Pudong ES Announcements

Human beings are designed for learning. Whether it’s a young infant coming into the world and learning how to walk or talk, a student exploring their creativity, new teachers tying to make sense out of things, or doctors trying to find a cure for disease. We are hard wired to learn and perform to the best of our capacity.

In school organizations, we are good at measuring activities related to learning.  In fact that is primarily what we do. Too often however, there is a fuzzy and never satisfying end to this, never an end point where we finally know everything about every part of the system.  Why does change itself, that very event we’re all supposed to be managing, keep drowning us relentlessly?  How do we create organizational coherence, where activities correspond to purpose and meaning? And, what is it that we are really learning?  While we don’t often allow these questions to surface in organizations, they contain powerful metaphors that demand understanding beyond our traditional framework.

Leadership, an acknowledged phenomenon within organizations, must be examined for its relational aspects. Most often it is connected to qualities of stewardship, management, mission, and various other aphorisms.  In recent years however, a new way of thinking about organizational leadership has been emerging. It is connected to design.

Nothing has a more sweeping influence in how an organization functions than the design of the organization.  Like a large ship, an organization will perform only to the degree to which it is designed. Poor design typically results in limited capacity and function.  The gears of organizational functions are rarely invisible; they are found in decision-making, configuration of positions, roles and responsibilities, values, policies, use of time, connections with each other, and a myriad other ingredients. Without the proper design however, these gears never function properly.  As a result, the organization rarely, if ever performs up to its potential.

I believe we are in a time and place in education where traditional organizational designs may no longer stand up to the close scrutiny of performance. The issue is not what titles or positions will take care of the problems, but what energy, know-how, influence, insight, courage, and wisdom are available to help us see the proper design for solutions and effectiveness.

While human beings are hard wired for learning, successful leadership will not be found in the pages of organizational theory, titles, or positions. The most influential and effective leaders will be those who have the ability to design school organizations that are responsive to their purpose. Schools that wish to reach optimal performance year after year will need an eye on organizational design.