I was recently invited to an "education workforce summit." When I asked one of the organizers what is an "education workforce summit" I was told that it's an event where business people from the chamber of commerce get into the same room with the local school superintendent and a principal then the business people complain at the educators for an hour. I was warned that I would find the event frustrating and unproductive. I appreciated the warning. This seems to be an issue of people living and working in their "silos." For the business people, their focus is on the current operations of their firm. And they might give a little thought to future worker needs but they expect the school system to train future workers. For the teachers and counselors, their focus is on the current operations of their school, where their priorities are keeping the kids safe and teaching them how to learn. When I listen to business leaders (often members of the local chamber of commerce and sometimes even school board members), they express the opinion that the teachers control students career interests and whether or not those students choose to stay in the community after high school. Meanwhile, the educators get frustrated that these business people who refuse to even allow a field trip suddenly complain that their worker needs are not being met by the local high school and that their training concerns are not being heard by the teachers and counselors. I've had to hear both sides yell about the lack of communication and vision from the other side (yes, in presenting to chamber executives they have yelled at me during my presentation that the biggest problem in their community is the teachers don't care about the needs of the employers AND I've had teachers yell at me during my presentations that businesses don't get involved with the local schools at all except to complain about a lack of qualified workers who aren't meeting an ever-changing criteria of training needs). In other words, the educators seem to be upset that the business people focused on their current business operations rather than on future workers. Meanwhile the business people are shocked the educators are focused on keeping the students safe and educated rather than training for jobs far into the future. It seems that each side seems to be saying: “Why aren’t you catering to my future needs that I cannot entirely define?” This framework where both sides are in their own silos (or on their own campus) without interacting cannot work in the long run. I'm looking forward to attending this upcoming "education workforce summit" now that I've been properly warned by the organizer.