Transcript Unit 2: The Principal as Strategic Thinker

Unit 2: The Principal as Strategic Thinker
Elements of Strategic Thinking
 Context
 Analysis (Internal/External)
 Opportunities
and Challenges
 Vision
 Strategic Intent
 Strategy
 Assumptions
 Interests
 Objectives
 Capabilities
 Threats
 Risks
 Decision/Action
Introduction
This unit:
Introduces the theory and tools that principals need
to think strategically about improving student
achievement, including how to:
 Lead and motivate a school team to create a vision



for the future
Develop a strategy to implement that vision
Build a plan to execute the strategy
Apply a process for measuring the fulfillment of the
strategy and vision
Examines decision-making processes that school
leaders need to understand and apply to ensure
objectives are accomplished
Unit 2 Key Questions
What are the differences among the following
terms: school/district vision, mission and
strategy?
Why is it critical for school leaders to get the
vision right?
What are the differences among the terms
strategic thinking, operational planning, and
tactics?
What examples of strategic leadership and
decision-making do you see in the case studies?
What are characteristic behaviors of a strategic
leader?
Unit 2 Key Questions
What is the relationship among strategic
thinking, decisions and actions?
How do you link these concepts in your own
thinking and practice?
What process or framework should a school
leader use to think strategically about his or
her school?
What criteria should a school leader use in
selecting a decision-making approach?
Strategic Thinking and Strategy -- An Overview
Unit 2 – Day One
“Perfection of means and
confusion of ends seems to
characterize our age.”
Albert Einstein
Las Meninas
Painted by Diego Velazquez
Las Meninas
Painted by Pablo Picasso
Perspective Maps
Perspective Maps (cont’d)
USA Perspective Map
Moscow Perspective Map
Perspective
ADD 2 or 3 chalk
drawings here
Perspective
Language of Strategic Thinking
VISION/MISSION
STRATEGY/Strategy
GOALS/OBJECTIVES
Strategic Thinking/Strategic Intent
“The ultimate test of whether a company has strategic
architecture is not fat notebooks full of graphs and
matrices. The ultimate test is asking a random sample of
25 senior managers, ‘How will the future of your industry
be different?’ and comparing the answers. Give them a
week or a month to formulate their answers. Don’t tell
them what you mean by ‘industry’ or how far out the
‘future’ is.”
Hamel and Prahaled, Competing for the Future, p.133
Definition of Strategy
In warfare, the science or art of
employing all the military, economic,
political, and other resources of a nation
to achieve the objects of war.
(Encyclopedia Britannica)
Definition of Strategy
Unit 3
Other Definitions
Corporate strategy is the pattern of decisions in a
company that determines and reveals its objectives,
purposes, or goals, produces the principal policies and
plans for achieving those goals, and defines the range of
business the company is to pursue, the kind of economic
and human organization it is or intends to be, and the
nature of the economic and non- economic contribution it
intends to make to its shareholders, employees,
customers, and communities.
(Kenneth Andrews,Concept of
Corporate Strategy, pp.18-19)
Is This Strategy?
A football huddle
Is This Strategy? (cont’d)
A chess game
Is This Strategy? (cont’d)
George Washington crossing the Delaware
How Can School Leaders Think Strategically?
• The first step is to begin with a vision of what you
want to achieve: THE END
• The second step is to establish the strategic intent
and strategic concepts: THE WAYS
• The next step is to assemble the people and marshal
the resources available to accomplish the strategy:
THE MEANS
The Process Diagram
Examining School Visions
Unit 2– Day One
Elements of Strategic Thinking
Context
 Analysis (Internal/External)
 Opportunities
and Challenges
Vision
 Strategic Intent
Strategy
 Assumptions
 Interests
 Objectives
 Capabilities
 Threats
 Risks
 Decision/Action
School Vision Criteria
Achievable/Doable
Focused on results and leads to accountability
Measurable
Simple and clear
Actionable
Lends itself to developing a clear strategy for
making the vision possible
Leads to hard choices
Worth fighting for
School Vision--Considerations
In what kind of school would you wish to teach?
What brought you into education in the first
place? Why did/do you stay?
What are the elements of the school that you
would want your own children to attend?
What would the school environment in which you
would most like to work look like, feel like and
sound like?
If your school were threatened, what would be the
last things that you would be willing to give up?
Preamble to the Constitution
“We the People of the United States, in Order to
form a more perfect Union, establish Justice,
insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the
common defense, promote the general Welfare,
and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves
and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United States of America.”
Man on the Moon
“I believe that this nation should
commit itself to achieving the goal,
before this decade is out, of landing
a man on the moon and returning
him safely to the earth.”
John F. Kennedy, May 25, 1961
Greenwood Middle School
Vision Statement
Every Greenwood Middle School
student will graduate ready to
succeed in a high school -- without
remediation.*
*Students will enter high school prepared for the curriculum--not
needing remediation for what they should have learned in middle
school.
Commitments and Beliefs
 Each student, regardless of their academic level when they entered
the school, will leave eighth grade:
 Having met or exceeded state standards in all subject areas;
 As a proficient reader and writer;
 Having completed Algebra I
 All students will receive high quality, standards-based instruction.
 All teachers will focus their instruction on high quality student work
that meets standards.
 All teachers will receive high-quality training to assist English
Language Learners and students with disabilities to achieve
standards at the level of proficient or above.
 All students will thrive in a just, fair, and caring learning
environment that fosters confidence and a sense of belonging.
 Every student will study a challenging curriculum that applies their
learning to everyday situations, thereby enhancing students’ social,
emotional, and ethical development and deepening their
commitment to values and good citizenship.
Judy Codding’s Sample
Vision Statement
The vision of this school is to make sure that all those who enter
as freshmen graduate with the skills and knowledge needed to
attend college without remediation.
The school strives to:
 Develop students’ capacity to respond to the finest aesthetic
achievements of humanity
 Develop their ability to work well with others in groups
 Help students exercise the franchise of democratic citizenship by
establishing sound moral and academic judgments
A Framework for Thinking Strategically
Unit 2 – Day One
Elements of Strategic Thinking
Context
 Analysis (Internal/External)
 Opportunities
and Challenges
Vision
 Strategic Intent
Strategy
 Assumptions
 Interests
 Objectives
 Capabilities
 Threats
 Risks
 Decision/Action
Strategic Matrix
Strategic
Elements
Military
Context
National security/well-being
International System of States
Vision
Political objective(s)
Strategy
Determination of how assets
are to be used to achieve
goals
Assumptions
Own/enemy’s/allies’
Interests
National
Objectives
Objectives/goals
Capabilities
What’s available:
strengths/weaknesses
Threats
Enemy
Risks
Level of acceptable risk? (Life
and Death, Measures of
Success)
Business
Education
Education
Strategic Matrix
Strategic
Elements
Military
Business
Context
National security/well-being
International System of States
Global Context
Products and Services
Vision
Political objective(s)
Corporate objective(s)
Strategy
Determination of how assets
are to be used to achieve
goals
Determination of how
assets are to be used to
achieve goals
Assumptions Own/enemy’s/allies’
Own/competitors’/
partners’/stakeholders’
Interests
National
Corporate, global,
shareholder, customer
Objectives
Objectives/goals
Objectives/goals
Capabilities
What’s available:
strengths/weaknesses
What’s available:
strengths/weaknesses
Threats
Enemy
Competitors
Risks
Level of acceptable risk? (Life
and Death, Measures of
Success)
Level of acceptable
risk? (Growth and
Profitability)
Education
Education
Strategic Matrix
Strategic
Elements
Military
Business
Education
Context
National security/well-being
International System of
States
Global Context
Products and Services
21st Education
Century Skills/
Globalization
Vision
Political objective(s)
Corporate objective(s)
Strategy
Determination of how
assets are to be used to
achieve goals
Determination of how
assets are to be used to
achieve goals
Determination of how
assets are to be used to
achieve goals
Assumptions
Own/enemies’/allies’
Own/competitors’/
partners’/stakeholders’
State/district/school/
own/community
Interests
National
Corporate, global,
shareholder, customer
Student/school/
community
Objectives
Goals/objectives
Goals/objectives
Goals/objectives
Capabilities
What’s available:
strengths/weaknesses
What’s available:
strengths/weaknesses
What’s available:
strengths/weaknesses
Threats/Risks
Enemy
Level of acceptable risk?
(Life and Death, Measures
of Success)
Competitors
Level of acceptable
risk? (Growth and
Profitability)
Barriers/low expectations
Level of acceptable risk?
(Competency and values)
Decision/Action
All students ready for
college without
remediation
Approaches To Strategy
Direct Approach
VON CLAUSEWITZ
Indirect Approach
SUN TSU
Combination Approach
Approaches To Strategy
FOG
FOG
CENTERS OF GRAVITY
FRICTION
FRICTION
Fog of War –
Lessons From the Life of Robert McNamara
1. Empathize With Your Enemy
2. Rationality Will Not Save Us
3. There’s Something Beyond One’s Self
4. Maximize Efficiency
5. Proportionality Should Be A Guideline In War
6. Get The Data
7. Believing And Seeing Are Often Both Wrong
8. Be Prepared To Reexamine Your Reasoning
9. In Order To Do Good, You May Have To Engage In Evil
10. Never Say Never
11. Human Nature Does Not Change
Operational Planning
“Planning is essential, but plans are
useless.”
-Dwight Eisenhower
Strategy, Operations, Tactics
“I believe that within war there are a
variety of levels. There is a strategic level,
which takes into account relationships
between states.
There's an operational level, that which
seeks to connect battles to each other in
order to pursue a strategy.
And there are tactical-level pieces that
were, for example, referred to earlier, that
have to do with air defense or have to do
with some systems that we want to take
down.”
(General Tommy Franks)
Strategic Thinking: Business Context
Strategic Thinking: Military Context
Strategic Thinking: Standards-Based
Context
Strategic
ESEA
Operational
State Standards
District/Schools
Tactical
Section Summary
Strategy -- orchestrating the assets and capabilities
over which the principal can gain control to achieve
his/her objectives.
Operational planning -- developing plans to execute
the part of the strategy that will move the organization
closer to its ultimate goals. Specific resources are
selected and prioritized on a time line to accomplish a
sub-goal.
Tactics -- the building blocks of operations and how
one uses assets or capabilities in a specific context.
Section Summary
All strategies have common elements.
Leaders may approach strategic dilemmas
differently.
Approaches depend on the understanding of the
problem, point of view of the leader, influences of
key players and organizations, and ultimate
objectives.
Strategy is the determination of how available
means can best be used to achieve identified
ends/goals.
Case Study Methodology/
Preparation for Case Studies
Unit 2 – Day One
Case Study Reading Tool
Action Learning Project (ALP)
You will use the results of your Learning
Context Assessment School/District to help
you define a few strategic goals and also to
identify effective strategies that match the
available ways and means to achieve the
vision and the aligned goals.
Strategic Leadership and Stakeholders
Unit 2 – Day Two
Powell’s 7 Strategic Leadership Traits
Dare to be the skunk
To get the real dirt, head for the trenches
Share the power
Know when to ignore your advisors
Develop selective amnesia
Come up for air
Declare victory and quit
Comparing Leadership Behaviors
Colin Powell’s 7 Laws
of Power
William Cohen in The Art
of the New Leader
Kouzes and Posner in
The Leadership
Challenge
Dare to be the skunk
Maintain absolute integrity
Model the way
To get the real dirt, head
for the trenches
Know your stuff
Inspire a shared vision
Share the power
Declare your expectations
Challenge the process
Know when to ignore
your advisors
Show uncommon
commitment
Enable others to act
Develop selective
amnesia
Expect positive results
Encourage the heart
Come up for air
Take care of your people
Begin the journey
Declare victory and quit
Put duty before self
Get out in front
Leadership and Management
“Many writers on leadership take considerable pains to
distinguish between leaders and managers. In the process
leaders generally end up looking like a cross between
Napoleon and the Pied Piper, and managers like
unimaginative clods. This troubles me. I once heard it said of a
man, ‘He’s an utterly first-class manager but there isn’t a trace
of the leader in him.’ I am still looking for that man, and I am
beginning to believe that he does not exist. Every time I
encounter utterly first-class managers they turn out to have
quite a lot of the leader in them.”
(John W. Gardner, On Leadership, p. 3-4)
Approaches to Decision-Making
Unit 2 – Day Two
“In the learning organization, mental models are
freely shared, rigorously scrutinized, and revised
as necessary at the personal, team, and
organizational levels. If an organization is to
become a learning organization, it must
overcome the fear or anxiety that prevents its
members from challenging established ways of
thinking and doing. Some organizations may also
have to overcome a ‘bias for action’ that can
prevent a more self-reflective appraisal.“
Chase, Michael. “The Learning Organization: An Overview”
(http://www.leadershipguru.org/learning_org.htm)
• Rational Actor
• Organizational Behavior
• Bureaucratic Politics
ALLISON & ZELIKOW, ESSENCE OF DECISION, 2ND EDITION.,1999
Decision-Making
“The essence of ultimate decision remains
impenetrable to the observer—often, indeed, to
the decider himself . . . There will always be the
dark and tangled stretches in the decisionmaking process—mysterious even to those who
may be most intimately involved.”
(John Fitzgerald Kennedy)
A Simple Yes/No Decision Tree
Decision-Making Process
DECISION-MAKING MODELS
Rational Actor Model
Acts of Individuals
Acts and Choices
 Purposive Actions
 Alternative Courses of Action
 Problems to be Solved
 Consequences
DECISION-MAKING MODELS
Organizational Behavior Model
Decision-making Processes
Outputs
Policy--Mechanisms & Gears
 Standard Operating Procedures
 Organizational Theories &
Imperatives
 Set Pieces
DECISION-MAKING MODELS
Bureaucratic Politics Model
Bargaining Games/Skills
“Stands” and “Actions”
Lesser “Principals” Involved
 Tradeoffs/Compromises
 Intermediate Steps vs Results
 Dominant Influences
Video Case Study
Unit 2 – Day Two
Major Decisions Made at Pasadena High
School
•Acquiring the full-time equivalent (FTE)
replacements
•Scheduling double period math classes instead of
other electives
•Rescheduling the last period of the day for
academics instead of as a lead-in to the sports
program
Section Summary
Deliberative decision-making is not a knee-jerk
reaction to daily issues. It is the result of a
systematic process that, if followed, can produce
profound results.
The principal’s responsibility is to consider
different approaches and agendas in coming to a
decision and in formulating actions that carry out
the decision.
Unit 2 Summary
Unit 2 – Day Two
Summary of Unit 2
The context for strategic thinking in the education
world includes Economic Globalization, and ESEA
legislation, and the main challenges principals face
— as we discussed in Unit 1.
Unit 2 starts with the analysis of that context and
proceeds to the creation of vision.
With the vision established, we will be ready to
determine the best strategy for accomplishing
what we want to do — matching ways and means
with ends.
Unit 3 Homework
Please complete the readings included in the Unit 3
Readings packet
Complete the following sections of the NISL Unit 3 online
materials:
 Overview
 Standards System
 Systems Alignment
 Authority Scale
Print your results from the computerized matrix,
‘Diagnosing Your School’s Standards-Based Instructional
System’ and bring it to class.
Unit 3 Homework (cont)
Spend some time focusing on your ALP. Consider the
following:
 What did you learn from completing the analysis of your




school/district?
What major areas of focus have the greatest potential for the
largest, quickest effects in turning poor or mediocre performance
around?
From the gap analysis, what ideas do you have for possible Action
Learning Projects?
How can you apply what you’ve learned about vision and strategy to
the creation of your ALP vision and plan?
What decision-making model might be useful for your action
learning team? Could you involve the team in jointly agreeing on
how decisions will be made?