Leadership+Design
"We design experiences for the people who create the future of teaching and learning."
In our work, we build capacity, create conversations, and make connections.
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Plan your professional learning adventures with L+D in 2018.
Leadership+Design Bootcamp
March 29-30, 2018
Minneapolis, MN
An opportunity to expand your human-centered design skills, habits and mindsets and develop your leadership capacity.
June 25-28, 2018
Moses Brown School, RI
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L+D Board of Directors
Ryan Baum
VP of Strategy
Jump Associates, CA
Matt Glendinning
(Secretary)
Head of School
Moses Brown School,
RI
Trudy Hall (Board Chair)
Director of Strategic Initiatives
Forest Ridge School, WA
Brett Jacobsen (Vice Chair)
Head of School
Mount Vernon Presbyterian
, GA
Barbara Kraus-Blackney (Treasurer)
Executive Director
Association of Delaware Valley Independent Schools (ADVIS), PA
Brenda Leaks
Head of School
Seattle Girls School, WA
Marc Levinson
Principal, Independent School Solutions, CO
Karan Merry
Retired Head of School
St. Paul's Episcopal School, CA
Natalie Nixon
Founder
Figure 8 Consulting, PA
Kaleb Rashad
Principal
High Tech High School, CA
Carla Robbins Silver (ex-officio)
Executive Director
Leadership+Design, CA
Matthew Stuart
Head of School
Caedmon School, NY
Brad Weaver
Head of School
Sonoma Country Day School, CA
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L+D Fellows
2017-18
Peter Boylan
Dean of Students
Turning Point School, CA
Tim Best
Science Teacher
Science Leadership Academy, PA
Michael Coppola
Academic Dean/Dean of Faculty
Chestnut Hill School, MA
Liam Gallagher
Director of Making and Doing
Upland Country Day School, PA
Jeremy Goldstein
Director of Washington Program
Episcopal High School, VA
Lisa Griffin
Humanities Teacher
High Tech High School. CA
Derek Krein
Director of Professional Growth
Tabor Academy, MA
Mike Molina
English Teacher
Gillman School, MD
Tom Taylor
Upper School Director
Breck School, MN
Kate Turnbull
Science Department Chair
Metairie Park Country Day School, LA
Chelle Warbrek
Lower School Head
Episcopal School of Dallas, TX
Emma Wellman
Director of Extended Day Programs
Chicago Lab School, IL
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| Destination Unknown? Choose a Compass. |
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Carla Silver, Executive Director, Leadership+Design
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Greetings and Happy Holiday Season,
Most of us are about a third of the way through the journey of the 2017-18 school year. It's a good time to check in with the navigation system to see if you are headed in the right direction. It might also be prudent to assess whether you are using the optimal instrument for your journey - GPS, sextant, map or compass. There is a tool for every journey, but finding the right one in today's ambiguous times, can be challenging.
When I was a child, my father and I would pack up  the family Volvo every August and head east. It was an epic drive from Albuquerque, NM to Cape Cod - over 2,000 miles - and it was always special because I had my dad all to myself for three days. Our goal was to get across the country as quickly and as directly as possible. Our guide for the trip was the handy dandy AAA Triptik. For those of you who made cross country drives in the 1980s and 90s, the Triptik was the state of the art navigation system of its time. Much like Google maps, the Triptik showed exactly where you were going - one page at a time and detailed exactly how many miles you had until you turned the page, which always resulted in a feeling of accomplishment and excitement knowing you were one page closer to your destination.
The Triptik was perfect if your goal was to get to one place with great expediency, but it had its limitations. If a road was closed or under construction, there was no way to look at alternative routes. And the Triptik neither inspired nor allowed for any deviations from the set plan. In retrospect, I can't help but think about all of the possible off-road excursions and local sites I might have explored. While each summer I drove through Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana, I never experienced anything but the interstate.
A detailed map is an excellent tool when you know exactly where you want to go and efficiency is your primary goal,, but in much of our work leading schools, we might not have such a clear picture of our destination. We might have a general sense of the direction we want to go but not sure of the exact final end point. Even when we do think we know the destination, most of us know that there are many routes that might take us to that place and that sometimes the journey is almost as important as the destination. Being flexible, nimble and developing a comfort with ambiguity are qualities for today's school leadership. To that end, perhaps a compass is a better tool for our work.
"Compass over Maps" is the third chapter in Whiplash:How to Survive Our Faster Future by Joi Ito  and Jeffrey Howe - the L+D choice for a year-long book exploration - and they make the case that the compass just might be the navigational instrument to meet the needs of the day. They write, "The decision to forfeit the map in favor of the compass recognizes that in an increasingly unpredictable world moving ever more quickly, a detailed map may lead you deep into the woods at an unnecessarily high cost. A good compass, though, will always take you where you need to go." The hardest and most important work of school leaders is primarily adaptive and not technical in nature. We face challenges that don't have easy solutions - or rarely just one solution. Most of the work of school leaders is not to arrive at one "right" place, but rather to navigate ambiguous territory and to recruit fellow travelers to join along the journey. In the work of school leadership, a Triptik might get you to a destination, but at the expense of truly understanding the greater landscape and failing to involving other perspectives and explore other possibilities.
The following articles by Christian Talbot, Crystal Land and Greg Bamford share three perspectives on the compass over the map and how a good compass can help to direct us - whether in strategic planning, in the choices we make as we evolve our school programs, or even in our own life's journey. Not only does the compass set a good directional but not too prescriptive path but as How and Ito write, "Favoring the compass over the map also allows you to explore alternate paths, make fruitful use of detours, and discover unexpected treasures."
Regardless of the instrument you choose, may you enjoy the adventure!
Warmly,
Carla Silver
P.S. Speaking of adventures, it's almost time to start planning YOUR next learning adventure with L+D. Registration is open for both our Winter L+D Bootcamp and Wonder Women! More coming too!
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Mission > Vision > Culture; or
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Compasses over Maps |
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Christian Talbot, Head of School (2012-2017), Malvern Prep; Founder & Principal, Basecamp School
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What happens when your school stops relying on maps and  starts relying on compasses? Let me tell you a story.
Almost four years ago, a long-tenured Malvern Prep teacher confronted me during a professional development trip.
In front of some of her peers, Mary said, "I need to ask you something, Christian..."
Our Middle School Head had recruited a team of five teachers to imagine a new 6th grade experience. They were to leave behind traditional instruction--"the map" of the school's culture and operational model--in order to design a deeply student centered learning experience.
"...and I need you to give me--to give us--the honest truth," Mary continued.
Much of the learning would be project-based and team-based. In an even more radical change, the 6th Grade teachers would design and deliver the experience as a team. Because Malvern Prep starts at 6th grade, this redesign, if successful, would create a domino effect.
To inspire the 6th Grade Team and to observe superior project- and team-based learning, we journeyed across the country to visit High Tech High. After touring HTH Chula Vista Middle School, the 6th Grade Team spent the next day in a hotel conference room dreaming, designing, and pitching ideas. It was exhilarating and exhausting.
And that's when Mary confronted me.
"When push comes to shove..."
She paused, deliberately.
"...when the you-know-what hits the fan..."
She paused again.
"...because you
know
that what we're talking about here isn't going to be perfect, and there are going to be problems and challenges along the way. So when that happens, what I want to know is this: where are
you
going to be?"
Mary and her team had begun their expedition into the unknown, without a map. When they encountered an obstacle or threat, would our culture help them to figure out how to change course? They may not have a map, but would they have a compass?
Believe it or not, at that moment I was relieved.
"When things go wrong," I said, "I will take the blame because I will deserve it. And when things go well, you will receive the praise because you will deserve it. We are in this together, with specific roles. Your role is to design the most amazing learning possible for our kids. And my role is to make sure you have the space and the resources to design fearlessly. I am 100% convinced that you are the team who will show our community what extraordinary learning looks like."
In the preceding months, much of the faculty conversation had focused on why we were trying to redesign learning at Malvern Prep. Experienced teachers often expressed confusion and even anxiety or fear about how to shift their practice. Unsurprisingly, many wanted a step-by-step map.
But this 6th Grade Team understood that pursuing our innovation journey meant traveling without a map. We would always be able to see our North Star--student centered learning for positive social impact--but we wouldn't always know the next step ahead of time.
So I was relieved by Mary's confrontation because it meant that we were no longer debating
whether
to go on our innovation journey. Her confrontation was actually another way of asking
how
would we navigate our innovation journey.
In other words, the conversation had shifted from "give us the map" to "show us the compass."
It was especially meaningful that Mary was the person to confront me. She had been teaching for over 30 years, and was a strong traditional instructor. A deeply student centered approach meant that she would have to learn new maneuvers and mindsets.
Yet she wasn't asking for a precise roadmap. She just wanted to know whether her team would have a compass to help them navigate in the face of the inevitable obstacles and crises.
Mary's confrontation marked the beginning of a lesson I would later discern in "Compasses Over Maps." For any innovation journey to be successful, it must follow an order of operations: Mission > Vision > Culture
Mission
: inspires your tribe to leave the familiar in order to explore the unknown, and provides the fuel to wake up every day and continue that expedition.
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In
Whiplash
, Joi Ito says that MIT Media Lab has a clear Mission: "
to design technologies for people to create a better future."
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Malvern Prep's Mission is to "Ignite restless hearts to seek Truth, Unity, and Love."
Vision
: provides your North Star, a distant destination that everyone can see.
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MIT Media Lab's North Star is to achieve their Mission via "Uniqueness, Impact, and Magic."
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Malvern Prep's Vision is to form learners who are Augustinian in their hearts, Globally Aware in their minds, and Entrepreneurial with their actions.
Culture
: provides your tribe with a compass to navigate the twists and turns, opportunities and threats, that a map can never fully capture.
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The Media Lab's Culture enables a diverse set of teams to operate independently yet harmoniously in service of its Mission and Vision. As Joi Ito writes, "Instead of rules or even strategy, the key to success is culture."
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Malvern Prep's Culture lets everyone know that no matter what comes our way, "This is how we do things around here." We are: (1) Augustinians in Action; (2) One Team, All In; (3) Rooted in Family; and (4) Courageous in Restlessness. (A set of expected behaviors accompanies each of these cultural pillars.)
After the 6th Grade Team had gotten through their first year together, Mary and I had the first of many hearty laughs about her confrontation. At the time I didn't have the language of "Compasses Over Maps," but I knew that she was saying, in effect, "We don't need a map. We need a reliable compass. We need the kind of culture that will help us to navigate the darkest woods, the hairpin turns, and the off-road detours."
I'm happy to say that four years later, the students who first experienced the redesigned 6th grade are now thriving 9th graders. Meanwhile, that 6th Grade Team of Teachers has become Malvern Prep's village elders because they have spent four years venturing into the pedagogical unknown, exploring new frontiers in learning, and bringing back stories and artifacts and inspirations.
To survive and thrive in our age of exponential change, your school will need to undertake an innovation journey. And it's scary to go on a journey without a map.
The good news is you don't need a map. In fact, a map will only slow you down and fool you into thinking that you can anticipate exactly how your expedition will unfold.
Instead, as you pursue your innovation journey, ask yourself:
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What is your school's Mission?
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What North Star, what Vision, has that Mission inspired you to pursue?
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Are you nurturing the kind of Culture that will be your compass on that journey?
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| Compasses, Maps and Strategic Thinking |
Greg Bamford, Head of School, Watershed School, L+D Co-Founder
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As a Head of School, I spend a lot of time engaged in strategic thinking with our stakeholders. I bring the perspective of a Head, but also a Leadership+Design consultant who's led strategic design for other schools.
Whether at
Watershed
or elsewhere, strategic planning sets the same trap: plans become to-do lists. And since most of the trustees serving on our boards come from a corporate world - and they are rightly concerned with translating strategic work into action - the language of accountability can mean a rigid belief in Gantt charts, timelines, and dashboards.
That's also why Whiplash is right to implore leaders to embrace "compasses, not maps." A compass sets a direction, but it doesn't pretend to know what rivers you'll need to fjord. A map sets a step by step course - but as all of us who've used Google Maps in a new city know, its model of reality doesn't always match the situation on the ground. What do you do when the street it wants you to take is closed?
At Watershed, we built a 10 year financial model that allows us to understand the long-term impact of current-year decisions about key financial levers: enrollment, tuition growth, financial aid, staffing, and compensation. Of course the future won't follow that path - but it helped all of our leaders to have a conversation about the push and pull between key financial drivers. As we had discussions about financial aid, we knew we were also having a conversation about faculty compensation. Our decisions about tuition were made annually, but always with a long-term view of financial health.
Similarly, our current 3-year strategic plan was an approach to building a virtuous cycle: first, clarify our position in the Boulder market. Use that clarity to drive enrollment growth and achieve financial sustainability. Use that financial health to invest in the program, thereby delivering higher execution of our mission.
1, 2, 3.
There were many ideas for implementation in that strategic document, some of which happened, such as a new
May Term global studies program
. Other ideas were explored but dropped.
As Watershed grew, we achieved a stronger financial position - but growth also exposed new needs in our community, thereby changing our priorities for how to spend those hard-earned dollars. Some of the best developments in our school's program, such as hiring a new Director of Social-Emotional Learning, advanced our strategic priorities though it was never specifically called for as an action item.
As we approach the end of our three year planning cycle, Watershed is healthier and better - but also different than we could have envisioned three years ago. By using a compass, not a map, we took advantage of what we learned about our school as we grew. We identified new opportunities. We stopped small experiments that didn't pan out.
Maps hold tremendous psychological appeal, as they flatten a 3-dimensional reality to a flat, 2-dimensional surface. They suggest certainty and the rhythmic cadence of sequential progress. But school leaders have an opportunity if we think in terms of compasses. Our work is messy. But even as we work through the ebb and flow of life in schools, we can uncover paths that take us in the right direction.
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Purposefully Designing Your Path: Compass Over Map
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| Crystal Land, Head of School, Head-Royce School |
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I am one of those people who loves maps. Like Carla, I grew up with the hard copy maps from AAA where one could plan via "triptik"-- each road was carefully highlighted and the route was exactingly laid out. Even today, I love nothing more than to buy a big, beautiful map and examine the whole to see the various parts. And yet, I've become more and more intrigued by the value of using the metaphor of a compass over a map in my work with teachers and leaders as we strive to create our professional and personal journeys. As Whiplash authors Ito and Howe state, "....a map implies a detailed knowledge of the terrain, and the existence of an optimum route; the compass is a far more flexible tool and requires the user to employ creativity and autonomy in discovering his or her own path."
My recent work with Leadership+Design's Santa Fe Seminar  allows participants to deeply reflect on both their personal and professional journey utilizing prompts from Bill Burnett and Dave Evan's book, Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived and Joyful Life. The basic premise of the book -- and our L+D seminar -- is that work and external markers of success don't always lead or correlate to personal fulfillment. Their belief is designing a life direction that is based on core values first ultimately leads to a greater degree of happiness and success.
The work in L+D's Santa Fe Seminar asks participants to think about proactively designing one's life rather than "obsessing about it." The literal and metaphorical use of a compass frames much of our discussion. The compass template asks each person to spend time reflecting on and answering the following questions:
- What are your top core values? Why are these the values that guide you?
- What is your work view? What is work for? What defines good and worthwhile work? What does money have to do with it? What about growth, fulfillment, purpose?
- What is your life view? Why are we here? What is the meaning and purpose of life?
- Do your core values align with your work view and life view?
- Where is there coherence and dissonance between these two views?
Burnett and Evans believe that once these two views are fully vetted -- work and life -- and then reviewed in relation to one's values, our "true north" can be more easily determined. In addition to the use of a metaphorical compass guiding our direction rather than a societally prescribed route, the authors add the image of a dashboard for exploring parts of our work and personal life that provide engagement and energy to determine when we fully in the flow of the moment.
Similarly, a recent Harvard Business Review article by Annie McKee, " Why Your Job Isn't Making You Happier," echoes these same themes. McKee states: "
Humans are wired to seek meaning in everything we do, whether we're sitting in an office, hiking in the mountains, or eating dinner with the family. Passion for a cause fuels energy, intelligence, and creativity." She continues, "As you discover which aspects of your job are truly fulfilling-and which are soul destroying-you will face choices about how to spend your time and what to pursue in your career."
Interestingly, one study McKee cites in her article notes that "of more than 3,000 workers that 61% of people feel they have to "cover" in some way to fit in at work: They either actively hide or downplay their gender, race, sexual orientation, religion, or other aspects of their identities, personalities, or lives." This is one more element to consider when reflecting on how values, work view and life view converge. How can we find the ideal combination of all that is noted above with an ability to express our full and authentic selves in our work environment?
I've also been reflecting on the conundrum of why more women  and people of color are not pursuing head of school positions. NAIS statistics show that in 2016 approximately 34% of school heads are women and 7% are of people of color. These numbers have not significantly increased over many years. Why? What is the coherence or dissonance when connecting "work view" and "life view"? Or, perhaps the map approach -- step by step directions from point A to point B -- can be traditionally restricting? Of course there are also many considerations related to this thorny question including a discussion of hiring practices, search committee beliefs, implicit bias, search firms and individual school culture, but recognizing the importance of values alignment and overall directionality is also essential.
I know for me, as one who has come to headship in my mid-50s, allowing myself to clarify my values, articulate my priorities as an educator, mom, spouse and friend have enabled me to find clarity at different stages of my life. Using my internal compass to guide me along the way has ultimately worked. My path may have been less direct, but as Ito and Howe state, "A good compass will always take you where you want to go."
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