You Need to Watch Game Film

When Curriculum Forgets its Own History

Education is meant to be a place where we learn from the past and what has been discovered. It is also meant to shine light on opportunity for growth and change. Yet classrooms often repeat the same narrow versions of history, knowledge, and success, year after year. Sometimes, classrooms even cause the same harm that they teach about.

Curriculum frequently centers the same stories, the same thinkers, and the same lived experiences. Other histories are added later, shortened, or treated as optional. Yes, Black History Month (February) and Women's History Month (March) are an incredible spotlight on marginalized groups. But, just like inclusion work, it's not a quantified representation, it's a mindset shift. Integrate all the time and integration won't feel forced. Be inclusive all the time and representation won't feel forced. The use of 'one-off' style integration sends subtle but powerful message. It suggests that some knowledge is foundational, while other knowledge is extra.

When we do not examine the outcomes of this approach, we repeat it. Students disengage. Achievement gaps persist. Certain learners feel disconnected from what they are taught. These are not new problems. We have decades of evidence showing that when students do not see themselves or their communities reflected in learning, outcomes suffer.

If educators watched their own game film, the patterns would be clear. We would see which voices were amplified and which were missing. We would see which students thrived and which quietly withdrew. We would see how narrow content limits critical thinking and curiosity. Instead, teachers reuse curriculum year over year and blame the student when they struggle and fail. "They never did their assignments." "They didn't pay attention in class." "They weren't engaged." 

When educators intentionally include diverse lived experiences, histories, and ways of knowing, learning changes. Students connect knowledge to real life. They understand that the past shapes the present. Most importantly, they learn that their own experiences are valid sources of insight. That is the start of how education stops repeating old mistakes and starts building something stronger.

When Organizations Reply Losing Strategies

Workplaces are full of lessons, yet many organizations refuse to study them. Instead, they rely on tradition, hierarchy, and familiar leadership styles, even when results show those approaches are not working.

Leadership is often treated as a position rather than a skill. "Management" and "leadership" have become dangerously synonymous. Decisions come from the top. Innovation is expected, but control remains centralized. When this model fails, the response is often more pressure, not more reflection.

If organizations watched their game film honestly, they would see the same moments replaying. Employees stop speaking up. Creativity declines. Burnout rises. Turnover increases. These outcomes are not accidents. They are the predictable result of systems that silence many voices while relying on a few.

History has already shown us something important. Companies that survive and grow over time are not the ones with the loudest leaders. They are the ones that trust people at all levels to think, contribute, and lead. They understand that leadership is a practice that can be learned and demonstrated anywhere in the organization. 

When autonomy and power are shared, employees take ownership. Problems are identified earlier. Solutions are tested faster. Growth becomes sustainable instead of reactive. This is not a theory. The evidence already exists. The only question is whether organizations are willing to learn from it.

When Communities Repeat the Same Plans

Economic development, or the lack of it, is one of the clearest places where history keeps repeating itself. The same strategies are reused. The same reports are referenced. The same “key figures” are invited to advise, collaborate, speak, sit on boards, and run conversations across multiple organizations and communities.

The logic often sounds reasonable. These people are experienced. They have held "leadership" roles. They are familiar faces. But here is the uncomfortable truth: if Organization A is not innovating, attracting talent, or growing in meaningful ways, the same leader from that organization is unlikely to produce different results for Organization B simply by sitting on another board or speaking at another event.

Recycling the same voices across systems does not create new thinking. It creates homogenous ideas that reinforce what already exists. When everyone at the table has similar backgrounds, networks, and ways of understanding problems, solutions begin to look the same. Over time, economic development becomes stagnant, even while activity continues.

When development efforts fail to create equitable growth, the response is often to rebrand the strategy rather than rethink it. New language is introduced. New slogans appear. But the people shaping decisions remain the same. Decades of outcomes show us exactly where this leads. Programs miss their intended audience. Trust erodes between institutions and communities. Growth becomes uneven, fragile, and dependent on a small group of beneficiaries.

This approach made more sense during industrialization, when economic growth followed predictable patterns. Build factories. Create jobs. Expand infrastructure. But that model no longer reflects reality. Today’s economy is driven by human networks. It grows through relationships, ideas, collaboration, creativity, and trust. Innovation comes from connection, not just capital.

Human-network-based economies require diverse perspectives to thrive. They rely on people with different lived experiences, skills, cultural knowledge, and community insight. When economic development tables exclude those voices, they limit their own potential. They design systems for a world that no longer exists.

The game film is long and detailed. Communities have watched the outcomes of exclusion play out again and again. Housing shortages grow while plans stall. Small businesses struggle to access support. Entire populations feel disconnected from development that claims to be for everyone.

When economic development includes lived experience and local insight from the start, outcomes improve. Investments align more closely with real needs. Trust begins to rebuild. Growth becomes shared rather than concentrated. This is not new knowledge. The evidence already exists.

The question is not whether diverse perspectives matter. The question is whether we are willing to stop replaying the same film and invite new voices to help change the outcome.

What happens when we refuse to watch the game film?

There is a saying that history repeats itself. Not because people are incapable of learning, but because they often choose not to look back honestly. Patterns repeat when lessons are ignored, when mistakes are explained away, and when the same people keep making the same decisions in the same rooms. But how do we know we are at this point if we are in an echo chamber? We don't - because those people who think like us, act like us, and are like us... they tell us what we're doing is right.

In many spaces, the same voices still dominate. The same perspectives shape outcomes. The same people sit at every table. When this happens, we are not just stuck in the present – we are replaying the past.

If we treated our systems the way athletes treat competition, we would pause, rewind, and watch the game film. We would study what worked, what failed, who was left out, and what the final outcome was. Instead, we often charge forward, convinced this time will be different, even when the setup looks exactly the same.

History repeats because reflection is uncomfortable. It requires admitting that familiar approaches may be flawed. It requires sharing power. It requires listening to people who have not always been heard.

It is easier to keep inviting the same voices, trust the same methods, and hope for different results. But hope without learning is not strategy.

Change the Outcome

Watching the game film does not mean dwelling on failure. It means learning from it. It means asking hard questions about who was included, who was ignored, and what the real impact was. It can also be a celebration. Watching game film also includes what worked, so you can do it again and again.

When classrooms, workplaces and communities learn from their own histories and from others, progress becomes possible. We stop repeating mistakes and start building on what works.

The past is full of lessons. The evidence is clear. The outcomes are documented.

The only thing left is the choice to learn.

Because history does not repeat itself by accident. It repeats when we refuse to watch, listen, and change.