What business are you in?

Sounds silly, doesn't it?  Your in the school business.  You look and act like a school: students and teachers arrive, classes begin and end, exams are given, portfolios evaluated, and grades (or whatever) are awarded.  Some students even graduate at this time of year.  How silly to ask what business you are in!

Except you're not, really, in the school business.  Because "school" is a commodity.  Every community has one.  If you charge a premium for "school," as every independent school does, then you had better be in a non-commodified business. Like "creating a life" or "growing ethical, intellectual human beings" or "saving the world".

So there's your topic for your next board retreat: what business are we in?  And if you can't figure it out, then you have your answer: you are in the commodity business.