Permanent Adaptability
Published on Feb 25, 2016
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PRESENTATION OUTLINE
Permanent Adaptability
a "meta proposal"
This isn't an actual "adaptability project" but rather an argument for how George School can reorganize in order to remain adaptable all the time.
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Why was the Adaptability Project needed in the first place?
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Technology / Graduation requirements /
Curriculum/
Pedagogy
We've fallen behind in a number of areas. STEAM, maker spaces, interdisciplinary offerings, etc. How did this happen?
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SPOC but no
SPC
[same problem as DOC]
We have a Strategic Planning Oversight Committee, but no standing Strategic Planning Committee. Strategic planning shouldn't be a once-every-five-years process. Our Diversity Oversight Committee recently went through a process of handing off some of its work to a ground-level Diversity Committee so that the board committee could truly focus on oversight.
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Department Heads but no Curriculum Committee
GS has no "curriculum committee." Our Department Heads meet and function as a curriculum committee to some extent, but they are not a generative group. They rely on innovative faculty members to bring them proposals, but it isn't always clear to faculty members that they are empowered to do that. The existence of the Foundational Skills and FOCUS committees is symptomatic of this lack of a central, generative curriculum group.
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3 out of 5 breakout groups in the May GSB meeting named adaptability/leading change as a priority
Our board broke into small groups to try to figure out what the most important priorities are that we can name for our Head of School candidates. Adaptability itself, and leading through change, came up in more than half of the groups.
[Nancy: We only have notes from five of the six groups, so my data here is hazy.]
[Nancy: We only have notes from five of the six groups, so my data here is hazy.]
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The End of Competitive Advantage
Rita Gunther McGrath, 2013
McGrath's book examines companies that are most adept at constantly reconfiguring themselves to seize "transient advantages." These companies don't fear change, they thrive on it.
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From: innovation is episodic
To: innovation is ongoing, systemic process
McGrath's book features a chart she calls "The New Strategic Playbook." My next four slides excerpt lines that I feel are especially relevant for GS.
This slide summarizes my point perfectly. The Adaptability Project is a terrific example of "episodic innovation." I'm thrilled that we are doing it, but it is going to end. Then what?
This slide summarizes my point perfectly. The Adaptability Project is a terrific example of "episodic innovation." I'm thrilled that we are doing it, but it is going to end. Then what?
From: people work on innovation in addition to their day jobs
To: resources dedicated to innovation activities
From: stability or dynamism alone
To: stability combined with dynamism
From: squeezing opportunities into existing structure
To: organizing around opportunities
Our faculty meeting discussion about "maker spaces" is illustrative of this point. We have multiple art/science studios where "making" is going on, and some people bristle at the idea that we lack a "maker space." But we are insisting on maintaining our existing structure instead of imagining what would happen if we reorganized around a central space for art/engineering/design.
From: precise but slow
To: fast and roughly right
This is perhaps the line that summarizes McGrath's thesis better than any other. In my nine years at GS, I can think of just one occasion in which we did something "fast and roughly right": The decision to move up Commencement by two weeks. Did a fissure in the earth open up and swallow the school? No.
Proposal: Create a permanent adaptability group to do (strategic) curriculum work
I'm suggesting that we create a committee that will operate at the ground level (not the board level) to do strategic planning. It will include academic leadership so that changes to our core program won't take years to implement.
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Qualities
- generative
- silo-busting
- by application only
- meets frequently
"By application only" means that a seat on this committee isn't automatic due to ex officio structures. Like the Adaptability Project Group, you'll need to apply. Members will be expected to do homework to keep up with trends in education. The committee might include some department heads, some younger faculty, some intrepid board members, and some senior administrators.
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Goals
- Assess new trends
- Keep eye on our peers
- Seize opportunities
- Think short, mid, and long term
The last bullet is important. This group isn't going to worry about writing a strategic plan every five years. SPOC can worry about that. (Some argue that five-year plans should be abandoned, but that isn't part of this proposal). This committee would juggle a number of strategic priorities through smaller working groups. Its agenda would be constantly evolving.
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Most of all, the goal would be to unleash the pent up innovation that exists within the faculty.
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Your questions?
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