{"id":694,"date":"2011-03-07T13:14:06","date_gmt":"2011-03-07T17:14:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/?p=694"},"modified":"2011-03-23T20:51:53","modified_gmt":"2011-03-24T00:51:53","slug":"an-%e2%80%9cold-dog%e2%80%9d-plans-%e2%80%9cnew-tricks%e2%80%9d%e2%80%a6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/?p=694","title":{"rendered":"An \u201cold dog\u201d plans \u201cnew tricks\u201d\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>based on&#8230;<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-800\" title=\"lookasbackwards\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/lookasbackwards.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"427\" height=\"30\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/lookasbackwards.png 427w, https:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/lookasbackwards-300x21.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 427px) 100vw, 427px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>A New Year always offers an opportunity to reflect on what we\u2019ve been doing and, <em>if not satisfied<\/em>, resolve to do better. That&#8217;s why I\u2019m applying that learning process here to the continuing development of this <em>Sabusense<\/em> website &#8230; I\u2019m <em>frustrated<\/em>.\u00a0 This cartoon captures one reason why.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/REXimage.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-696\" title=\"REXimage\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/REXimage.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"302\" height=\"278\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/REXimage.png 302w, https:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/REXimage-300x276.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 302px) 100vw, 302px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2026I\u2019m an &#8220;old dog\u201d trying to learn &#8220;new tricks.&#8221; And my \u201cnagging thought\u201d is how am I doing?\u00a0 So I asked myself:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>How far along are we in terms of its fundamental purposes?<\/li>\n<li>What is different now than when we launched it?<\/li>\n<li>And what, if anything, can we do about it now?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8230; this posting captures my \u201canswers.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3><strong>The <em>purposes<\/em><\/strong><strong> haven\u2019t changed\u2026<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><em>Sabusense <\/em>is intended as a response to an almost universally-<em>felt<\/em> \u2013 but seldom acknowledged &#8212; problem today. A glance at today\u2019s news headlines reveals a common characteristic underlying the nature of the most critical economic, social, political, international problems that challenge the problem-solving abilities of policymakers, pundits and practitioners \u2013 they can\u2019t <em>make sense<\/em> of the seemingly-disconnected events swirling around them. \u00a0They must respond to conditions that were unthinkable in the past, yet often lack a capacity to <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">think about the <em>unthinkable<\/em><\/span><em>. <\/em><\/p>\n<p>Some folks,\u00a0when they call for \u201cparadigm shifts&#8221; and ways to \u201cget-out-of-the-box,\u201d\u00a0recognize that development of solutions that can respond to the actual complex nature of today&#8217;s problems requires thinking that can escape the paradigm prisons that keep us focused on what we believe is \u201cpossible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As the statement at the top of the Home page declares, supporting them is this site&#8217;s mission. \u00a0By:<\/p>\n<p>(1) Helping people make sense of what they see and hear happening in today\u2019s schools by offering then a <em>different way-of-thinking<\/em> about it; and then to offer ways<\/p>\n<p>(2) To <em>use<\/em> that way-of-thinking.\u00a0 Specifically,<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0to \u201cconnect-all-the-dots\u201d &#8212; so they can make sense of a <em>way-of-working together<\/em> to develop the learning capacities of <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">each<\/span> and <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">every<\/span> child in a school system.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0to tell the case-story of how the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Montgomery County, MD Public Schools<\/span> (MCPS)\u00a0has <em>actually been doing that <\/em>\u2026but in a way that challenges the prevailing beliefs that being able to \u201cconnect all the dots\u201d to <em>systemically address<\/em> the learning needs of <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">all<\/span> children is an \u201cimpossible dream.\u201d \u00a0That shows how its not just an idealistic visionary \u201chope\u201d requiring time and resources schools do not have, and which will shift the focus of available resources from the urgency of the problems <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">some<\/span> children face today.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0and to present that story in ways that focus on the body of <em>systemic practices<\/em> developed by\u00a0MCPS \u00a0which demonstrate that the scale and nature of this systemic transformation is not only \u201cpossible\u201d \u2026but can be \u201cprobable\u201d in <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">any<\/span> district setting.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>\u2026but their <em>context<\/em><\/strong><strong> has\u2026<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Several significant changes in the world we\u2019re trying to influence require rethinking how to proceed to achieve those purposes. Both differences in the world \u201cout there,\u201d and differences in the world \u201cin here\u201d (<em>I\u2019ve<\/em> changed &#8212; more about that later.)<\/p>\n<p>Most relevant is that the school district that serves as the reality check on the <em>ways-of-thinking<\/em> embedded in this site, now can be formally \u201couted.\u201d\u00a0 We\u2019ve purposefully downplayed its name until now to not lose the attention of those who might discount their efforts because of their demographics, the quality of the personnel they attract, or the belief that their success can be explained by the \u201cGreat Man\/Woman\u201d theory of leadership.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0The\u00a0 \u201couted\u201d school system is the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Montgomery County MD Public Schools (MCPS)<\/span>.\u00a0 Until recently, it\u2019s accomplishments \u2013 termed \u201cmiraculous\u201d by some because they were unexpected in a district of that size, complexity and diversity &#8212; had been the subject of separate research by foundations and reform groups trying to understand and promote <em>systemic change<\/em> (among them &#8211; Panasonic, Annenberg, Stupski, Harvard Business School, American Productivity &amp; Quality Center). Yet, their attempts to benchmark MCPS\u2019 \u201c<em>What\u2019s<\/em>\u201d and \u201c<em>How\u2019s<\/em>\u201d have thus far not proven useful for the wider transfer of knowledge they had hoped for.\u00a0 The otherwise-excellent content of their studies and reports (several are included in this site\u2019s <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/?page_id=235\" target=\"_blank\">Resources<\/a><\/span> section) seemed to lack a needed coherence that could connect all their \u201cdots\u201d and \u201cresults\u201d to the common <em>\u201cWhy<\/em>\u201d underlying the purposes of <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">all<\/span> schools. \u00a0 One common reason: their <em>Theories of Change<\/em> lacked a &#8220;theory&#8221; that could explain the scope and nature of what was changing.<\/p>\n<p>(See \u201cIn the Tangled Jungle of School Reform <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/?p=497\" target=\"_blank\">Harvard\u2026 and <em>Sabu<\/em> find a \u201cClassroom\u201d Teaching Different Lessons\u201d<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>But several months ago the means and the ends came together when MCPS received national acknowledgment for the ways they have been <em>systemically<\/em> achieving those unexpected results.\u00a0 As a recipient of the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">2010 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award<\/span>, the district was recognized for \u201cperformance excellence through innovation, improvement, and visionary leadership.\u201d And as a finalist for the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Broad Prize for Urban Education<\/span>, they were identified as one of the five best large districts in the nation and honored for improving student performance while narrowing academic achievement gaps. No district had ever received both honors.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>\u2026Creating new <em>problems<\/em><\/strong><strong> \u2026 that raise new <\/strong><strong><em>questions<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Now the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">systemic nature<\/span> of their success raises new problems and <em>new questions<\/em> in which <em>urgency <\/em>becomes a critical factor.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Questions for those on the national level who recognize the need for systemic reform that can start now, but still can\u2019t find a way to do it.<\/li>\n<li>Then questions for the MCPS itself\u2026 if their success is to be sustained after the current superintendent retires this year.<\/li>\n<li>And finally new questions for me, because I need thinking partners interesting in engaging in a dialogue about ways to help mine the <em>collective wisdom<\/em> currently accessible in this district and community, and then how best to communicate it in ways that make sense<em>.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong> <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">New problem #1<\/span><\/strong>:\u00a0 The MCPS example moves the oft-hoped for goal of \u201csystemic change\u201d from a <em>someday possibility<\/em> to body of knowledge that offers today\u2019s leaders the greater certainty of <em>probability<\/em> &#8212; a belief in the likeliness that something <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">can <\/span>occur.<\/p>\n<p>This is more than semantics. Few leaders of \u201cwhole systems\u201d are willing to bet children\u2019s survival on statistics and research about some effective \u201cparts\u201d of the system. That may be why the \u201cWhat Works\u201c research on new \u201c<em>possibilities\u201d<\/em> is seldom sufficient to initiate systemic changes that in the process could put the \u201cwhole\u201d at risk.<\/p>\n<p>The MCPS experience, however, suggests that there are effective ways to develop the confidence and capacity needed for a community to support and sustain that risk-taking.<\/p>\n<p><strong> <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">\u2026New Questions<\/span>: <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Right now, there\u2019s a unique body of critical knowledge in Montgomery County about the actual nature of <em>systemic<\/em> governance, leadership and management that I think of as their\u00a0<em>collective wisdom<\/em>. Its value derives from its vertical depth from the classroom to the boardroom, its horizontal breadth across all professional and non-professional roles, and its practical base of experience-tested knowledge.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>How can the collective wisdom developed in the system and community be tapped before it erodes?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>How can this knowledge be generated and made understandable to those in government and foundations who today are putting major thought, effort and funding into more immediate systemic change and have no sense of how MCPS&#8217; approach (a strategy that used the\u00a0<em>Baldrige <\/em>process<em> <\/em>as a <em>catalyst<\/em> to change <em>thinking) <\/em>actually relates to their most pressing concerns?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>How can the MCPS Baldrige award\u2019s \u201csignificance\u201d be leveraged when despite increasing pressures on schools for \u201cchange\u201d \u2026 <\/strong><strong>(1) there\u2019s been a lack of interest by national reform leaders in Baldrige as a tool for re-forming school systems on-the-go. <\/strong><strong>(2) Many education professionals who claim their concern is for the \u201ckids\u201d think of it as a \u201cbusiness\u201d practice?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Ironically, Montgomery County demonstrates how Baldrige\u2019s \u201cpower\u201d actually lies in its capacity to make the work of\u00a0<em>child-focused teaching<\/em> the school systems\u2019 \u201cbusiness.\u201d Clues to this nature were evident back in 2002 when an MCPS elementary principal and I attended the Baldrige annual <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Quest<\/span> conference where the first school district got the award. Yet she found more to relate to with the \u201cbusiness\u201d sector winners than education\u2019s.\u00a0 The latter, she thought, didn&#8217;t really &#8220;get&#8221; the nature of using Baldrige as a \u201cway-of-thinking&#8221; for systemic change that was beginning to take hold in Montgomery County.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>(3) And over the past several years there\u2019s been a continuing decrease in superintendent and Board participation in this annual <\/strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Quest<\/strong><\/span><strong> conference which offers a valuable and unique learning experience where current and past awardees share their knowledg<\/strong>e.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>But not all school systems lost interest. Two years ago, like MCPS, the Iredell-Statesville NC Schools award winner also used the Baldrige process <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">as a catalyst<\/span> to develop a common way-of-thinking about the work of learning and teaching.<\/p>\n<p>One of the products of that way-of-thinking in both districts was a development strategy that focused on structures that affect <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">all<\/span> students, and used the needs of <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">some<\/span> students as the initial focal point for the district\u2019s continual learning\/improving cycle.<\/p>\n<p>In both cases that development created an <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">aligned collaborative management structure<\/span> that could support the sustainable growth in effectiveness of those across the system whose work impacts the processes of student learning. And that may be the reason, I believe, that both districts subsequently received federal <em>Race-to-the-Top<\/em> <em>I-3<\/em> grants to nurture it.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>And when <\/strong><strong>(4) Proposed 2012 budget cutbacks are forcing the Baldrige program itself to rethink alternative strategies for support. Getting out of the \u201cbox\u201d of their present view of Baldrige as a way to improve <\/strong><em><strong>organizational performance<\/strong><\/em><strong> (which it is) might be easier with an understanding of MCPS\u2019 use of the process as a way to improve <\/strong><em><strong>organizational thinking<\/strong><\/em><strong> \u2013 the critical context required for creating and sustaining that<\/strong><em><strong> <\/strong><\/em><strong>organizational performance.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Who needs to hear these stories, and in ways that can help them learn from it?\u00a0\u00a0 What, if anything, can this site do to facilitate it?\u00a0 <em>Please share your thoughts\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong> <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">New problem #2:<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"> <\/span>The Montgomery County superintendent\u2019s pre-announced retirement after 12 years, comes at a time of diminishing state and local resources. How can the community\u2019s selection of a replacement be informed by an understanding of the nature of the connected system that must be sustained to continue holding it all together regardless of the quantity of resources?<\/p>\n<p>Traditionally, superintendent turnover results in a \u201c<em>Throwing out the Babies with the Bathtub<\/em>\u201d condition. The neighboring Washington DC schools offer a continuing example. Every time they throw out a superintendent (seven of the \u201cbest and brightest\u201d in the last decade) they also throw out the \u201cbathtub\u201d in which the community\u2019s children (and their teachers) \u201cswim\u201d everyday.\u00a0 That &#8220;bathtub&#8221; &#8212; the school district &#8212; \u00a0is the holding space that serves as the container of supportive processes and practices that keep people throughout the system \u201cafloat\u201d as they perform their daily work.<\/p>\n<p><strong> <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">\u2026New Questions: <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>How can the MCPS story serve to raise questions about the school district as \u201cBathtub\u201d \u2013 the necessary systemic container created for a single purpose:\u00a0 to develop and support the <em>learning capacities of all the kids <\/em>whose lives it touches<\/strong><strong>\u2026<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8211;and which, as a <em>single connected system<\/em> must hold <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">everybody<\/span> (the children and adults) and <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">everything<\/span> (what they do alone and together in managing learning and teaching) needed to achieve that purpose\u2026<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;and within which <em>trust<\/em> is the \u201cwater\u201d that supports them \u2013 the medium that makes it possible to create and sustain over time the supportive relationships required to achieve their individual and collective purposes.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>How can this collective wisdom be tapped before it drains out of the \u201cbathtub?\u201d Who needs to understand MCPS\u2019 answers to those questions and how it relates to the requirements for the next superintendent? As Alice\u2019s <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Cheshire Cat<\/span> might point out: <em>\u201cIf you don\u2019t know what you Need\u2026 then any superintendent can get you there!\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong> What, if anything, can this site do to facilitate it? Please share your thoughts\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><strong>The internal context \u2026. <em>I\u2019ve<\/em> changed<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n<p>I\u2019m one year older\u2026\u00a0 and as that cartoon suggested\u2026 an &#8220;old dog\u201d trying to learn &#8220;new tricks.&#8221; \u00a0What were my <em>old tricks, <\/em>what did I learn from them<em>, <\/em>and what \u201c<em>new tricks<\/em>\u201d might help others also learn them?<\/p>\n<p>My \u201cold tricks\u201d involved an <em>learning<\/em>-generating \u201cprocess,\u201d and two tools: <em>Alice\u2019s Looking Glass <\/em>and<em> <\/em><em>The 20,000 ft. Memo<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The process<\/em>:\u00a0 As described in more detail on the site at \u201c<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/?page_id=9\" target=\"_blank\">Catching Them Doing Something Right<\/a><\/span>,\u201d my embedded \u201cWorker\/Lurker\u201d role in the MCPS enabled me to<\/p>\n<p>(1) generate information by continually seeking answers to two questions: <em>What\u2019s happening here? \u2026and why?<\/em> And then<\/p>\n<p>(2) process that information by filtering the answers through a \u201cdifferent lens\u201d that had the capacity to focus on how people function at a common biological level where the brain acts much like an \u201cinformation pump\u201d that, like a computer\u2019s OS (Operating System), takes in information through the senses and delivers it to the mind\u2019s \u201csoftware.\u201d (Serving a basic function similar to ways the lungs and the heart are the biological engines that \u201cpump\u201d two other nutrients a body needs for survival \u2013 air and blood.)<\/p>\n<p>On this site we metaphorically call the lens <em>Alice\u2019s Looking Glass<\/em>.\u00a0 (It\u2019s discussed &#8220;in depth&#8221; in several other places on the site, including\u00a0 \u2013 \u00a0&#8220;<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/?p=1\" target=\"_self\">Welcome Alice<\/a><\/span>,&#8221; &#8220;<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/?p=550\" target=\"_blank\">Beam Me Up, Seymour<\/a>&#8220;<\/span> and &#8220;<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/?page_id=2\" target=\"_blank\">Making Sense Through a Systemic Leadership and Management Lens<\/a>&#8220;<\/span>)<\/p>\n<p>The resulting &#8220;map&#8221; of MCPS\u2019 common<em> natural<\/em> &#8220;territory&#8221; then served as one way to understand the common \u00a0<em>why <\/em>of what I was seeing, hearing and trying to make systemic sense of.<\/p>\n<p>As a diagnostic tool it was like a CTscan or MRI of a \u201c<em>whole elephan<\/em>t\u201d that showed not just the outer skin and all its visible external \u201cparts,\u201d \u00a0but at the same time the networks of (information-exchanging) connections beneath the surface that, by interconnecting all the \u201cparts\u201d (that the \u201c<em>Blind Men<\/em>&#8221; are held individually accountable for) enable it to function, develop and survive as a whole.<\/p>\n<p>The <em>20,000 ft. Memo<\/em> has been one vehicle for \u201cpackaging\u201d and sharing the systemic implications of the simple core principles the lens portrayed.\u00a0 (Many of these can be found under \u201c20,000 ft. Memos in this site\u2019s <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/?page_id=235\" target=\"_blank\">Resources<\/a><\/span> section, along with related articles and reports)<\/p>\n<p>Over 12 years these \u201cold tricks\u201d generated significant take-away insights along the way about the processes of schooling and how to transform them. \u00a0But now as I review their possible significance\u00a0I find myself dissatisfied and wondering whether<em> <\/em>there are some \u201cnew tricks\u201d I might use to make them more accessible?<em> <\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Why do I need \u201cNew Tricks\u201d now<\/span>?\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>I\u2019m frustrated<\/em>. Especially after this year-end reflection on how far along we are in terms of <em>Sabusense<\/em>\u2019s fundamental purpose to support\u00a0<em>re-thinking<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>I suppose I should be satisfied just playing <em>Copernicus<\/em> by offering a different mental \u201cmap\u201d so that \u201csomeday\u201d there will be a paradigm shift based on a different belief about the scope and nature of a \u201csystem\u201d \u2026that had been there all along. \u00a0Or <em>Galileo<\/em> who offered a way of seeing the truth of Copernicus\u2019 map without having to wait.<\/p>\n<p>But I\u2019m not. Missed opportunities for action \u201ctoday\u201d are at the roots of the frustration. On an almost daily basis I read or hear about current struggles between well-meaning adults who originally entered education to <em>make a difference for children<\/em> \u2026and still believe that in their efforts they have children\u2019s interest at heart.<\/p>\n<p>Now, however, the major energy, time, and resources they devote to their often well-researched and even sensible approaches unfortunately <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">can\u2019t<\/span> produce the systemic \u201canswers\u201d they hope for because of a flaw in their assumptions about the fundamental \u201cquestion.\u201d I used to find solace in humorist Josh Billing\u2019s 19th\u00a0Century observation about that flaw:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>\u201cIt\u2019s not people\u2019s ignorance you need to fear\u2026<br \/>\nit\u2019s what they know which darn well <em>ain\u2019t true<\/em><br \/>\n\u2026that causes all the problems<\/strong>!<\/p>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>At least this wasn\u2019t a \u201cnew\u201d problem. Unfortunately that recognition didn\u2019t help me deal with the reality that much of today\u2019s passionate dialogue is ultimately meaningless because its based on assumptions that also \u2026\u201c<em>ain\u2019t true.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>And, in fact, is much like the condition <em>Copernicus<\/em> faced, when the \u201c<em>ain\u2019t true\u201d <\/em>knowledge dealt with a core truth about the center or aligning point for \u201cconnecting all the dots\u201d among the parts of the \u201csystem\u201d people at the time tried to make sense of.<\/p>\n<p>How could that still be a thinking problem? \u00a0Well recently, centuries after both <em>Billings<\/em> and <em>Copernicus<\/em>, a physicist raised the question of whether \u201ctruth\u201d really matters <em>if, by accident, it sometimes works?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>(Ah-ha!<\/em> Can this be one of the reasons why Einstein noted the insanity of doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results?)<\/p>\n<p>The scientist had noted that the computer programs used by aeronautics engineers are all based on the <em>Bernoulli principle of fluid mechanics<\/em> \u2013 a theory that <em>can\u2019t<\/em> explain why or how planes can do what they do.\u00a0 (\u2026with my underlining)<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cNow here\u2019s the significance. The computer programs used by aeronautics engineers all work&#8230; by accident. They <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">do not describe what actually takes place<\/span> in terms of the aerodynamics of flight.<\/p>\n<p>Simply put, they are based on a relationship that is <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">congruent with reality<\/span>, but that isn\u2019t what really allows this 757 that I am riding in as I write this to stay in the air.\u00a0 <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">The programs will continue to be used for the design of aircraft in the future because they work.\u00a0 They\u2019re just not true<\/span>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2026.In principle, all of this is pretty simple. How many times have all of us thought we understood what was going on in a particular social situation? We observed from a distance, fabricating a framework of reason that made perfect sense, based upon a lifetime of experience. We KNEW why a certain person was doing what they were doing. It was internally consistent. Someone else had even suggested the same reason. We had lots of experience to back up our reasoning.<\/p>\n<p>And then, we find out the truth. There was something we weren\u2019t aware of or hadn\u2019t thought of (someone was getting married the next day, had failed a test, was operating under the conventions of a different culture, etc.), that fundamentally changed your understanding of the whole rationale for the behavior.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u2026 Maybe significant chunks of what we believe, work&#8230; by accident. And if the external context changes, or we make new discoveries, we may have to <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">quickly redesign our understanding of pieces of reality. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>That may not be easy. Some people will find it hard to give up the old, familiar, comfortable paradigms. They\u2019ll fight the change, defending the old ideas to the end.\u00a0 Many will do it <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">without even considering the possibility that they might be wrong.\u201d <\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Now <em>this<\/em><em> <\/em>seemed to capture one cause of my frustration. For the past five decades new educational approaches have been designed and implemented according to \u201c<em>Theories of Change<\/em>\u201d based upon assumptions about why things have worked in the past, without considering the possibility that they were &#8220;wrong.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>(Finding ways to challenge core beliefs and assumptions without making people feel \u201cwrong\u201d has always challenged me. &#8212; see <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/truth-or-consequences-test.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">T<\/a><\/span><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/truth-or-consequences-test.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">HE T<\/a><\/span><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/truth-or-consequences-test.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">RUTH OR C<\/a><\/span><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/truth-or-consequences-test.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">ONSEQUENCES T<\/a><\/span><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/truth-or-consequences-test.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">EST<\/a><\/span><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/truth-or-consequences-test.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">: A Belief-changing Tool<\/a><\/span> and <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"www.sabusense.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/egan-book-review.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Right Paradoxes, Wrong Paradigm: Thinking about Getting it \u2018Right\u2019 from now on<\/a>)<\/span><\/p>\n<p>But now there is new urgency to the challenge because at all levels of the society we seem caught up in a condition best characterized by the author Walker Percy as <em>\u201can age of not knowing what to do.\u201d <\/em>And because the immediate conditions causing the major economic, international and social problems on the plates of leaders today were<em> unthinkable<\/em> less than a decade ago, \u201cknowing what to do\u201d today requires a capacity for <em>thinking about the unthinkable.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u2022 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Adding to this frustration have been some personal learnings the \u201cold tricks\u201d generated. In particular, since I\u2019m still an \u201cold dog\u201d I\u2019d like to focus my remaining energies on a role I seem do best \u2013 serve as a \u201cthinking partner\u201d to those <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">have to respond<\/span> to today\u2019s urgencies. \u00a0 <strong>But, on what should I focus, and who needs to be engaged?<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Challenges requiring &#8220;new tricks&#8221;<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Making the unthinkable <\/span><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>thinkable<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>At first I figured that Steven Covey\u2019s advice should help me here. He noted that since all the problems, challenges, and opportunities we face fall into two areas, that\u2019s where we should focus our time and energy:\u00a0 Our <em>Circle of Concern<\/em> (things over which we have little or no control) and our <em>Circle of Influence<\/em> (things we can do something about).<\/p>\n<p>But for me that creates a tension rather than a simple \u201ceither\/or\u201d choice. For a \u201cbig picture\u201d thinker it\u2019s hard to shrink my <em>20,000 Ft. Circle of Concern<\/em> since that serves as context for the specific factors in my <em>Circle of Influence<\/em> that I want to do something about.\u00a0 That\u2019s because when I focus my \u201cbig picture\u201d lens on the on-the-ground needs of those dealing with every day&#8217;s \u201csmaller picture,\u201d it reveals that the fundamental problem limiting their daily effectiveness is a personal \u201cbig picture\u201d deeply embedded in the thinking that shapes their actions.<\/p>\n<p>This unquestioned \u201cbig picture,\u201d which theorists and scientists call a paradigm or mental model, is formed by beliefs about what we <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">think<\/span> we see happening in schools that <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">seem to work<\/span>\u2026\u00a0 but which, as noted above, <em>\u201cain\u2019t true.\u201d<\/em> Practices often may be working for other reasons, not because they have at their core a <em>fundamental natural \u201dtruth.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>This condition is so deeply embedded that few people even notice it when truth-tellers such as Peter Senge and Larry Cuban think the \u201cunthinkable\u201d and note its consequences:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201c<\/em><em>Many confronting the deeper nature of our problems cry out that the solution lies in \u2018fixing education.\u2019\u00a0 But you cannot \u2018fix\u2019 a structure that was <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">never designed for learning<\/span> in the first place.\u201d &#8212; <\/em>Peter Senge<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Schools not \u201cdesigned for learning\u201d\u2026 <\/strong><em><strong>unthinkable.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201cTeaching is<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"> impossible<\/span>, yet teachers teach. Expected to give individual attention to EACH child, the teacher<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"> knows<\/span> that it can\u2019t be done.\u201d &#8212; <\/em>Larry Cuban (when he was superintendent of the Arlington VA schools in the 70\u2019s.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Teachers coming to work each day \u201cknowing\u201d that what is <\/strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>expected<\/strong><\/span><strong> of them, and which they <\/strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>want<\/strong><\/span><strong> to do, is \u201cimpossible\u201d <\/strong><em><strong>\u2026 unthinkable<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">New tricks needed for a new medium<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve often been criticized for the nature of the ways I\u2019ve communicated over the years (and many times still do) \u2013 too abstract, too directive, all <em>head<\/em>\/no <em>heart<\/em>, very few personal stories, and \u201c<em>keep it simple, stupid.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 Eventually, they force one to consider why.<\/p>\n<p>Having spent a career \u201cpushing out\u201d information through print, film and video where \u201cspace&#8221; and &#8220;time&#8221; provide boundaries that force editing decisions, I&#8217;ve been trying to learn how to use this virtual medium that lacks &#8220;those&#8221; limits, but has a more important one.<\/p>\n<p>With the old &#8220;push&#8221; media, I had to jam as much content as possible into each one because I might not have another chance. (You\u2019ll find many of the documents in the site\u2019s <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/?page_id=235\" target=\"_blank\">Resource<\/a><\/span> area reflect that approach.)<\/p>\n<p>But now, with a medium from which users control what they want to &#8220;pull,&#8221; the content first has to engage the reader&#8217;s mind. After that, the potential for subsequent interaction can provide the platform for offering additional, and more reader-relevant, &#8220;content.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As I look now at this site\u2019s 18 or so blog postings over the past 2 years, It seems evident that I still haven\u2019t mastered that process. My \u201cnew tricks\u201d must include ways to make them shorter, more frequent, and more timely. (Note: This posting isn\u2019t one of those \u201cshort\u201d ones.)<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Bridges needed between Theory and Practice<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, as a \u201cbig picture\u201d thinker I seem to suffer from a dual disability.\u00a0 I noted in <em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/?page_id=115\" target=\"_blank\">How was this site\u2019s knowledge created?<\/a><\/span><\/em> my work place has always been somewhere between theory and practice.\u00a0 On one side, I engaged with on-the-ground practitioners who knew I lacked the credentials and experience to be one of them, and at the same time, I had relationships with many of the academics and thinkers about that \u201cground\u201d who may have known I lacked the credentials or degrees to be one of them.<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, over time, I was encouraged that some in both camps found the ideas meaningful regardless of my experience and \u201ccredentials.\u201d In both workspaces I found that because my way-of-seeing and thinking had become my sense-making paradigm &#8212; my frame for understanding &#8212; I was perceived as a big picture person who primarily could add value to the thinking of those who had the <em>time<\/em> to think and re-think before they acted or urged others to act.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, because I\u2019ve mostly worked for foundations, government agencies or practitioner associations that were trying to change <em>current<\/em> practice, I increasingly noted that I wasn\u2019t always helping those on-the-line practitioners to whom we entrust our children every day.\u00a0 Their frequent (and as I ultimately found, <em>natural<\/em>) response: <em>\u201c\u2026but what do we do on Monday?\u201d <\/em> (see <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/RhodesFieldbook.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">From Mental Models to Monday Morning<\/a><\/span>)<\/p>\n<p>It wasn\u2019t until I had the opportunity over the past 12 years to be an embedded observer in the operational reality of a large school district&#8211; where every day is a <em>Monday<\/em> &#8212; that I could fully use this way of making sense to \u201csee\u201d and understand the continual interaction of <em>theory<\/em> <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">and<\/span> <em>action,<\/em> of <em>method<\/em> <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">and<\/span> <em>mindset<\/em>, and of <em>will <\/em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">and<\/span> <em>way <\/em>that most influences what happens to children every day.<\/p>\n<p>And along with it, the critical need for \u201cbridges\u201d in the work to support the interactive nature of those \u201c<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">ands<\/span>.\u201d (Interestingly, the <em>Sufi, <\/em>whose <em>Blind Men\/Elephant<\/em> parable serves as this site\u2019s organizing metaphor, had another saying that goes to the nature of the \u201cblindness\u201d of those who can only see tangible \u201cparts.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>You think you understand one.<br \/>\nYou think you understand two, because one and one make two.<br \/>\nBut, you must also understand &#8220;and.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>From that dual perspective I began to backmap \u00a0the district&#8217;s &#8220;bridge-building&#8221; process by using the lens to track actual changes in the ways people <em>think<\/em> about schools and the work of schooling, their <em>roles<\/em> in it, and their beliefs in their own <em>capacities to make a difference <\/em>for children<em>. <\/em>And as I did that, I could observe and track the key role of the system\u2019s leaders in building that learning process into the work.<\/p>\n<p>Most important, in terms of the needs of others who also manage <em>Mondays<\/em> and need to bridge that theory-practice gap, there was now a developing base of documented systemic results-producing processes and practices that create the dot-connecting \u201cAnds\u201d between a purposeful work organization and the purposeful people who do its work.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>How can the story of MCPS\u2019 experiences developing the important \u201c<em>What\u2019s<\/em>\u201d and \u201c<em>How\u2019s<\/em>\u201d of integrated practice be told in the context of the \u201c<em>Why<\/em>\u201d-answering\u00a0 theories that served to align and make sense of their dot connecting?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>My proposed \u201cNew Tricks\u201d <\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>My \u201cold trick\u201d involved serving as a clone of Seymour Sarason\u2019s famous <em>Martian<\/em> <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">(<em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/?p=550\" target=\"_blank\">Beam Me Up, Seymour<\/a><\/em><\/span>) hovering 20,000 feet above a school who couldn\u2019t understand what the creatures below him were saying, and therefore tried to understand what was going on just by observing their <em>regular actions<\/em>. It\u2019s purpose: to raise questions for the reader \u2013 not just about <em>why<\/em> people would do things like that\u2026 but then, without thinking, <em>regularly continue<\/em> to do them?<\/p>\n<p>Now with this new medium I intend my new tricks to continue to support that role by using this site\u2019s two capacities:<\/p>\n<p>1) a central blog area intended to focus on current concerns and engage discussion about them, and<\/p>\n<p>2) a homepage, that serves as a linked storehouse for much of the knowledge that can serve as supporting context for the discussions<\/p>\n<p>\u2026and in ways that give an \u201cold\u2019 dog\u201d the personal and professional flexibility that the old \u201cpush\u201d media didn\u2019t &#8211; i.e., the freedom to <em>rant<\/em> and <em>rave<\/em>\u2026 with an immediate capacity to link it to <em>reasons<\/em> justifying them (without going through academic formalities like footnotes, etc.) In fact, for those who might question the validity of my future <em>rantings and ravings, <\/em>I\u2019ll refer them to this posting to find the <em>reasons.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> <\/em><\/p>\n<p>Several of the\u00a0&#8220;new tricks<em>&#8220;<\/em> will use <em>Alice\u2019s Looking Glass<\/em> to generate shorter, more frequent, and more timely blog postings. These will be linked to \u201dlonger\u201d \u201c<em>20,000 ft. Memos<\/em> that capture the \u201cbig picture\u201d consequences and will be in appropriate areas on the home page.\u00a0 Some proposed examples.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 &#8220;<strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">EdWeek&#8221; \u2026through <\/span><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>Alice&#8217;e Looking Glass<\/em><\/span><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"> <\/span>, <\/strong><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"> The \u201cAnswer Sheet\u201d \u2026<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">through <\/span><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>Alice&#8217;e Looking Glass,\u00a0\u00a0&#8220;<span style=\"font-style: normal;\">Class Struggle&#8221;<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">\u2026<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">through <\/span><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>Alice&#8217;e Looking Glass<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m a big fan and occasional contributor to the weekly national publication, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Education Week<\/span>. (In fact they included something I wrote in their 25th\u00a0anniversary publication \u201c<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">The Last Word:\u201d The Best Commentary and Controversy in American Education.<\/span>\u201d) \u00a0I&#8217;m also a fan of\u00a0the Washington Post\u2019s two education bloggers who struggle weekly to make sense many times of the same educational conditions, but from differing perspectives. (see\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/?p=607\" target=\"_blank\">Making Sense of \u201cNonsense\u201d<\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n<p>But each week, as a prisoner of my <em>Alice\u2019s Looking Glass <\/em>way-of-thinking, one or more articles frustrate me. \u00a0Parts of the arguments &#8220;make sense&#8221; to me because the reflect core natural &#8220;truths,&#8221; and the parts that don&#8217;t make sense usually are based on &#8220;unquestioned&#8221; beliefs that &#8220;ain&#8217;t true.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s why the problems being posed and the solutions being offered can\u2019t in the end have their intended effects. And why over the past decades the problems ailing our schools and the ideas for fixing them haven\u2019t really changed. The controversies go on\u2026 and whatever \u201cworks,\u201d apparently doesn\u2019t for long.<\/p>\n<p>For my own immediate frustration-relieving psychological health therefore, I\u2019m going to offer, via periodic postings, a different perspective on the current news in education as viewed through <em>Alice\u2019s Looking Glass\u2026 <\/em>and use it to raise different questions that might stimulate re-thinking.<\/p>\n<p><strong> \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Barking Dogs<\/span><\/em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">\u2026 not being heard <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A 2<sup>nd<\/sup> \u201cnew trick\u201d &#8212; an occasional series of blog postings under the heading\u00a0 &#8211; <em>Barking Dogs\u2026 not being heard<\/em> &#8212;\u00a0 also will focus on asking different questions \u2013 but this time on the ones we strangely don\u2019t ask.<\/p>\n<p>This requires switching my favorite animal metaphor from an elephant to a dog to take advantage of how Sherlock Holmes dealt with dilemmas like ours today where none of the answers to what seems to be the problem make sense, and produce, as Diane Ravitch complains, feelings of \u201cinsanity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In one famous story Holmes noted something there all along that wasn\u2019t being noticed &#8212; a \u201cdog\u201d that didn\u2019t bark.\u201d An \u201cX-factor,\u201d or as lawyers say, \u201cfacts not in evidence.\u201d And he asked, \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Those who may have explored the Sabusense site know that our central hypothesis is that<\/p>\n<p>1) there <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">is<\/span> a \u201cfact not in evidence\u201d &#8212; something missing in the way we understand the \u201cproblem\u201d&#8212; that\u2019s keeping us from making sense of it\u2019s most critical factors.<\/p>\n<p>2) we suggests what that \u201cx-factor\u201d is, and<\/p>\n<p>3) offer examples of how the scope and nature of the problem changes when it is factored in.<\/p>\n<p>The intention, as noted at the top of the home page, is to offer a <em>different way-of-thinking<\/em> based on that view to serve as an alternative \u201cbox\u201d within which to \u201cconnect-the-dots.\u201d \u00a0Then within it, raise the questions \u201cnot being asked,\u201d and point to where the answers might be found in the experiences of MCPS and others\u00a0.<\/p>\n<p>Our major challenge in this series of postings differs from Holmes\u2019 whose solution addressed only why a \u201cdog\u201d <em>wasn\u2019t barking<\/em>. Today the \u201cdogs\u201d <em>are<\/em>, and have been barking for a long time\u2026 but are not <em>heard<\/em> \u2026and few are asking why we don\u2019t (or can\u2019t) hear them.<\/p>\n<p>These <em>Barking Dog <\/em>postings will use that understanding to focus on issues currently the subject of passionate debate. And at a time when public dialogue and personal conversations seem to create polarization by focusing on the ways things are <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">different<\/span>, we\u2019ll try to provide a way to see how they are the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">same<\/span>\u2026 and <em>natural.<\/em> And use that to align what we see to a different center point that offers another way to make sense similar to what <em>Copernicus<\/em> and <em>Galileo<\/em> could have used \u2013 a way to see the solar <em>system <\/em>as one would see it if it were possible to stand on the sun and notice the movement and relationships of the planets from that orientation.\u00a0 (As an example, see \u201c<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/OneThing.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">The One Thing! \u2026a simple\u00a0 proposal<\/a><\/span>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One early posting in this series\u00a0will \u00a0raise questions about Bill Gates current approach to &#8220;reform&#8221; by pointing out the \u201cbarking dog\u201d that he isn\u2019t hearing in his well-funded, well-intended, &#8212; but guaranteed to fail in its intended purpose &#8212; \u00a0approach to systemic improvement.<\/p>\n<p><strong> \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">\u201cYOU are HERE!\u201d<\/span> &#8212; 20,000 ft. <em>Thought experiments<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I always look for one of those \u201cYOU are HERE!\u201d signs with their red arrows when I\u2019m in strange place because it at least gives me a better chance to see where I am in the context of where I want to go, and what my possibilities might be for getting there.<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, while leaders often are judged by their visions of the <em>future <\/em>at the &#8220;end of the tunnel,&#8221;\u00a0it\u2019s the nature of their vision at the &#8220;<em>here<\/em> end of the tunnel\u201d that is a more important factor in their getting to that other end. \u00a0They need &#8220;maps&#8221; that can encompass both &#8220;ends,&#8221; because as John Dewey pointed out:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201c<em>We always live at the time we live and not at some other time, and only by extracting at each present time the full meaning of each present experience are we prepared for doing the same thing in the future. This is the only preparation which in the long run amounts to anything<\/em>.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>These thought experiments will offer ways to extract \u201cfull meanings\u201d from the present territory \u201cat this end of the tunnel\u201d where each day&#8217;s journey must start.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>\u201cNew Tricks\u201d \u2026needing <em>Thinking Partner<\/em><\/strong><strong>s<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong> \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Tapping and Distilling the <\/span><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>Collective Wisdom<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Many of the answers that researchers have been trying to capture, and which current policy makers <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">need,<\/span> are still embedded in the MCPS staff\u2019s and community&#8217;s collective wisdom.<\/p>\n<p><strong> What role can this site play in surfacing that collective wisdom before it erodes?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong> How can it be used to raise the questions that will tap their unique experience-based knowledge of what\u2019s involved in <em>functioning systemically? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Among the examples of collective wisdom already there that needs to be surfaced and made functional are<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8212; \u00a0new insights on the intertwined systemic roles of the CEO (superintendent), the CAO (chief academic officer), and the COO (chief operating officer) that have direct implications for leadership development and support strategies. \u00a0And<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8212; how to develop a supporting scaffold over the district\u2019s work that enables a community of learners to simultaneously function as a learning community.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>\u001f<strong><strong>One final <em>20,000 Ft. <\/em>reflection\u2026 <\/strong><strong><em>No pain\u2026 no gain!<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Going through this rethinking process of my own reminds me that while <em>thinking<\/em> is a natural process, <em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">re-thinking<\/span><\/em> isn\u2019t\u2026and in fact, as we stress on this Homepage\u2019s <em>Surgeon General\u2019s Warning<\/em>, it can \u201cmake your head hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And I realize now even more how much I owe my pain to two culture-busting organizations that have given me the supportive encouragement to initiate and continue to develop <em>Sabusense.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>One, the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.plexusinstitute.org\" target=\"_blank\">Plexus Institute<\/a>,<\/span> whose mission is to foster the health of individuals, families, communities, organizations, and our natural environment by helping people understand and use the common \u201csimple rules\u201d emerging from the new science of complexity.<\/p>\n<p>And the other, the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.in2in.org\" target=\"_blank\">InThinking Network<\/a><\/span>,\u2028supported by Pratt &amp; Whitney Rocketdyne, that believes that &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/cts.vresp.com\/c\/?In2InThinkingNetwork\/c67f274cfe\/2e88236595\/9a7ddaad08\">inthinking<\/a>,&#8221; &#8212; <em>thinking about thinking<\/em>&#8212; can allow people to better perceive relationships and interdependencies in human endeavors, and consequently act to make those endeavors more valuable, more satisfying, and more joyful.<\/p>\n<p>I guess it\u2019s true: <em>No pain\u2026 no gain!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>based on&#8230; A New Year always offers an opportunity to reflect on what we\u2019ve been doing and, if not satisfied, resolve to do better. That&#8217;s why I\u2019m applying that learning process here to the continuing development of this Sabusense website &#8230; I\u2019m frustrated.\u00a0 This cartoon captures one reason why. \u2026I\u2019m an &#8220;old dog\u201d trying to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=694"}],"version-history":[{"count":108,"href":"https:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":808,"href":"https:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694\/revisions\/808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}