Endless Questions

As the end of another quarter draws close, I have been reflecting on the quick passage of time. It’s hard to believe there is only one more quarter of class while we embark on the journey of dissertation writing. This week was particularly stressful at work because I was working to wrap up assignments for the quarter, planning with my advisor, and conceptualizing the writing-heavy projects I have taken on at work (in addition to school)… needless to say, it’s been busy and I’ve had a few moments wherein I felt a sense of “drowning”. This feeling of being overwhelmed made me wonder: what am I getting out of all this hectic-ness and stress? And beyond that, how do I gain perspective on my own challenges and put them to useful practice in leading within my workplace?

This week was not only stressful for me, but I sensed that my colleagues were also feeling more pressure than usual. Perhaps our mental models shift when the world is in chaos, we are concerned for our fellow global-citizens across the Pacific, awaiting imminent tsunami’s on our own shores (could media be any more dramatic???), receiving/witnessing pink slips, hearing about potential changes in staffing and/or leadership, enduring budget crises, and endless other concerns. Are we just bombarded with too many pieces of information to possibly maintain a sense of normalcy? How do I go about my business, convincing students to pursue their education at my institution, when I know people are experiencing devastation across a body of water? Those, and other thoughts, flew through my head today as I tour-guided a large group of students around campus in the sunshine… my goodness what a life I am blessed to have.

Back to my organization, I have been thinking about mental models and how easy it is to get “stuck” in one approach or way of doing things. What would happen if unions questioned protocol and thought of a new way of doing business? What if administrative decision-makers adjusted their strategy? Is it even possible to find common ground, or are we destined to live in a world of discord? Is discord a good intellectual strategy for questioning, and should it, therefore, be embraced? My hunch is that discord in education in general, is more often a result of “more of the same” type of thinking as opposed to out-of-the-box innovative thinking.

This quarter has raised many questions for me, including, but not limited to:

What does it mean to be a leader?

How does one best approach leading a learning organization?

What theories of organizational development resonate with my schema and approach?

Can I maintain optimism in a field of frustration and challenge?

Am I meant to be a life-long educator????? (this might be the biggest question of all)… What happens if I decide at some point that I no longer want to be an educator?

I think I am over-thinking everything, and as I’ve said before, I feel that “questioning” increases with each course I take… the more I study, the less I know. I look back at my former certain-self and laugh at my naïveté – but I also long to have it back at time. The reality of being an educational leader is that I have to find a way to be optimistic and maintain high standards despite the dismal news around me; I need to believe in the cause of improving the lives of all students. Without that hope, what would I have? Perhaps the take-away is that if I ever lose the optimism or feel that I can no longer contribute positively to the field, it will be time for me to redirect my energies.

For now, I will keep on keepin’ on…

"Islands of Excellence in a Sea of Mediocrity"

Organizational communication has become of growing interest to me throughout the course of studying organizational development. In my group’s organizational observation I was able to see how communication in a business environment is both similar and dissimilar to the communication in my workplace. Misunderstandings can occur anywhere, but the repercussions can be largely different depending on where they take place. For example, miscommunication in a fitness center could potentially lead to a health risk, which seems quite serious. In education, miscommunication occurs frequently, and while such instances may not hold life or death consequences, the repercussions can lead to misguided students, injured relationships, ineffective organizational operation and a host of other issues.

At the Educating for Careers Conference in Sacramento last week, I met with a representative from the California Department of Education (C.D.E.) and he mentioned the phenomenon of “nestled hierarchies”. This notion led me to ponder more about systems thinking and how it impacts the functioning of both my organization and the organization I observed. I wonder how people gain an understanding of the hierarchy within their organization and whether or not it exists beyond their personal interpretation, or if perhaps interpretation trumps any organization chart provided by a human resources department? In my group’s observation, the manager of the business expressed that he quickly progressed from a front-desk part-time employee to a supervisory and management position. Was it his take-charge attitude that put him there or was it a need for some leadership during reorganization? This causes me to connect to my own department to think about how responsibilities were identified and distributed when my program was developed. Do the founders of organizations believe the hierarchies they put into place are sustainable?

When I think back to K-12 teaching, I remember how within the school culture (at every school in which I subbed or taught in three separate counties), everyone knew that the administrative assistants ran the school. Now, in a org chart, the administrators would be seen as the “highest” ranking employee, but when it came to power, that person had it merely in name and not in effect. At the conference I attended, there were presenters touted as experts who communicated very little of value on their topic and I walked away, scratching my head, wondering who really does their job? It seems that the high-in-title folks get the perks of professional development while the powerful forces of the organization are left behind to actually keep the business running. In the organization my group observed, it is the lowest-ranked employees who are in charge of opening the business every day – that is a huge responsibility, right?!

Mental models and common perceptions, as misguided as they may be, seem to be a trend that prevents organizations from growing. In my blog for my other course, I quoted the same C.D.E representative for the phrase “islands of excellence in a sea of mediocrity.” In context, this is to suggest that small-scale efforts get lost in the larger picture of public education. I agreed with the quote and would dare to assert that a large reason for this mediocrity is the inability to see beyond perceived lines of power. I think there are people who actually got into this business for power and money – clearly, they didn’t do their research as there is little of both in education… ooh… could that be why unions are so desperate to maintain power – could it be a futile attempt to grasp at straws of mediocrity for fear of trying something new that might actually lead to excellence and equity in education? Alas, I am always left with more questions that answers…