As a leader, how do you access the most creative thinking when dealing with issues?
Creativity is not genetically encoded. Anyone can learn to think creatively. The key is to use both the left and right hemispheres of the brain: logical and intuitive, respectively. Start by immersing yourself in a problem. Use the logical left side of your brain to understand what you know about the topic. Then switch to the right side by distancing yourself from the issue and mulling over the information. Exercise is a good way to access the visual nature of the right hemisphere. It often leads to an "ah-ha moment" where you see a new solution. Then switch back to the left hemisphere to challenge your creative breakthrough with rational thinking.
All this said, you can also access creative thinking by drawing on the wisdom of your staff. If it's an issue that requires creative thinking in the workplace then it's an issue that others will care about. Be sure to include them in the thinking around the issue. If you don't, the only creativity you'll access is your own. That may be enough in some situations but strong schools/organizations are built on collaborative and collective wisdom, not the thinking of an individual.
Adapted from "How to Think Creatively" by Tony Schwartz.
Showing posts with label wisdom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wisdom. Show all posts
Wednesday, 22 February 2012
Tuesday, 22 November 2011
As a leader, are you thinking strategically?
As a leader, are you thinking strategically?
Leaders need to think. We need to think all the time. It’s one of the reasons we need to be engaged in continuous learning. But for what purpose do we need to do all of this thinking?
Leaders need to think strategically. If you are leading a school/organization, you have a significant level of responsibility to ensure that you are leading for continuous improvement. People are placed in roles as leaders not to maintain the status quo but to bring about improvement. But improvement doesn’t happen simply because we want it to. It happens because we have thought strategically about all of the factors that influence a school/organization. One by one, we analyze these factors in terms of how they contribute or distract from the important work that needs to be done. Furthermore, we analyze how these factors relate to each other. Factor X is important. Factor Y is important. But what is the relationship between these two factors. Are they mutually supportive or mutually exclusive?
As a leader, you need to think strategically so that your thinking serves the best interest of your school/organization. But how do you know if your thinking is strategic or not? Think of it this way. Strategic thinking leads to decisions that bring about improvement. Ask yourself, Will my decision make a positive difference to our work? Will my decision make a change in what we are hoping to accomplish? Will my decision maintain the status quo – and is that a good thing?
Truly skilled leaders engage others in discussions that benefit from strategic thinking. Engaging others in strategic thinking is an indication of your strength as a leader. You call on the best thinking available to help guide decisions. There is always wisdom in the building if you allow it to surface in a safe conversation.
Leaders need to think. We need to think all the time. It’s one of the reasons we need to be engaged in continuous learning. But for what purpose do we need to do all of this thinking?
Leaders need to think strategically. If you are leading a school/organization, you have a significant level of responsibility to ensure that you are leading for continuous improvement. People are placed in roles as leaders not to maintain the status quo but to bring about improvement. But improvement doesn’t happen simply because we want it to. It happens because we have thought strategically about all of the factors that influence a school/organization. One by one, we analyze these factors in terms of how they contribute or distract from the important work that needs to be done. Furthermore, we analyze how these factors relate to each other. Factor X is important. Factor Y is important. But what is the relationship between these two factors. Are they mutually supportive or mutually exclusive?
As a leader, you need to think strategically so that your thinking serves the best interest of your school/organization. But how do you know if your thinking is strategic or not? Think of it this way. Strategic thinking leads to decisions that bring about improvement. Ask yourself, Will my decision make a positive difference to our work? Will my decision make a change in what we are hoping to accomplish? Will my decision maintain the status quo – and is that a good thing?
Truly skilled leaders engage others in discussions that benefit from strategic thinking. Engaging others in strategic thinking is an indication of your strength as a leader. You call on the best thinking available to help guide decisions. There is always wisdom in the building if you allow it to surface in a safe conversation.
Friday, 3 June 2011
Relationships
As a leader, how do you support the development of relationships among the members of your staff?
Relationships: The Pathways of Organization
Relationships are the pathways to the intelligence in the system. Through relationships, information is created and transferred, the organization's identity expands to include more stakeholders, and the enterprise becomes wiser. The more access people have to one another, the more possibilities there are. Without connections, nothing happens. ... In self-organizing systems, people need access to everyone; they need to be free to reach anywhere in the organization to accomplish work.
To respond with speed and effectiveness, people need access to the intelligence of the whole system. Who is available, what do they know, and how can they reach each other? People need opportunities to "bump up" against others in the system, making the unplanned connections that spawn new ventures or better-integrated responses.
From: Finding Our Way by Margaret Wheatley
Published by: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Relationships: The Pathways of Organization
Relationships are the pathways to the intelligence in the system. Through relationships, information is created and transferred, the organization's identity expands to include more stakeholders, and the enterprise becomes wiser. The more access people have to one another, the more possibilities there are. Without connections, nothing happens. ... In self-organizing systems, people need access to everyone; they need to be free to reach anywhere in the organization to accomplish work.
To respond with speed and effectiveness, people need access to the intelligence of the whole system. Who is available, what do they know, and how can they reach each other? People need opportunities to "bump up" against others in the system, making the unplanned connections that spawn new ventures or better-integrated responses.
From: Finding Our Way by Margaret Wheatley
Published by: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Friday, 18 March 2011
People, not Programs
As a leader, do you draw on the talent and wisdom of your staff or do you hope external programs can serve as the 'silver bullet' for improvement?
People, not programs, are at the apex of serious [organization] improvement and they are the nexus of authentic PLCs. It is not about brand name programs - whether they are implemented "with fidelity" - that matter most. It's about using to the fullest extent the talent and wisdom of a collective, an existing [staff] that can, with intense and sustained focus on a few important things, bring about the most significant change and improvements in [the organization].
From: The Practice of Authentic PLCs by Daniel R. Venables
(Published by: Corwin)
People, not programs, are at the apex of serious [organization] improvement and they are the nexus of authentic PLCs. It is not about brand name programs - whether they are implemented "with fidelity" - that matter most. It's about using to the fullest extent the talent and wisdom of a collective, an existing [staff] that can, with intense and sustained focus on a few important things, bring about the most significant change and improvements in [the organization].
From: The Practice of Authentic PLCs by Daniel R. Venables
(Published by: Corwin)
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