Stepping Up, Not "Out":What Leaders Can Do Now to Lead and Manage Change

Have you ever been Stuck on an Escalator? Literally or figuratively? A literal stuck "seems" to warrant an obvious fix (except for these fine people in this video)--at least it makes sense that it would be. I have however been stuck on a metaphorical escalator a few times in my life and career, and it takes many forms: apathy, complacency, lack of vision, laziness, self-focused, etc. Not only is this video hilarious, it is àpropos to the way we sometimes respond to change. Here are some reflective questions: How does this video serve as a metaphor for the need to lead change and create new paradigms? How is this “Stuck on an escalator” metaphor (actions and attitudes that stagnate and stifle) detrimental to the work of an e-Learning Community (e-LC) or professional learning community (PLC)? What steps need to be in place to ensure that this attitude, complacency, lack of vision and commitment, etc. doesn’t erode what you are attempting to accomplish?

Ask yourself, “Am I stuck on an escalator?” Ask that same question to your faculty, to your leadership team, to your department, division or grade level teams.To avoid being "stuck on an escalator," I challenge you to implement these steps to lead and manage change. These steps are addressed to two systems of leadership (the Superintendency and the Principalship):

1. Deploy and monitor: Create a deployment plan (one that focuses on the what? Who? By When? What action steps are essential to meet goal, who is responsible for managing and monitoring action step and evaluating and dialoguing data? By when will it be accomplished? What are the Next Steps? Use the sample template; begin the conversation with the following mapping strategy: What do we want? How do we Get there? How do we know we are getting there? How do we share and replicate the story to others?
2. Model, model, model: Yogi Bera once said, “If you want to do something you have never done before, do something you have never done before.” Choose the Web 2.0 technology (www.twitter.com,www.facebook.com, www.ning.com are just three examples of social media that can help define and shape a 21stcentury learning, leadership, professional development approach) that best aligns to your work and the commitment of the school--don’t get overwhelmed. Start slow, to go fast later.
3. Be the change you want to see. This mirrors and supports number 2.
   
4. Internalize standards: Administrators (2009 National Education Technology Standards for Administrators),technology facilitators and leaders, and teachers (2008 National Education Tech Standards for Teachers) need to read, examine, and implement these standards; use them as an accountability, assessment and evaluation tool (for principals, tech leaders, teachers). Here is another assessment tool to help build an innovation roadmap and to evaluate innovation readiness (find at Teaching Matters: School Assessment and use the Innovative Roadmap Rubric to set direction and evaluate next steps. Also, make strategic indicators from assessment tool a part of Walk-throughs; in addition, use the following free observation tool from the International Society for Technology Education--ISTE): weekly evaluate progress as a standing agenda item or SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities for Improvement, and Threats) analysis, or conduct a stoplight schedule of priorities--what is working really well in terms if innovation transformation (green), what needs attention (yellow) and what is a definite priority (red)
5. Inspect what you expect: Encourage (a "friendly" encouragement) each principal keep a Blog; use a wiki at the school level, cascading to departments and team work; explain purpose, alignment to goals, and how it will benefit them (administrators and teachers and other key educational leaders); provide enthusiasm, assistance, appreciation and recognition to those implementing the change; but don’t dictate or mandate; explore, discover, and collaborate—add value. Be the model in chief.
6. Create an e-Learning Community (e-LC): Your team can begin building capacity through an e-learning community structure; examine the following examples (GO LIVE Google Site (in construction but still viewable),Educator’s PLN (includes groups for district and school administrators), Classroom 2.0, NC 1:1 Learning Collaborative, many of the coursing structures in North Carolina Virtual Public School and Learn and Earn Online's (NCVPS/LEO) Blackboard course management system--LEA WAVES, Leadership Lagoon, DLA Spa, etc.). Use the district’s course environment to conduct e-LCs, create content, analyze data, monitor deployment planning, post videos, collaborate with groups, work on key processes, seek feedback, etc. (Follow the examples of North Carolina School Districts: Columbus, Rowan-Salisbury, and Avery); many free options exist as well. (www.ning.com, www.dimdim.com, http://sites.google.com, www.facebook.com)

   

   Image licensed under Creative Commons by Antonio Caselli: www.flickr.com/photos/15603459@N00/540724673

7. Conduct 21st Century Learning PD; Create 21st century learning, skills, and leadership standing agenda items in district and school level administration professional learning communities (PLCs)—weekly focusing on 21st century learning (making sure leaders understand 21st century learning concepts, skills, themes—as found atwww.21stcenturyskills.org) for district and school level leadership teams; same approach for teachers—weekly focus (f2f in PLCs), e-LCs using tools to communicate and collaborate; during departmental and school-wide PD, feature a Web 2.0 tool, modeling, and sharing best practice--be sure that it aligns to innovation team planning, school improvement plans, or the like. Remember that it is not about the tool, it is about changing behavior, creating new paradigms of learning and leading.
8. Study the gurus: Edutopia, Edweek, Leader Talk, eSchoolNews, Scott McLeod (Dangerously Irrelevant Blog),CoolCat Teacher Vickie Davis, Innovative Educator Lisa Nielsen, Steven Anderson (aka Web20Classroom),Howard DiBlasi, Larry Ferlazzo, Ed Reformer Tom Vander Ark, Consortium of School Networking, NCVPS/LEO’s 21st Century Professionals Division Leaders Online Blog -- this Blog-- and NCVPS/LEO’s School Support DivisionVirtual Learning Consultant Blog.
9. Implement Book Studies. The following are excellent books to study with teams regarding these provocative topics: leading and managing change (Switch by Chip and Dan Heath, Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath, Who Killed Change? by Ken Blanchard, et al), 21st century learning, skills, and leadership (21stCentury Skills by Bernie Trilling and Charles Fadel, Toybox Leadership by Ron Hunter and Michael Waddell,Creating Magic by Lee Cockerell, CATS: The Nine Lives of Innovation by Stephen Lundin), maximizing learning opportunities for the digital natives (Born Digital by John Palfrey and Urs Gasser, Grown Up Digital by Don Tapscott, Disrupting Class by Clayton Christensen and Michael Horn, The World is Open by Curtis Bonk, and Liberating Learning by John Chubb and Terry Moe), and establishing and maintaining e-learning communities or professional learning communities (Learning by Doing by Rick and Rebecca DuFour and Robert Eakers).
10. Align key processes: Focus efforts on transforming technology; create alignment in school improvement plans to district improvement plans, create e-learning deployment strategies, focused action steps; establish e-learning/innovation teams to monitor, model, coach implementation.
11. Engage teachers and staff in what matters most: A conversation about teaching and learning: Create a common voice and shared knowledge by communicating that e-learning deepens content understanding: learning that focuses on reflection, participatory learning, and higher-order thinking--analysis, synthesis, and evaluation (Focusing especially on blended learning is quite beneficial--for blended learning resources refer to iNACOL’s whitepaper on Blended Learning and NCVPS/LEO’s Educating the Social and Mobile Generation).
12. Commit to virtual options: Examine NCVPS/LEO’s four learning options: Classic (traditional, early calendar, and credit recovery), Modular (Credit Recovery Modular Learning), Mobile, and Blended Learning (Credit Recovery Modular, OCS Course of Study). Be aggressive, target enrollment numbers (here is an aggressive thought—require that every student grade 6-12 take at least one virtual class through NCVPS/LEO for graduation), develop purposeful and strategic student support plans.

Commitment is spelled . . .N-O-F-E-A-R

Peter Senge put forth, "You can't force commitment, what you can do . . . You nudge a little here, inspire a little there, and provide a role model. Your primary influence is the environment you create." To see that we are not "stuck on an escalator" and forward in our thinking to create such an environment, we need vigilance, commitment, purpose, direction, focus, and a 21st century learning and leadership consciousness. Vance Havner once wrote and it bears repeating for its relevance to this issue: "The vision must be followed by the venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps -- we must step up the stairs." So, there is just one thing left to say: See you at the top of the stairs, uh, I mean escalator.

Managing versus Leading: Innovation vs. Process and Resources

" . . . .leadership always involves a relationship as contrasted with management which has to do with processes and systems . . ."

This quote is from Michael Maccoby who I found on this blog -http://bobsutton.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/09/michael-maccoby-on-managing-vs-leading.html. I have really been intrigued by this simple truth and the fact that our educational systems are full of managers who need to become leaders. There is a distinct challenge in the 21st century economy to promote innovation and creativity - both of which cannot necessarily be measured. The industrial age focused on managing resources and measuring results - and if you couldn't measure it, there were no results. While there are many great leaders of the industrial age, the primary skill set was the ability to manage people and resources. Productivity was measured by the quantity of results and the quality of the product. This industrial paradigm still is pervasive in our educational system structure. We are focused on measuring "tangible" outcomes, managing resources (people, time, materials, budgets) and maintaining traditions that are ineffective and do not allow for innovation and creativity to be fostered.

Leadership is all about relationships. Leadership fosters innovation and creativity at all levels. Just take a look at the key attributes of an effective leader from Jim Murray. As education professionals are we leading innovation or managing resources? or are we doing both? I won't say it's an "either/or" situation but a "both/and" situation. Unfortunately, I strongly feel the balance is skewed in the direction of "management" vs. "leadership". We should be promoting and training Principals as Leaders, Teachers as Leaders, Students as Leaders, etc. and the professional development should focus on the skill set of the 21st century leader.

Think about the "classroom management" training many of us have been through. There is a strong focus on "management" techniques vs. the empowerment of critical thinkers who foster innovation and creativity. Teachers are having to break the mold and jump outside of the box of process and procedure in order to affect students' learning and make them enjoy the learning experience. I love this quote from Professor Maccoby:

" . . .this(meaning successful outcomes) can't be achieved by management (tactics) alone at a time of constant change when people need inspiration, a sense of purpose and enthusiasm to achieve their goals."

Take a look at these 2 links regarding the differences b/w managers and leaders.

- http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/crosscuttings/leadership_attributes.html

- http://www.twitpic.com/yye37

I would also suggest reading Bob Sutton's blog on Leadership Vs. Management. He draws a very accurate picture of the "both/and" approach to this topic. My point in all of this is that you can't focus on managing resources vs. leading innovation. The workplace has quickly become an agile, ever-changing, and continuously improving ecosystem while education has struggled just to keep up. Why? I feel it is because we are still steeped in traditional industrial "management" practices of command/control/produce/measure vs. fostering the innovation and creativity in our schools.

If you are on Twitter, follow @donnapeters51, she is Superintendent of Montgomery County Schools and is also the NC Superintendent of the Year. She is a leader who focuses on leading innovation while building the "management" piece in with leadership teams around her. So, are you leading innovation or managing resources? or both?

Are You are Tapper? Keys to Effective Communication for Educational Leaders

If you have not read Chip and Dan Heath’s Made to Stick, this is must to add to your Christmas Holiday reading (or any reading time for that matter--but it seems that as educators, we have stacks of books waiting for our consumption during the holiday season, since Flashforward, all the CSIs, and V are in hiatus, and Lost, 24, and American Idol have yet to premiere).

The basic premise behind the book is that some ideas survive and others die. But what makes an idea stick? What gives it its lasting impression? The Brothers Heath offer a very simple acronym to get ideas to stick: SUCCESs (Are ideas simple, unexpected, concrete, credible, emotional, storied?) How do leaders get vision, mission, core values, programs, initiatives, processes to stick? How do leaders communicate leadership philosophy, district or school mission, vision, and values, expectations to raise achievement and close gaps, the power of 21st century tooling to engage teachers and students in the learning process, the opportunities afforded students with North Carolina Virtual Public School and Learn and Earn Online (NCVPS/LEO), recent board policies that will impact the way districts and schools do business, the necessity of changing a culture, the implications of specific data points, accountability and quality assurance?

The Brothers Heath recount the psychological research of Dr. Elizabeth Newton from Stanford University. In her 1990 research, she created two groups (two roles): Tappers and Listeners and then placed participants within each group. The Tappers received a list of 25 popular songs (“Happy Birthday, “The Star Spangled Banner,” “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” “Jingle Bells,” etc.). Tappers then chose a song, tapped the rhythm on a table to the Listeners who were charged to then identify the tune based on the tapped rhythm (if you don’t think this is challenging, try it at home with a loved one). The results of the study? 120 songs tapped, 2.5% of the songs were guessed correctly (that is, 3 out of 120).

What made it even more interesting was that before the Listeners guessed the song, the Tappers were asked to predict the odds that the Listeners would guess correctly, predicting that the odds would be 50%. So, the Tappers predicted that the listeners would guess correctly one in every two attempts, but instead got their message across one time in forty attempts. It is obvious that a huge gap existed between expectations and reality. Why were these results astounding? As the Tapper tapped the rhythm, she only heard the tune in her ahead, but what the Listener heard was only disconnected tapping sounds; furthermore, Tappers were even astonished that the Listeners couldn’t guess accurately and had such difficulty making the guess. The authors suggest “enormous information imbalances” as the reason this gap exists.

In every learning system, we have potential Tappers and Listeners; those who are communicating and those who need the communication, the Haves (of knowledge) and the need to Haves (of knowledge). For instance, follow this analogy with me: at the district level, the superintendent could be a Tapper and the principals, Listeners; or at the school level, the principals could be Tappers and the Distance Learning Advisors, Listeners; even still, in the classroom, the teacher could be a Tapper, while the students, Listeners. In our organization, North Carolina Virtual Public School/Learn and Earn Online, Dr. Bryan Setser, our CEO, could be a Tapper, and the chiefs, the Listeners, and so forth it goes in our organization and any other system level.

Tappers Blur Communication

Communication from leadership is key. The barrier though is that oftentimes, we know what must be communicated and then proceed to communicate, but what gets communicated is a series of disconnected tapping sounds. This is absolutely not to say that the above leaders in the aforementioned analogy are poor communicators, or relish in their Tapping role; just the opposite, leaders need to be vigilant that they don’t become a Tapper, for that will only frustrate those who are listening and railroad direction, purpose, accomplishment, and outcomes of the organization. Leaders need a clearly defined communication strategy and follow-up process to ensure quality, reliability, and credibility. We all rely on ongoing communication, but like the Tappers and Listeners we suffer from information imbalances.

When leaders talk about strategic planning, operational versus strategic processes, systems thinking, stakeholder satisfaction, deployment planning, instructional technology integration, blended learning, e-learning goals and expectations, the virtual advantage, assessment for learning (all continuous improvement and e-learning buzzwords), the language gets muddied and mired down in educationese. In so doing, they must not assume that expectations, roles, and responsibilities are communicated clearly and specifically.

The purpose of this Blog post is to speak to the leaders who have students plugged into the virtual advantage with NCVPS/LEO or who desire to get students engaged and active in the 21st century learning options our organization offers (even though the target audience is quite specific, there is still value-add to all leaders in the words preceding and those that follow). To guarantee that stakeholders are coached, and supported it goes without saying that a district and school communication flow exist between the following key players: superintendent, the county level distance learning advisor, tech director, associate superintendent for secondary education, principals, school level distance learning advisors, lab facilitators, counselors.

What needs communicating? Communicate how 21st century learning is embedded in district and school improvement plans, what the specific e-learning goals are, how NCVPS/LEO aligns to that, what NCVPS/LEO offers, the strategies in place to market and promote e-leaning and blended opportunities through NCVPS/LEO, expectations of e-learnings teams, school support plans to monitor and engage virtual students, and what the performance and completion rates suggestions and the strategies to decrease those gaps, how to lead and model 21st century learning, and how Race to the Top funding and the funding formula will positive impact innovation in the district (this is not an exhaustive list, but an essential one).

A communication strategy that cascades down and flows up will decrease information imbalances, and oftentimes, gaps exists between knowing and doing because Listeners only hear disconnected noises from the Tappers. Let’s eat this barrier for breakfast. At NCVPS/LEO we model what an effective communication flow looks like. Our weekly staff meetings create expectations and deliverables and report outs from the respective divisions (which are aligned to SBOE 21st century goals) which then inform divisional e-learning communities throughout the week and our entire staff e-LCs on Wednesdays and Fridays; from the weekly staff meeting, communication flows to LEAs in the form of video casts, e-letters to superintendents, principals, Blog post to www.thevlc.org, e-lerts to Distance Learning Advisors, letter documents posted for our teachers, and bi-monthly e-LCs with leaders from leading edge districts.

When I was in a brick-and-mortar school, in my email signature line, I included the following statement: “Every decision, every conversation, every action is student centered.” Our core competencies include world class teaching and learning, world class professional development, and world class school support. Every decision, every conversation, and every action focuses on these competencies and we specifically and frequently communicate that message. This is what we are “tight” on, a word Rick DuFour uses to describe the non-negotiables.

District and school teams need a structure to specifically and frequently communicate their message, what they are tight on. What strategies are in place to effectively communicate specificity and alignment of values, core competencies, expectations, and processes? Twitter, Facebook, Ning, a Blog, a district or school wiki, Google Apps., e-mail, instant messaging using Pronto, WebEx, or Google, archived discussions and trainings, e-learning communities via Wimba, Vyew, or GoToMeeting. These tools are simply a means to end, but the focus needs to be on the “end”--a communication structure led and model by the systems leader to connect core business, expectations and learning.

Finally, there is one point that needs emphasis and it comes from John Maxwell’s new book coming in March 2010 entitled, Everyone Communicates, but Few Connect. He quotes John Beckly from The Power of Little Words:“The emphasis in education is rarely placed on communicating ideas simply and clearly. Instead, we’re encouraged to use more complicated words and sentence structures to show off our learning and literacy. . . . Instead of teaching us how to communicate as clearly

as possible, our schooling in English teaches us how to fog things up. It even implants a fear that if we don’t make our writing complicated enough, we'll be considered uneducated."

In chapter 7, Maxwell follows-up, "Bu as lleaders and communicators, our job is to bring clarity to a subject, not complexity. It doesn’t take nearly as much skill to identify a problem as it does to find a good solution. The measure of a great teacher isn’t what he knows; it’s what his students know. Making things simple is a skill, and it’s a necessary one if you want to connect with people when you communicate.”

When we communicate, we must connect people to our message and to our expectations; when we communicate effectively, we connect people to our excitement about the virtual options available for the students of North Carolina; when we communicate clearly and specifically, we connect people to solutions rather than barriers; Therefore, we need to ensure that our listeners hear by not tapping garbled, disconnected, unrelated information but voicing specifics and clarity with purpose and meaning. Tap, tap . . . tap-tap-tap . . . tap . . .tap . . .tap-ta-tap-ta-tap. Now, does that make sense?