Dr. Brad E. Oliver Associate Professor Indiana Wesleyan University Indiana Association of School Principals Fall Professional Conference November 21, 2014.

Improving the Relational Health of Your School through Creative & Innovative Leadership

Dr. Brad E. OliverAssociate Professor

Indiana Wesleyan University

Indiana Association of School PrincipalsFall Professional Conference

November 21, 2014

The challenges facing K-12 education today are not purely pedagogical in

nature.Our challenges are highly relational.

Understanding Relational Health

Artificial

Superficial

Beneficial

Sacrificial

Transactional

Transformational

Oliver, 2014

Assessing Your School’s Relational Health…

TRANSACTIONAL

Task Oriented Events and

circumstances of life inform their behavior

Rely on available information

They have capacity to make a difference, but influence is not a given

TRANSFORMATIONAL

Mission Oriented Their understanding of

the mission helps them translate events and circumstances in a productive manner

Rely on understanding, not just information (e.g., experience & context)

Influence is a given, as nothing constrains them

Leadership Focus…

Industrial

Thinking

Innovative

Thinking

Leadership Focus…

Logical Intuitive

Leadership Focus…

Deductive/Inductive Reasoning

AbductiveReasoning

Leadership Focus…

Requires Proof to Proceed

Asks what if?

Leadership Focus…

Looks for precedents

Unconstrained by past

Leadership Focus…

Quick to decide

Holds multiple

possibilities

Leadership Focus…

There is right and

wrong

There is always a

better way

Leadership Focus…

Uncomfortable with

ambiguity

Relishes ambiguity

Leadership Focus…

Wants results

Wants meani

ng

School Culture

Artifacts

Espoused Beliefs

Core Assumptions

Schein, 2010

Core Assumptions that Build Relationship…

Organizational Encouragement Lack of Organizational Impediments Leadership Encouragement Sufficient Resources Realistic Workload Freedom Challenging Work Teamwork & Collaboration

Leadership Behaviors that Improve Relational Health…

Paying attention – perceive more deeply, beyond first impressions

Personalizing – tap into personal experiences to gain fresh perspectives

Imaging – Bring information to life through use of metaphors

Serious Play – generate insights through exploration and experimentation

Collaborative Inquiry – foster productive dialogue by embracing diverse viewpoints

Crafting – synthesis, rather than analysis- Horth & Buchner, 2014

Questions (Assessing Innovation)

How would you assess your school’s approach to encouraging innovation & creativity?

What needs to change to create effective innovation?

What is encouraging and helping promote creativity?

What is impeding, creating barriers, or discouraging creativity?

What would you recommend changing to cultivate creativity and innovation?

What do we do when someone comes to us with a creative idea? What could we do differently?

“Leadership is about analyzing what you've done, being honest about what you could have done, and having the courage to try again.”

- Oliver, 2014

An action plan for becoming more innovative in your leadership…

Choose creativity. Stop squashing that little kid inside of you. Make a commitment to decide you want to revive your innovative voice.

Think like a traveller. Stop being oblivious to your surroundings and instead try to see things as if you’ve just landed in that spot and are seeing things for the first time.

Expose yourself to new situations or information. Listen to a TED talk, read information from other industries and try to experience new things that may spark an idea. - Bruzzese, 2014

An action plan for becoming more innovative in your leadership…

Daydream. Stop feeling like you’re a slacker if you aren’t actively engaged in three things at one time. New findings in neuropsychology find that flashes of insight often come when your mind is relaxed on completing a specific task.

Be empathetic. Remove your own ego from the equation when it comes to generating new ideas by taking the time to observe the people who need the solutions. What are their needs?

Be an anthropologist. Observing people in their “natural habitat” can help generate new ideas, even if you do think you’re the expert who knows best. Ask “why”?

- Bruzzese, 2014

An action plan for becoming more innovative in your leadership…

Reframe challenges. Before you start searching for solutions to a problem, step back to make sure you’re asking the right questions.

  Build a creative network. Creative whizzes

often are seen as lone wolves, but some of the best ideas come from collaboration. Begin by acknowledging to yourself that you don’t have all the answers, and working with others can help relieve the pressure. Meet people after hours to sit around and talk about innovative ideas, or use creative digital communities.- Bruzzese, 2014

References

Bruzzese, A. (2014). 8 ways to unleash your creativity and find innovative ideas. Available online at: http://quickbase.intuit.com/blog/2014/01/27/8-ways-to-unleash-your-creativity-and-find-innovative-ideas/

Horth, D. & Buchner, D. (2014). Innovation leadership: How to use innovation to lead effectively, work collaboratively, and drive results. Center for Creative Leadership.

Horth, D. & Vehar, J. (2014). Becoming a leader who fosters innovation. Center for Creative Leadership.

Kubicek, J. (2011). Leadership is dead: How influence is reviving it. New York, NY: Howard Books.

Maxwell, J. (2013). The 5 levels of leadership: Proven steps to maximize your potential. New York,

NY: Hatchett Book Company.

Nelson, J. (2013). The art of focused conversations in schools. [3rd Edition]. Toronto, Ontario: ICA

Associates, Inc.

Oliver, B. (2014). Pawns: Education is Not a Nice Game of Chess. Muncie, IN: Self-Published.

Dr. Brad [email protected]: @drbradoliver765-677-1985