a Cost Center into a Business Asset

Transforming IT from a Cost Center into a Business Asset

Guest writer Kevin Landers brings IT back to the table in this week’s blog post: “Transforming IT from a Cost Center into a Business Asset.”

Does this sound familiar? “At my Equipment Dealership IT isn’t really anyone’s full-time job.” 

Has your IT “team” ended up being an employee who isn’t an IT professional at all? Has IT landed on a service or finance manager or even an operations director who is juggling technology alongside their actual jobs?

We get it. IT is not something we tend to love, and with anything like this, as you have grown, IT has probably just fallen to the bottom of this list of must-do’s until you find yourself in IT hot water. A sign that it is not working as it should, could be a data breach, creaking laptops or even service staff who cannot do their jobs remotely anymore. 

Ultimately, you end up with a reactive approach to IT, which stifles efficiency, risks security breaches, and fails to unlock IT’s true potential as a revenue driver.

But what if IT wasn’t just an overhead cost? What if it could be a strategic asset that improves efficiency, strengthens customer relationships, and even boosts profitability?

The real cost of treating IT as an afterthought.

Many dealerships approach IT like they do equipment maintenance—fix it when it breaks. This reactive mindset often leads to:

  • Downtime that disrupts sales and service – Whether it is a slow network, outdated hardware, or a software crash, unexpected downtime can paralyze dealership operations and result in lost revenue.
  • Cybersecurity vulnerabilities – Equipment dealerships are increasingly targeted by cybercriminals, and outdated IT setups leave them exposed to ransomware attacks, data breaches, and compliance risks.
  • Operational inefficiencies – Without a well-integrated IT strategy, dealerships struggle with disconnected systems, slow processes, and frustrating bottlenecks that limit productivity.
  • Poor customer experience – Customers expect fast, seamless interactions, whether they are inquiring about equipment availability, signing financing agreements, or scheduling service appointments. IT should enable frictionless experiences—not get in the way.

If IT is not actively supporting business growth, it is holding you back. But transforming IT into a true business asset is not just about upgrading hardware and software—it is about aligning IT with dealership goals.

How dealerships can leverage IT for business growth.

 1 Unlock New Revenue Streams with IT Driven Services.

The modern dealership is not just about selling machines—it is about providing a full-service experience. A strategic IT setup can enable:

  • Proactive Equipment Monitoring & Maintenance – Telematics and IoT-connected equipment allow dealerships to provide predictive maintenance services, reducing downtime for customers and creating new revenue opportunities through service contracts.
  • E-Commerce & Digital Sales – Customers expect digital convenience. A well-integrated IT system supports online equipment browsing, financing applications, and even e-commerce sales for parts and accessories.
  • Automated Upsell & Follow-Up – CRM integrations and AI-powered customer insights help dealerships identify sales opportunities and automate follow-ups, increasing conversions and customer lifetime value.

2 Improve Operational Efficiency and Reduce Costs.

Outdated IT leads to wasted time and money. Strategic IT investments drive efficiency by:

  • Optimizing Inventory Management – Smart inventory systems powered by real-time data help dealerships minimize overstock and understock issues, improving cash flow and reducing lost sales.
  • Automating Administrative Tasks – From digital document management to AI-driven invoicing and scheduling, automation eliminates manual work and allows employees to focus on higher-value tasks.
  • Streamlining Communication Across Locations – Cloud-based systems and VoIP solutions enable seamless communication between branches, mobile technicians, and customers, ensuring everyone stays on the same page.

3 Enhance Cybersecurity to Protect your Bottom Line.

Cyber threats are a growing concern, and dealerships are prime targets due to the sensitive financial data they handle. The average ransomware attack costs businesses over $4.5 million in downtime, legal fees, and lost trust. A proactive IT security strategy includes:

  • Endpoint Protection & Threat Detection – Real-time monitoring of devices, networks, and emails helps prevent cyber threats before they cause damage.
  • Data Backup & Disaster Recovery – Regular backups and a solid recovery plan ensure that dealerships can bounce back quickly from cyber incidents or system failures.
  • Access Controls & Employee Training – Limiting system access to authorized personnel and providing regular cybersecurity training helps prevent costly breaches caused by human error.

4 Use IT to Improve the Customer Experience and Loyalty.

Loyalty is built on convenience, reliability, and trust—three things IT can enhance. 

Dealerships that prioritize IT as a customer experience enabler can:

  • Offer Self-Service Portals – Customers can track orders, schedule service, and access invoices online, reducing the need for manual follow-ups.
  • Provide Real-Time Status Updates – Automated notifications keep customers informed about service progress, equipment availability, and financing approvals.
  • Enable Omnichannel Communication – Whether customers prefer phone, email, chat, or SMS, a well-integrated IT system ensures seamless interactions across all channels. It is quite amazing what you can do with VoIP solutions today.

5 Turning IT into a Competitive Advantage.

So, how do dealerships shift from seeing IT as a cost to leveraging it as a business growth tool?

  • Move from Break-Fix to Proactive IT Management

A managed IT services provider (MSP) with dealership expertise can handle maintenance, security, and system optimization—freeing your team to focus on business growth instead of troubleshooting.

  • Invest in IT That Supports Business Goals

Instead of focusing solely on cost reduction, align IT investments with revenue-generating opportunities. This means looking at IT not as an expense but as an enabler of efficiency, security, and customer satisfaction. 

Understanding the connection between IT, efficiency and meeting legal requirements, you can start to unlock opportunities to drive better practices. This leads to better profitability and ultimately growth. 

  • Educate Leadership on IT’s Business Impact

IT investment decisions should not just be left to the IT team. CFOs, COOs, and dealership owners need to understand how IT affects revenue, operations, and risk management. Framing IT as a business asset ensures smarter investments that drive measurable returns.

Even bringing in your own virtual CTO to help bring the discussion of IT to the management team can be an incredibly smart move for larger dealerships or those with visions to extend their branches. 

IT should not be a headache – It should be an asset.

The dealerships that thrive in the coming years will not be the ones that treat IT as a back-office function. They will be the ones that leverage IT to drive efficiency, enhance customer experience, and unlock new revenue streams.

The question is not whether IT is a cost center or a business asset. The question is: Are you using IT to power your dealership’s growth?

If IT still feels like a burden rather than a business enabler, it is time for a different approach—one that turns technology into your dealership’s competitive advantage. 

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The Skilled Workforce Future: Stakeholder Capitalism vs. Shareholder Priority

The Skilled Workforce Future: Stakeholder Capitalism vs. Shareholder Priority

Guest writer Ed Gordon returns this week with a forward-focused blog, “The Skilled Workforce Future: Stakeholder Capitalism vs. Shareholder Priority.”

The United States is in the midst of a severe skilled labor shortage. Wage inflation is also rising. A growing body of evidence points to the continued growth of these negative economic trends into the middle of the 2030s.

 The Corporation in the 21st Century, a 2024 book by the internationally recognized Oxford University economist, John Kay, analyzes why these problems and other vital economic issues are not being addressed by most businesses. He focuses on the tension between shareholder priority and stakeholder capitalism. Stakeholders are “the range of people and organizations who have a legitimate interest in the performance of a business” including employees, customers, suppliers, and the communities in which they operate. He asserts that treating stakeholders merely as a means for maximizing profits for shareholders is destructive and that management needs to strike a balance between these competing interests.

 Until American businesses shift from their current shareholder-priority focus of maximizing short-term profit to more balanced practices, U.S. skilled worker shortages will only continue to increase. America’s future labor economy is at stake.

The Manufacturing Institute warns that American manufacturers need to fill 3.8 million jobs by 2033 with half at risk of remaining vacant due to an under-skilled workforce. Today’s 4th graders will graduate from high school in 2033. Only 33 percent read at grade level and only 37 percent are proficient in math. They will be the core of America’s future workforce. To address current and future skilled worker shortages, businesses need to support employee training, career education, and improved math and literacy instruction in their community schools.

As John Kay states, “Modern economic growth is about building collective intelligence [including a better educated workforce] into familiar resources to create new products and still more advanced capabilities.” Human intelligence is as critical as material resources in sustaining economic prosperity. You can’t have a new reality with an old mentality.

Edward E. Gordon is the founder and president of Imperial Consulting Corporation in Chicago. His firm’s clients have included companies of all sizes from small businesses to Fortune 500 corporations, U.S. government agencies, state governments, and professional/trade associations. He taught in higher education for 20 years and is the author of numerous books and articles. More information on his background can be found at  www.historypresentations.com . As a professional speaker, he is available to provide customized presentations on contemporary workforce issues.

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Laying Down and Picking Up

Laying Down and Picking Up

Contributor David Griffith brings his follow up guest post with “Laying Down and Picking Up.”

I retired the first time at 60 and the second at 70. For the first time in 48 years, I could sleep in. That was 15 months ago, and I have continued to reallocate my time, but I have also learned some things.

Going from 80 MPH to 0 is very tough when you run hard. A good friend reminds me that when you do nothing, you are dead. Fair, but I have also lost one older brother in his mid-80s, and I have another fighting dementia also in his early 80’s. 

 

I have been a member of a YPO forum for some 30 years and one of our good discussions is how do you want to play the back nine? So, while I believe in the kingdom, and that faith comforts me, how do I/we want to play the back nine?

Jacqui and I are committed to giving back. We have been blessed to have had solid careers, are comfortable, and have our kids close. We also have terrific friends. My first decision was to move from being the leader to being a coach and advisor. 

 

At 60, I stepped away from Modern but remained Chairman. 

 

At 70, I retired from Episcopal Community Services. 

 

In March this year, I will step down as Chair of the Academy of Natural Sciences and the Drexel board.

I will fish and travel more, but the joy now comes from being a coach, advisor, and partner with Jacqui’s causes. 

 

I now serve on several private company boards as a director, I joined a family business firm and coach individuals through the firm, and I work with some non-profit organizations and foundations whose mission aligns with our view of the needs and challenges of our time.

There is great joy in being a coach and seeing the individuals you work with benefit from your scar tissue. To focus on talent and team. 

 

I have learned not to tell but to ask the right questions, to teach an organization the power of radar and the value of time to react to change, to share experiences and mistakes, to challenge an individual with the potential to stretch, to learn the power of listening, asking questions, and yes, to wear muddy boots.

I would share that there is a time to lay down and a time to pick up. That time is a gift. That experience can be both an example and an inspiration that you can indeed do more. As Yoda said, “There is no try, only do.”  Accountability is a wonderful gift to give, as is experience to individuals and organizations.

At ECS, I learned the expression, “To go fast, go alone, but to go far, go together.”

So, I am on the back nine, laying down the old, picking up the new, and going together with some new friends.

Life is good.

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Muddy Boots Basics

Muddy Boots Basics

We are proud to introduce our new contributor, David Griffith, making his debut guest post this week with “Muddy Boots Basics.” Here is David, in his own words:

I have had a diverse career, starting with IBM, ROLM, and MCI and then moving to The Modern Group, Ltd., and Episcopal Community Services. These days, I serve on several boards, both for-profit and nonprofit. I do a bit of consulting and coaching working with my long-time colleagues at Delaware Valley Family Business Center. Jacqui tells me I am flunking retirement as she goes out the door to another meeting.

Like many colleagues, I have considered retirement for some time and concluded that doing nothing meant being dead. Interestingly, when I was an active CEO with “retired” board members, I was always fascinated by how they had their solid advice and wisdom on a given issue. Now I know, as I am one. It is called experience or, as I prefer, “scar tissue.” 

Yes, technology, AI, work-from-home, and the internet have all changed the marketplace, but the fundamentals are the fundamentals. Talent, Customer focus, Listening, speaking last, Radar, Governance, Strategy, Gross and Net Profits, Cash flows, and Debt vs Equity are pretty much the same across the business landscape.

Experience shared is a tremendous gift, and accountability is a powerful tool for any leader. Yes, it is always darkest before it turns absolutely black, but the sun does come up. It is good to have people who know this around you when the lights go out.

I am reminded of a similar lesson from my nonprofit days at ECS. The best advice I ever got was from an experienced Rector who served on our board. Remember, he told me, “Preach the gospel, and sometimes use words,” meaning that actions matter way more than talk. I have seen the power of examples, the notion that offices eat last, that if the team does well, it’s the team; if not, it is yours. Listen with intent and value on-the-ground experience. Experience is invaluable and is a gift when it is shared thoughtfully.

So, retirement is a chance to give back, share lessons learned, learn some new tricks, and coach as you would have liked to have been coached. You have an opportunity for legacy with your community, organizations, and family and extended family. You can only fish so many days a year, though I am working on the correct answer. We all have something to share, help carry a load and leave a little less mess. Experience matters, but only if it is open to new ideas, approaches, and risks. The combination is powerful.

Sometimes, all it takes is to be there, listen, and share.

Muddy Boots Basics.

Last week I had the opportunity to speak to an assembled group of leaders of family businesses sponsored by the Delaware Valley Family Business Center. They asked me to share my perspective, aka scar tissue, on the attributes of leadership observed over my years in business and my service as a board chair with privately held for-profit organizations.

I shared five core attributes.

Muddy Boots. 

Leaders who put on their Muddy Boots and go into the field and listen to the answers to two questions. 

  1. How are we doing? 
  2. What can we do better? 

Leaders do not manage the business from behind a desk. The listen to customers, competitors, employees, thought leaders, educators, to the people closest to the work. They seek outside advice and perspective.

Time. 

They are intentional with their time. “They do the important, not the urgent.” They carve outthink time. They are curious. They find the pain and fix it. They invest in learning and talking with contrarians. They think not in the present but three to five years out.

Elephants. 

They create environments where it is safe to name the elephants. They focus on the hiring and the care and feeding of talent. They work to be the dumbest person in subject matter areas. They understand that a bunch of talented people are more valuable than one individual telling people what to do. The world needs inventors and implementers. They understand that inclusion is a seat at the table and that the bigger the table, the better the decisions.

Personal Brand. 

People know what they stand for. They live their mission, their vision, and their values. People understand what their North Star is. They are consistent. They are both firm and calm. They run to the fire, not away from it. People want to work for them. They care more about other people’s success than their own. They put their crew first, and their crew knows it.

Balance. 

They understand that while focus is important, so too is balance. They understand that shareholders are not the only stakeholder, but so too is family and community, employees, vendors, and customers. They understand and act that they are part of a much larger system and that we all carry the responsibility to pay it forward. They do not put greed ahead of grandchildren.

In the end, leadership can be summed up in the concept of legacy. True leadership understands that it is never about them. Rather it is about the organization they lead and the people they serve. They understand that old African proverb that “to go fast, go alone, but to go far, go together.” Leaders pull the rope; they don’t push it. 

They understand that personal achievement and economic security is a function of stakeholder service. All of your stakeholders. Especially your future ones.

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The Power of Work Ethic: Lessons from a Lifetime of Hard Work

The Power of Work Ethic: Lessons from a Lifetime of Hard Work

Guest writer Jim Dettore returns this week with some thoughts on the good habits of hard work in “The Power of Work Ethic: Lessons from a Lifetime of Hard Work.”

I started working when I was 14 years old and have never really been without a job. At 59, I can look back and see how my work ethic has carried me through every season of life, good times and bad, financial struggles and success, divorce, and sorrow. For over ten years now, I’ve run my own successful business, and through it all, one principle has remained true: A strong work ethic is one of the greatest assets a person can have.

The Challenges of Work Ethic Today

Today, work ethic faces new challenges. The world moves fast, technology creates shortcuts, and social media often promotes instant gratification over perseverance. Many people expect overnight success without the years of dedication it takes to build something worthwhile. Some believe that hard work is outdated or unnecessary in a world of automation and remote jobs.

But the reality is that no matter how much technology evolves, work ethic will always matter. Showing up on time, doing what you say you’ll do, pushing through difficulties, and going the extra mile. These are traits that never go out of style. Employers value them, customers appreciate them, and they make the difference between a life of constant struggle and one of meaningful progress.

My Journey: Bouncing Back and Giving Back

I’ve had moments where I was broke, but my work ethic always helped me bounce back. I never saw failure as an excuse to stop trying. I saw it as a lesson. Hard times will come, but if you stay committed, they don’t have to define you.

One of the most rewarding parts of success is the ability to give back. When I’ve had plenty, I’ve made it a priority to help others. There’s something powerful about lifting people up, sharing what you’ve learned, and watching others grow because of the effort you put in.

Advice to Young People: It’s Never Too Late to Develop Work Ethic

If you’re young and just starting out, or if you feel like you’ve been struggling with consistency, know this: It’s never too late to develop a strong work ethic. Here are a few things I’ve learned along the way:

  1. Show Up, Even When You Don’t Feel Like It

Success doesn’t come from working only when you’re motivated. It comes from discipline and doing what needs to be done, day in and day out.

  1. Take Ownership of Your Work

Whether you’re flipping burgers, running a business, or working in an office, treat every job as if you own it. Pride in your work will set you apart.

  1. Be a Good Role Model for Your Family

Your children and loved ones are always watching. Your work ethic, attitude, and how you handle challenges will shape their perspective on life. Teach them the value of hard work by showing them what it looks like.

  1. Be Reliable and Keep Your Word

If you say you’ll do something, do it. Reliability builds trust, and trust opens doors. People remember those who follow through on their commitments.

  1. Work Hard, but Work Smart

Hard work is essential, but learning to work efficiently is just as important. Always look for ways to improve and grow. Learn new skills, adapt to changes, and use your time wisely.

  1. Always Save for the Slow Times

No matter how much money you make, life has ups and downs. Always put something away for rainy days. Having a financial cushion can keep you from making desperate decisions and allow you to keep pushing forward.

  1. Seek Out Mentors and Respect Their Teachings

No one succeeds alone. Find mentors who have been where you want to go. Listen to their wisdom, ask for advice, and apply what they teach you. Respect their time, and one day, pay it forward by mentoring someone else.

  1. Learn from Setbacks

Everyone fails. The key is to learn from mistakes, adjust, and keep moving forward. Failure is a steppingstone to success if you use it to grow.

  1. Have a Strong Relationship with God

Through all the ups and downs of life, my faith has been my foundation. A strong relationship with God gives you guidance, strength, and the ability to persevere when things get tough. Pray for wisdom, trust His plan, and keep walking forward in faith.

  1. Help Others Along the Way

True success isn’t just about what you achieve; it’s about what you give. Helping others creates a legacy far greater than any paycheck. Lift people up, share what you’ve learned, and make a difference.

Final Thoughts

A strong work ethic is one of the most valuable things you can develop. It will carry you through hardships, help you build a life you’re proud of, and give you the ability to make a difference in the lives of others. No matter where you are in your journey, start today. Show up, work hard, save for the future, learn from those ahead of you, stay close to God, and keep going. The rewards will come, not just in financial success, but in the deep satisfaction of knowing you lived with integrity, resilience, and purpose.

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