Cui bono?

It's been a long time since I studied Latin. It's been almost as long since I was in graduate school. There are, however, a few phrases that I remember as having raised my consciousness in unexpected ways. I am reminded tonight of one phrase that has contributed, for better or worse, to who I am today.

The phrase is cui bono. The English translation of this Latin phrase is roughly, "in whose interest" or more literally, "who benefits." When listening to arguments that make the hairs on your neck stand up, that fail the smell test, or seem needlessly opaque, the idea of who benefits is a good one to consider. I promise to return to this thought, but first the foil.

I shared with you earlier this week a link to a video produced by RSA Animate and narrated by Sir Ken Robinson. The title was "Changing Education Paradigms." In an eleven minute forty second journey tracing the beginnings of formal education in classical times to the relatively new system of public education emerging a hundred and fifty years ago, Sir Ken pulls no punches.

Education has a DNA, says Sir Ken. It is a culture and propagates a culture. Unfortunately, continues the narrator, the historic DNA of public education has become maladaptive. The school bell schedule, separate classrooms, subject matter disciplines, and age-alike grouping are born of the intellectual culture of the Enlightenment and the economic circumstances of the Industrial Age.

Education, says Sir Ken, is modeled on the interests of industrialism and in the image of it. About the age-alike grouping we persist in propagating, it is as if the date of manufacture was the most important thing about the child. The narrator argues that we drive out creativity in our schools and their inhabitants by insisting on conformity and standardization, getting convergent answers at the expense of divergent thinking, and by failing to encourage collaboration.

I seriously doubt that every indictment of public education cited by Sir Ken is as prevalent in the Triangle as it may be in less fortunate places. And some standardization, when it leads to desired outcomes for example, is okay. And not every answer is acceptable when factual information is sought.

To the extent, however, that the current paradigm of public education fails to prepare students for a global economy or for being not only a citizen of a country but of a world, it is worth asking the question: Cui bono?

In whose interest might it be to advance conformity and standardization over uniqueness and divergent thinking? In whose interest is it to measure the impact of one teacher at a time when my teaching and principal experience says teachers rarely act alone in their contribution to student learning? Who benefits from advancing an industrial model of education that every other nation on earth is trying to reform--and some already have?

Unlike some full-mooners I know, I doubt that there is a conspiracy afoot to destroy public education. I think, however, that because the culture of school as we have always known it is so strong, we sometimes need to ask difficult questions to shake things up.

I have faith that we will reform before it's too late. I just don't want the body count to be too high in the trying.

Exploiting Chaos

The longer I'm in this job, the more replaceable I long to be. You read that correctly. As the Chief Vision Keeper of Triangle Leadership Academy, the organization's executive director ideally is walking the "building leadership capacity" talk such that his replacement is already in the wings.

I wish that were true. Maybe it's a good thing that I have no intention of leaving the job anytime soon. Besides having no protege to replace me, I'm still having too much fun doing what I do.

I owe part of the fun I'm having to my self-appointed mandate to remain as current as possible about all things leadership, including new books. My mentor, Joe Peel, was a good influence on me that way. I never saw the man without a book in his hand. So what am I thinking about tonight? A book.

The title of this blog, "Exploiting Chaos," was ripped from a little tome I found in Border's sale bin last weekend. I paid $3.99 and as it turns out, I would have gladly paid ten times as much for it.  Written by Jeremy Gutsche, the rest of my Border's bargain book title is 150 Ways to Spark Innovation During Times of Change. 

I was interested but not sold. Then the blurb on the jacket jumped out at me.  From another author about whose books I have previously written came these words: "A rousing battle cry for the kind of creative, risky thinking that is most needed in times of change and disorder."

Alright! Is that is not what we've been hearing from our educator friends, Tony Wagner and Will Daggett?  If Daniel Pink of A Whole New Mind and Drive fame was going on record in favor of Gutche's unusual little book (and it truly is) then I needed to spend a little time with it.

Without reviewing the entire thing, let me circle back to why I long to be able to replace myself by referring to but one chapter in this amazing book. And believe me, choosing one lesson from among chapter titles including "Chase the right dream," "Fire people for not failing," and "Hire freaks," was tough.

The chapter I want to focus on is called, "Become leaderless." Gutsche reminds us here of the starfish whose decentralized nervous system compels a new arm to grow back when predators, for example, have gobbled up the previous one.  In fact, if something ripped off all five arms, you don't kill the starfish; you just wind up with another starfish.

The author continues by citing two negative examples, including terrorist networks and Napster, as well as positive examples, Alcoholics Anonymous and Global Peace Networks. Gutsche points out that none of the above entities are organized in the formal or political sense. What they do have in common, he says, is that they are driven by ideology. Gutsche concludes: "Chaos should not be tempered with structure; it should be harnessed with ideology."

Ideology, in my mind, need not be a scary thing despite both national and local examples of its being a substitute for deliberate and fact-based thinking and action. Parents, are you not driven by the ideology of love for your children? Citizens, are we not compelled by a vision of a more perfect union? Business and education leaders, are we not invested in leadership at every level? Gutsche's notion of leaderless organizations is certainly food for thought in the coming weekend.

An Anniversary

It's official--exactly one year ago tonight, I began this blog. I promised you then that I would communicate with you frankly and faithfully.

My simple hope was to keep you informed about TLA's work and the thoughts of its executive director. As former New York mayor, Ed Koch, used to ask, "How 'm I doing?"

Do you remember the title of that first blog? I called it, "Dare to Diffuse." I had wanted to hear more from you, and on my personal email account, I did. Thank you. 

I did a little inventory taking earlier today. Except for one Friday in July and another in December, I had something to report every week. Sometimes my topic was an event that happened that very day, and often that week. Most of them contained a leadership lesson. On other occasions, I reviewed a book or two that had captured my imagination and seemed to have relevance for both business and education.

Interestingly, however, I got the most feedback from you on my family issues--my Mom's love for my children, my daughter's birthday party, my brother's grave illness and extraordinary recovery. There was one notable exception. Folk from across the United States weighed in on "Our Friend, Howard" as it turned out, The Learning Consortium co-founder, Howard Schultz, is their friend, too.

Sometimes you saw humor, sometimes you saw my frustration, and at other times, something I said seemed to inspire you. I learned that if you don't want to be called names, don't start a blog. On the heels of one entry, a fellow said I was a "mensch." Another person started calling me "Admiral Stockdale" after my reminding you of the need both to confront brutal facts even as one envisions one's liberation and a better future.

One of you didn't appreciate my bemoaning the possible demise of TLA amid the budget meltdown. Thank you. It was whining and unworthy of a leader, Through your honest feedback, I was convicted of its vanity and stopped. There are many other things we would all be much sorrier to lose.

So here is where how I am marking our anniversary. Do you remember when I thought my only brother, John, was going to die? The message I shared with you then was as necessary for me to write as it was heart-rending. Your outpouring of support was a comfort. I didn't know it then, but I learned the Lord had work left for my brother to do.

Even before John recovered, I found peace. With as much love as I can send you now, wherever the road leads us, may we find peace. Who knows, maybe a higher power has more work for us, too.

TLA Reset

Happy New Year! It is the time for resolutions, recommitment, and reaffirmation. Right? Not so fast. An online BNET headline posted earlier this week shouted, "To hell with resolutions. What's on your 'stop doing' list?" Good point. Sometimes we just need to do less to do better. So that's what's on my mind tonight.

Beyond a virtual high five celebrating our successfully turning the page on another year (I am blogging and you are reading, after all), my not-so-subtle purpose is to write briefly about what we TLA insiders are calling "Reset 2011."

What is Reset 2011? Well, let's begin with what we are resetting. We turned five-years-old this month. Our revenue stream is dry. Our staff has never been leaner. The leader-at-the-top churn has never been greater. School and districts' leadership development needs have never been more pressing. On the other hand, our portfolio of learning assets has never been more complete nor our commitment to making a difference stronger. And at the risk of immodesty, we have never been smarter.

So these are the current and brutal facts. If ever there was a need for resetting, now is the time. Part of the reset, in fact, involves what we are "stopping doing." That would be waiting around for clients to define us. After five years of trying to reside within and be owned by our member districts, afraid of being perceived as the smart-alecks from Raleigh, I am persuaded that TLA needs to be more proactive in saying who it is, why it is, what it intends to do and not do, and how it intends to do it.

Another interpretation of Reset 2011 is to say, we need to be less smorgasbord and more Nutrisystem. By that I mean, what folk want and what they need are quite often very different. "We want some of that '7 Habits of Highly Effective People' or we'd like a little 'Crucial Conversations'" needs to stop. Instead, clients need to be asked, "What problem do you want to solve and what data suggests that it is a problem? Finally, we should ask, "When TLA has done whatever it does, what result do you expect?"

There, I said it. Of course, however the reset looks is not my call alone. I will be spending time with senior leaders in every district over the next couple of months, beginning with TLA's host district and my employer, Wake County Public School System. I have already asked for an hour from every WCPSS superintendent and division chief as I take a kind of "listening tour."

This is enough for now. Stand by for reset updates as the early weeks of 2011 draw on. Whatever we do, I vow to do it with you or not at all.