Beyond School Improvement: The Journey to Innovative Leadership

Carol Commodore, Ed.D.Leadership, Learning and Assessment , LLC

NAESP Conference, April 10, 2010

World Is Changing at an Incredible SpeedDigital speed and innovative

technology are affecting every aspect of our lives▫Communication▫Economies▫Information▫Occupations/Professions▫Family life▫Learning

Today’s Elementary Students Will Retire Around the Year 2065

• What will their world look like?

• What will prepare them for a world

that we cannot even imagine?

•WHAT WILL STUDENTS NEED TO KNOW AND DO FOR THE 21ST CENTURY?

The principal goal of education is to create people who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done—people who are creative, inventive discoverers.

Jean Piaget, renowned child psychologist and educator

The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.

Alvin Toffler, author and futurist

Schools for the Future?

•Can our schools continue to be

what they have been and still

prepare our students for an

ever-changing world?

More Than Just Improving Our Schools, Innovation is Also

Needed to Meet Today’s and Tomorrow’s Challenges

Technical Problem

Adaptive Challenge

⌘

“Redecorating”

Solve problems with what you already know

“Remodeling”

A new way must be learned to solve problems

Source: Davidovich, Nikolay, Laugerman and Commodore (2010), Beyond School Improvement., Corwin Press

CHALLENGES THAT LEADERS FACE

Leading for improvement

Leading for innovation

“Indeed, the single most common source of leadership failure we’ve been able to identify—in politics, community life, business, or the non-profit sector—is that people, especially those in positions of authority treat adaptive challenges like technical problems.”

Source: Heifetz and Linsky (2002) Leadership on the Line, Harvard Business School Press

Technical Problems &Adaptive Challenges

One leader’s technical problem is another leader’s adaptive challenge and vice versa.

Leaders face both types of challenges

Are you approaching changing yourself, your team or organization for the future as if it is a technical problem, or as if it is an adaptive challenge?

Are you hoping to help your organization get better or become different? How?

Take a Moment

Exa

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The important challenge facing all leaders within organizations is to realize that both improving and innovating are necessary and that both need to be a part of their leadership repertoire.

Source: Davidovich, Nikolay, Laugerman and Commodore (2010), Beyond School Improvement., Corwin Press

Improve or Innovate?It involves knowing when to do which—

when to seek solutions within existing practice and when to seek solutions beyond what is currently possible.

Redesigning is making something different than what it is now without abandoning the essence of the system in place

ATTRIBUTES OF INNOVATIVE ORGANIZATIONS

Choose to be disturbedSelf-referencingAmplificationEngagement

Choose to be disturbed… means that you choose to be open

to an experience regardless of how

uncomfortable it makes you feel

trusting that it will result in

something better

Self-referencing…

occurs when we reference a

circumstance against a vision,

mission, set of beliefs, or

principles to guide our thinking

and creative energies

Amplification…

the process by which an idea

gains strength and grows into

something we may not have

thought even possible

Engagement…

when a new idea emerges and is

allowed to engage with existing

ideas to see what will develop

along the way

Example

Where am I at in my ability to nurture the Attributes of Innovation? Mark which of these characteristics your leadership encourages … and to what degree.

Disturbance:Minimizing disturbances………..Moving into disturbancesLooking for quick fixes……….....Exploring deeper issues

Self-referencing:Referencing needs of self……….Referencing “big picture”Referencing current practices….Referencing preferred

state

SELF-ASSESSMENT: Attributes of Innovation (To Do)

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.

John Quincy Adams

Leadership

Important DistinctionLeading for improvement and leading for innovation require different leadership attributes.

Improvement values:

Quantitative

measurement

Regulating

Stabilizing

Controlling variables

Standardization

Innovation values:

Ambiguity

Uncertainty

Letting

disturbances

create imbalance –

creating the space

for renewal and

adaptation

It is …easier for leaders to praise innovation in theory than to support it in practice.

Rosabeth Moss Kanter, author and professor

Develop the Courage to Leap

•Within you▫Courageous Conversation

•Within the organization▫Creating the conditions where innovative leaders can emerge from anywhere in the organization

Leadership Courage. . .possessing the ability to let go of past practice when necessary, to move into the void of uncertainty, take adaptive action while at times having only minimal information, and to develop the trust that allows others to follow to the new destination.

Innovating While Also Improving

Requires a different mindset; involves

innovative leadership practices

▫Embrace dissonance

▫Create context

▫Change field of perception

▫Let ideas collideSource:Davidovich, Nikolay, Laugerman and Commodore (2010), Beyond School Improvement., Corwin Press

Embrace DissonanceMeans developing sensitivity to

disturbances; to notice information that is inconsistent with your current mental models

▫Yields to uncertainty/ambiguity▫Is a humble learner who makes

connections▫Uses dissonance as a creative force▫Chooses to be disturbedSource:Davidovich, Nikolay, Laugerman and Commodore (2010), Beyond School Improvement., Corwin Press

Create ContextMeans to create a well-articulated and

deeply understood shared purpose where everyone knows why they are there and they feel free to act within that purpose to better the organization.

▫Creates freedom through referencing a shared vision and purpose

▫Keeps a structure through referencing policy/procedures

Source:Davidovich, Nikolay, Laugerman and Commodore (2010), Beyond School Improvement., Corwin Press

Change Field of PerceptionMeans changing your perception with

new information and feedback; viewing information in relationship to forming new ideas and amplifying their meaning

▫Increases the flow of information in the system

▫Encourages people to interact and interpret the information for themselves, creating ownership and empowerment

Source:Davidovich, Nikolay, Laugerman and Commodore (2010), Beyond School Improvement., Corwin Press

Let Ideas Collide

Is about creating the conditions for new responses to become the new norm—for the old ways to be replaced by new ways

▫Perceives order as an interactive process▫Holds together the bouncing around of

ideas through common purpose; new order comes about through structure and freedom

▫Understands that change is not linear

Source:Davidovich, Nikolay, Laugerman and Commodore (2010), Beyond School Improvement., Corwin Press

Example

As a team explore the following questions:

As an organization, do we view dissonance as a foe or an ally? Why or why not?

Is our organization currently committed only to stability and control or are we willing to move toward an environment of uncertainty and messiness?

What issues must we address right now? What courageous conversations must we have with ourselves and others?

Team Conversation Starters

Innovation events occur when new ideas are tried; innovative culture occurs when new ideas become ingrained in the way work is done.

Dave Ulrich, author and professor

Improvement Orientation

Innovation Orientation

Leader’s role Create stability

Use instability to create

meaning & relationships

Important mindset

Certainty and predictability

Uncertainty and ambiguity

Overarching value

Control Trust

Source: Davidovich, Nikolay, Laugerman, Commodore (2010), Beyond School Improvement: The Journey to Innovative Leadership, Corwin Press

Action Planning for the Innovating the Way You Lead

•Where do I want to be?•Where am I now?•How do I close the gap?

LEADERSHIP

“Excellence can be attained if YOU

…CARE more than others think is wise

…RISK more than others think is safe

…DREAM more than others think is

practical

…EXPECT more than others think is

possible.”Author Unknown

Contact Information

Pauli Nikolay pnikolay3@charter.net

Carol Commodore carolcommodore@aol.com

Bonnie Laugerman bonnielaugerman@gmail.com

Websitewww.beyondschoolimprovement.com

Shaping Leadership for Innovative Schools and Districts•When: August 4-5, 2010•Where: Cardinal Stritch University,

Milwaukee, WI•Cost: $385 by June 15, $400 after June

15: includes cost of the seminar, continental breakfast, lunch, our book and seminar materials

•For more information or to express interest: Email leadership@stritch.edu or call 414-410-4646