Module 1 session 3 what do you bring #1

SESSION 3: What do you bring to the table? #1

John PisapiaFlorida Atlantic University

Tony TownsendGriffith University

Principals as Strategic Leaders

Strategic Thinking Capability• Minds and Mindsets• Open vs Closed Minds• Casual, Strategic, and

Entrepreneurial Thinking Skills

Strategic Leaders Find the Future and Make it Happen!

In this PaSL session we assess your current capability to think strategically and entrepreneurially.

The Minds we Need

Leaders must have the capability to understand and rapidly adapt to changes in their environment.

Unfortunately, “We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

“Think Different”The innovative mind takes the creative idea and successfully implements it

“Think Differently”

Picture This

The Strategic Leader Netowork (SLN) 5

05/03/2023 Pisapia, J. 2009. The Strategic Leader

Understand The Power of MindsetsFrame Dominance

Change

Be Flexible

SenseBe Wise

LearnBe Curious

Think in a Strategic Way!

The Minds we Need

05/03/2023

The Minds we Need!• A mind that is curious, flexible, and wise enables us

to:

• Recognize Patterns,

• Make sense out of seemingly unrelated information.

• Enable us to switch from a strategic mindset -“Why and What” - to a tactical mindset -“How and When” - in a rapid and iterative process when appropriate.

What is stopping us from developing the

minds we need?

05/03/2023 The Strategic Leader Network 9

The Strategic Leader Network 10

MindsetReset Your Thinking and See the Future

Mindset is the way you think about things. The schemas – , i.e. cognitive biases, mental models, competing commitments, and assumptions held by individuals or groups which creates an outlook that causes them to act in a certain way.

Our assumptions encase us behind a veil.

The Strategic Leader Network (SLN)

Here is what is Stopping Us from Thinking in this Way?

Mindset “drives every aspect of our lives, from work to sports, from relationships to parenting.” (Dweck, 2006).

It affects :What we pay attention to (and don’t)What we retrieve from memoryThe way you process relevant informationDecision Making Self-efficacy Openness to learningResponses to authority/leader figures

T h e I m p o r t a n c e o f M i n d s e t

A Learning Activity• Take a standard 81/2 by 11 piece of paper. Draw a small circle in the center of the

page and write down words that describe a good leader. • Then draw a line from top to bottom and a second line around the middle of the page

from left to right. You should now have 4 quadrants and your circle in the center. • At the top of the left hand quadrant write the word “family”. At the bottom of the left

hand quadrant write the word “community.” At the top of the right hand quadrant write the word “education.” At the bottom of the right hand quadrant write the word “organization.”

• Now think about this question. What images or words were used in your family to describe a good leader? When you sat around the kitchen table and your father or mother commented on the President or their boss, how did they describe their leadership qualities?

• Write down as many of them as you can in the quadrant. Do the same thing for your community, your schooling both lower and upper, and the organization you work in. Write down as many of them as you can remember in each quadrant.

• Now look at the whole piece of paper. Focus on your image of a good leader in the center – that is your mindset. Contrast it with the images from family, community, education, and organization. Which frame influenced your mindset the most – the least?

The Fixed and Growth Mindsets

(we can’t change)(we can improve through effort)

F i x e dAssume that ability is a fixed quantity and is revealed in performance. They :

Focus on looking good, so they tend to see new endeavors as threatening

Give up more quickly when frustrated

Avoid activities they don’t think they’re good at

Insulate themselves from negative evaluation

Are more anxious about achievement

Use less empowering behavior in leadership roles and

Function less well in teams/groups.

G r o w t hAssume that people can improve just about anything through learning and practice. They:

Are open to and learning from feedback

Are willing to risk and enjoy challenge

Accept strengths and weaknesses Do not see others’ competence as a

threat Are resilient in the face of

frustration Strive for improvement in new

domains Are more open to learning. Work well in teams and

organizations, Have more constructive problem-

solving approaches, and Foster change and collaboration.

If mindset is that powerful, I Need to know how I can adjust, if necessary?

05/03/2023

Here is one way

Think like a learner not a judger

Cultivate your self and then your organization

Judger Questions Learner Questions

Who is to blame? Why can't they perform?

What are my goals? What am I responsible for?

How can I prove I’m right? What are the facts and what am I assuming?

How can I protect my turf? How can I help?

Why aren’t we winning? What do our customers/stakeholders want?

What could we lose? What steps can we take to improve the situation?

Why bother? What’s possible?

How can I impact the Mindset of my team members ?

Do this!Before the next meeting you go to ---put the

learner mindset into practice. Email me and let me know if you saw a difference.

Then, use the learner mindset in 21 more team meetings and you will see the

shift in your team.

Here is Another Way

Understand the Blinders

The Lesson“The greatest sin in times of turbulence is not the turbulence; it is to act with yesterday’s logic.”

— Peter Drucker

That is ok in Theory but just HOW

do I do this in real life?

Task 2Think Like a

Strategic Leader

Effectu

al Reaso

nin

g

Causal Reasoning

High

HighLow

S t ra t e g i c T h i n k i n g

Managerial Thinking

Entrepreneurial Thinking

Managerial Reasoning

M1

GOAL

M2

M3

M4

M5

Entrepreneurial Reasoning

O1

O2

O3

O4

O5

Making something out of Nothingby using Creative Reasoning to Imagine numerous possibilities with the means available.

Entrepreneurial Reasoning

The Genesis of Strategic Thinking

Causal ReasoningAnalytical

CriticalLinear

Strategic ReasoningAnalytical

CriticalSynthetic

IntegrativeAdaptive Creative

Innovative 

Entrepreneurial Reasoning

AdaptiveCreative

Innovative 

To Take the Strategic Thinking Questionnaire (STQ)

Managerial Reasoning

Strategic Reasoning Entrepreneurial Reasoning

Managerial Role Predict what will happen next, target individuals who can help them.

Navigate by focusing on their identity, knowledge, and relationships.

Pursue ideas and push through reality to create new opportunities.

Guiding Question What SHOULD I do? What CAN I do and SHOULD I do it?

What CAN I do?

Outcome Share in existing market.Outcomes are fixed.

Shares in existing markets or creating new markets based on opportunities that arise.

Creates new market.Outcomes are not fixed or limited.

Ideas on Profit/Loss Focus on defined strategies to maximize returns

Focus on maximizing returns and affordable loss.

Focus on affordable loss.

Ideas on Competition

Focus on analyzing competition in red ocean.

Focus on both analyzing competition, finding blue oceans, and creating strategic alliances.

Focus on creating strategic alliances and finding blue oceans.

Strategic Reasoning

Means Leaders must be able to think:

Synthetically as well as Analytically;

Creatively as well as Critically;

Causally as well as Effectually .

Exercise Your Mental Muscles!

The Skills that enable Leaders

to think Strategically

The Strategic Thinking Skills

Reflection

ReframingSystems Thinking

Analytical

Creative

Divergent

Synthesis

Intuitive

Critical

Evaluative

Integrative

Pragmatic

Tactical

Reasoning

Practical

StrategicSolutions

Future

Forward

Convergent

Deductive

Inductive

Holistic

Linear Non Linear

Strategic Thinking Skills

Description

Systems Thinking

Systems thinking refers to the leader’s ability to see systems holistically by understanding the properties, forces, patterns and interrelationships that shape the behavior of the system, which hence provides options for action.

Reflecting

Reflecting refers to the leader’s ability to weave logical and rational thinking, through the use of perceptions, experience and information, to make judgments on what has happened, and creation of intuitive principles that guide future actions.

Reframing

Reframing refers to the leader’s ability to switch attention across multiple perspectives, frames, mental models, and paradigms to generate new insights and options for actions.

Table 1 Subscales of the Strategic Thinking Questionnaire (STQ)

Systems Thinking Rests on two core ideas: • the whole is greater than the

parts, and • the parts are connected and

interdependent. Unless there is interactivity among the elements, it is not a system.

Picture This

Agility

S y s t e m s T h i n k i n g

Helicopter Thinking

• Leaders and organizational members need to learn to see the larger systems of which they are a part.

• This, shifts focus from optimising their piece of the puzzle to building shared understanding and larger vision.

Thinking Big

Peter Senge, The Necessary Revolution, 2008

People only see what they are prepared to see. Ralph Waldo Emerson

and use these perspectives to map out different strategies, and identify trends before others see them

Reframing The skill that enables you to gain

perspective;

A True Story

Leadership is always situated within a context !

Frame Dominance!

“You need to understand what sandbox you are playing in."

Ferdinand de Lessups

44

R e fl e c ti n g

Reflection is a constant effort of

reevaluation and interpretation of ideas,

experience, and situations which weaves

rational thinking together with

experiential thinking to make judgments

and create intuitive principles that guide

future actions.

Reflecting Concepts

• Double Loop Learning

• Single Loop Learning

• Reflecting on Action

• Reflecting in Action

• Reflecting for Action

RGC Study 452710

REFLECTING• Review the outcomes of past decisions.

Reconstruct an experience in your mind.• Consider how you could have handled the

situation after it was resolved • Accept that your assumptions could be

wrong• Consider past decisions when considering

current similar situations • Consider past experiences when trying to

understand present situations

Applying the Skills of Strategic Thinking

REFLECTING• Review the outcomes of past decisions.

Reconstruct an experience in your mind.• Consider how you could have handled the

situation after it was resolved • Accept that your assumptions could be

wrong• Consider past decisions when considering

current similar situations • Consider past experiences when trying to

understand present situations

SYSTEMS T”HINKING• Try to extract rules and/or patterns from

the information available• Search for the cause before taking action. • Try to understand how the facts presented

in a problem are related to each other• Try to understand how people in the

situation are connected to each other. • Look for fundamental long-term corrective

measures

REFRAMING• Seek different perceptions• Engage in discussions with those whose

values differ from yours• Use different viewpoints to map out

strategies• Recognize when information is being

presented from only one perspective• Suspend judgment while appropriate

information is gathered.

So What!

What does the research show?

Effective Leaders Think Differently than less Effective ones!

Reyes-Guerra & Yasin, 2006 - Pang & Pisapia, 2006 - N=900

3.60 3.96 3.79

1.Leader Thinking is related to self reported, observer reported, and objective measures of leader effectiveness.

2.The use of systems thinking is the most used and explains the largest part of the variance in effectiveness.

3.Teacher ability to Reframe was found to be associated with increased student learning.

4.There is a cumulative impact - The strength of the relationship between Thinking and Effectiveness increases as leaders use the three dimensions in tandem.

5.The younger, less experienced, and educated you are the less you use these skills.

The results from 15 studies suggest?

Study Researchers YearSystems Thinking Reflecting Reframing N Sample

M SD M SD M SD

Macau Pisapia 2006 3.28 3.64 3.58 15 College Freshman

HK Pang 2007 3.55 0.32 3.48 0.28 3.55 0.32 643 School Leaders

USA Pisapia et al. 2008 3.85 0.46 3.85 0.58 NA NA 64 School Leaders

KL Pisapia et al. 2008 3.66 0.50 3.78 0.54 NA NA 52 School Leaders

HK Pisapia et al. 2008 3.53 0.47 3.70 0.51 NA NA 102 School Leaders

Shanghai Pisapia et al. 2008 3.01 0.41 3.09 0.49NA NA

51 College Freshman

HK Pang 2010 3.70 0.42 3.69 0.42 3.74 0.43 527 School Leaders

HK Pang 2012 4.09 0.38 3.60 0.47 3.54 0.51 635 School Leaders