“Productive Discomfort” Through Zero-Based Strategic Thinking
January 18, 2014There is the traditional and relatively easy way of developing strategy for your school. And then there is a non-traditional, more complex, and RIGHT way. Which is better in a time of rapid change? Traditional strategic planing and implementation goes something like this: Brainstorm ideas. Group those ideas together. Make sure all of the bases…
Value Is Not a 4-Letter Word
January 15, 2014I find that most educators understand the importance of their school’s value proposition. Simply, if families do not see relative value in their school, there is a rapidly increasing array of alternative options they can pursue. Decreasing enrollment demand is a root problem for both public and private schools. An important and passionate minority of…
The Value of Great Mashed Potatoes, via Seth Godin
January 15, 2014I was going to write a post about “value” today and then saw this post from Seth Godin (HT Angel Kytle on Twitter). Here’s the thinking that leads just about every all-you-can-eat buffet to trend to mediocrity: “Oh, don’t worry about how fresh the mashed potatoes are, after all, they’re free.” Indeed, as far as…
From My Leadership Archive
January 14, 2014I have read and commented on three or four recent blog posts related to leadership in schools. I went back through some of my own harvesting of leadership research and found these short reflections on leadership practices that resonate at effectively innovating schools: Leading innovation is always best done from the front. Innovation is not…
What Really Works? Crowdsource Ideas With Eric Juli and Design Lab School
January 13, 2014Feel like a challenge? Want a GREAT professional development opportunity? Sure, your school work is FULL of challenges; why take on one more? Well, because that is what we do! If you have followed this blog you will have read about Eric Juli and Design Lab School in Cleveland. It is an inner city choice school serving the…
Still Time to Sign Up For Groundbreaking NBOA Collaboration
January 12, 2014We know that one of the most powerful keys to effective innovation is the creation and leveraging of networks. We know that bringing new ideas to our organization enriches our DNA. We know that schools share common problems, and, as I found on #EdJourney last year, the problem that seems intractable at your school has…
How Do We Know What Will Create Value?
January 11, 2014Innovation is the process of enhancing the value of an organization. In schools, if we believe that what customers will value in the future is the same as in the past, we run a real risk of becoming increasingly irrelevant as educators. How do we gauge what might have value? This is one of those…
This Is How Brushfires are Fanned!
January 8, 2014When I was a little camper I learned how to build a one-match fire: light good, dry tinder and be ready to blow the sparks into a flame. That is what so many of us are doing in education, and it just does not take that much time or effort. Yesterday two small leadership teams…
Where the Magic Happens
January 4, 2014Joined in on the always-good #satchatwc this morning, hosted by Dave Burgess. We can talk all we want about how to transform learning. Well, this just about sums it up in a picture, via Ashley Goral that was originally posted by Jessica Hagy:
Do You Have Discussions Like This At Your School?
January 2, 2014This is what “school” looks like in the future. It is the start of a new year. What better time to think of a new approach to learning, not just for our students, but for ourselves as educators, as passers of the flame of interest and inquiry, not bits and bytes, to a next generation? …
Outside the Frame of Classroom and Organization
December 28, 2013If we always think within the frame of the known, we never get outside the frame. This holds for classrooms as well as organizations. Teachers, don’t stop reading just because the word ‘strategy’ appears; you are strategic leaders! I was editing a chapter for my book and wanted to share this bit, prompted by school…
Christmas Wish
December 25, 2013On a warm Christmas morning, my first thought is to count my blessings, thank my wide circle of friend/colleagues for the year, and wish everyone a happy return on the day…which of course I do! Then I think what I would really like for Christmas… So deep are the divides of the human experience: north…
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