Leo Baubata from Productivity Habits Misses the Mark on Leadership
November 16, 2009
I’m generally a big fan of Leo Baubata’s Productivity Habits blog, but his recent post ”the little rules of action” misses the mark. Though Leo’s guidelines may make sense of individuals who are mostly managing themselves (e.g., writers, freelancers, etc.) I think they could be downright disastrous for leaders who need to manage other people.
9. Meetings aren’t action. This is a common mistake in management. They hold meetings to get things done. Meetings, unfortunately, almost always get in the way of actual doing. Stop holding those meetings!
Meetings are an easy target for criticism because so many of them are badly run. But that’s not a good reason to dismiss meetings entirely. If an organizational executive or business leader is trying to execute a complex strategy that touches several different divisions, meetings can be the most efficient way to drive things forward. The act of preparing for a big meeting helps clarify one’s thinking on a topic. Also, asking others to prepare for a meeting is a good method for understanding other division’s planning and strategizing. Finally, the meeting is a great way to ensure that stakeholders are aligned in a particular direction. Meetings are some of the most critical leadership “actions” that someone can do.
10. Talking (usually) isn’t action. Well, unless the action you need to take is a presentation or speech or something. Or you’re a television broadcaster. But usually, talking is just talking. Communication is necessary, but don’t mistake it for actual action.
I believe a leader’s most important role in an organization is articulating (ie talking about) a vision and aligning the stakeholders within the company, outside partners, current clients, and prospective clients around this vision. I am not sure of any method of achieving these leadership goals apart from doing a lot of talking. Talking is also a highly efficient way of brainstorming and problem solving. Again, if someone is just talking about sports, weather, or non-constructively whining about particular aspects of a company, then perhaps it is a waste of time. But just because a lot of people waste time talking does not make talking inherently non-action oriented.
11. Planning isn’t action. Sure, you need to plan. Do it, so you’re clear about what you’re doing. Just do it quickly, and get to the actual action as quickly as you can.
What!? If a business leader is responsible for directing and managing an organization where he or she is not directly responsible for the coding, product, delivery, or service, then planning is perhaps THE MOST IMPORTANT thing that a manager can do. Also, if you are a programmer or engineer doing a complex project, then planning is the absolute most critical action that you can be doing. It’s hard for me to think of any circumstance where it makes sense for someone to “just do [the planning] quickly” outside of simple tasks like doing laundry (and even then you’d want to plan enough so you’re not washing two pairs of socks every day!).
Short Book Reviews
April 4, 2009
I wanted to post short reviews on some of the books that I have read in the last few weeks.
Ready for Anything by David Allen
This book is an easy read! It is a great book to read in a few hours to refresh your personal productivity strategy. Even if you do not follow Getting Things Done to a t, Ready for Anything will have insights for you. There are also a bunch of great quotes along the margins throughout the entire book.
Outliers by Malcom Gladwell
One of the weird things about this book is that along the back cover, it states that Gladwell is the author of two of the most influential books of our time, Blink and Tipping Point. I read Tipping Point, and read book reviews about Blink. I found it a bit pretentious to claim that your own book was one of the most influential books of our time.
Outliers was a creative idea taken too far. The original nugget of an idea is that an individual’s success is somewhat a function of his or her unique ability, but mostly a function of the unique time, place, and context of where this individual was born. Gladwell gives a lot of interesting examples of this phenomenon.
The problem with this book is that it was boring. Once you read the first few chapters, there was really no benefit to reading the entire book. In fact, once you have read my summary, there is probably no need to read anything else.
7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
My top 3 business books of all time are:
- Feiner Points of Leadership by Michael Feiner
- Getting to Yes by
- and Getting Things Done by David Allen
7 Habits has now claimed the top position above all 3 of these books. It is difficult to describe how transformative an experience it is to read this book. Covey does it all. He is able to tie together fundamental negotiations, leadership, values, principles, and day-to-day tactics and personal productivity.
The funniest part of the book is that it is very human and imperfect. Covey readily admits that he is unable to follow the 7 Habits, particularly the “seek first to be understand, and then be understood.” He admits his inability to listen. He gives the reader insights into some of the bizarre arguments that he has with his wife.
But this superb book about leadership in the voice of an imperfect man makes it an even better read. I highly recommend this book to all individuals.
Jump the Curve by Jack Uldrich
I did not like this book. I thought Uldrich is not technical enough to have any interesting techncial insights. But he is not too business/strategy minded either. I do not have much more to say about this one.
Links on Education, Leadership, and Data Warehousing
November 23, 2008
I thought it would be a good idea to post some of my latest delicious links.
Global Education Ning Space
This social network is a place for educators to meet other international partners. One of our districts is currently searching for a strong partner to collaborate with on classes and self. I am familiar with International Baccalaureate, but they may be too expensive for our purposes. This ning space may be a good alternative to finding international school partners.
Directory of Learning Professionals on Twitter
(Web site)
This is a directory of eLearning Professionals on twitter. Twitter is a great tool to meet new interesting people. I have browsed through facebook profiles, delicious users, Ning spaces, and other networks – and I have not found anything better than twitter for meeting and discovering interesting individuals. Twitter profiles are concise and descriptive. And you can search through “followers” and their “followers” to find a network of fascinating individuals in any field. Finally, Twitter users are typically early adoptors and thought leaders in the area of technology.
K12 Academic Excellence Solutions
(Web site)
I am not familiar with this company, but I discovered them through Tim Phillips’ profile on OETN. It appears that they build data warehousing solutions for education. As a SAS programmer and Computer Science major, I am a strong believer that database management systems, data warehouses, and business intelligence are the future of education. The only way to make good decisions is to have data to support decision-making. A strong data warehouse enables school districts to summarize and analyze student data and easily present it to decision makers.
On a sidenote, SchoolNet is another company leading the charge in Data Warehousing solutions. I also believe that understanding databases is a core 21st Century Skill.
Great Leadership: Guide to Leadership Assessments
This blog is an excellent resource on leadership. One of the most critical aspects of leadership is self-awareness and leadership assessments are a great way to build self-awareness. I am a particularly strong supporter of 360 Degree Feedback, or having performance reviews from “subordinates, peers, and managers.” Also, as a Psychology major, I have always been interested in personality assessments such as the Myers-Brigg.
If you have any interesting links on education, leadership, psychology, databases, business, or anything else – please do not hesitate to contact me.
Teacher Leadership to Effect Change in Education
July 28, 2008
Leadership is a major theme on most educator’s minds.
A typical example of school leadership usually involves an enlightened principal, or great superintendent – but rarely involves a great teacher affecting the school beyond their classroom.
Teacher leadership should move to the next level to include the question: how can a teacher effect change in their district?
I believe that institutional change will be driven by teachers who are committed to changing the culture of their districts.
It is no longer tenable for enlightened educators to act as silos of innovation. Teachers should target educational leaders, curriculum directors, superintendents, and boards to help educate them on the importance of 21st century skills and the role of technology in teaching these skills.
The ed tech blogosphere would benefit from more discussions about implementing change management programs and less talk about the latest gadgets or web sites.
An ideal school culture would award risk-taking and innovation in instruction. An investment in technology is often a tough, risky decision that requires genuine leadership and buy-in.
But leadership does not need to happen solely at the principal, or administration level. Leadership can function at the teacher level as well.
Educators are great leaders and experts in consensus building, aligning students around a vision, gaining political capital, managing conflict, and driving change. But, educators are typically not trained in applying these skills to effecting enterprise-level change. In essence, teachers should apply their classroom leadership skills to their entire districts.
The education sector can borrow from change management, turnaround management, and leadership classes from traditional business schools to learn how to apply these skills to district-level change.
Genuine leadership at the teacher level is the key ingredient to institute systemic, sustainable change in school districts.
Challenges and Obstacles of Integrating Web 2.0 into the Classroom
May 30, 2008
Challenges and Obstacles of Integrating Web 2.0 into the Classroom
Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach was kind enough to invite me to participate as a panelist in an Elluminate session with 80 superintendents from western New York.
We started the session with the superintendents brainstorming the greatest challenges to shifting to a 21st century learning environment. The main bullets from my notes were:
- Time for collaboration
- Privacy and security
- How to get ahead of the students instead of trailing behind
- How to educate boards and communities
- How to build a shared vision at the school
- Where to find funding
As the managed service partner for a number of districts across the region, the Smart Solutions K12 group faces these challenges on a daily basis.
As the last panelist, I had to rush through my talking points and was not able to fully explain my ideas.
This blog gives me an opportunity to more clearly state my philosophy on these topics. I believe that managing school district technology comes down to three fundamental components: policies, budgets, and leadership.
District technology departments are expected to be superheroes. As a short example, look at this article from ISTE. District CIOs need to understand:
- Leadership and visioning
- Planning and budgeting
- Team building
- Systems Management
- IT
- Business Leadership
- Education and training
- Communication
District technology budgets are being repeatedly cut, levies are not passing, and administrators are expecting IT departments to be leaders in collaborative technologies. It is clear that the current model of district technology management is broken.
Going forward, there is only one way that districts will be able to handle the myriad challenges of managing technology. This is to bring a team-based approach to technology management.
The IT department can no longer be all things to all people. For starters, IT needs to represent an executive level position with equal footing to curriculum directors or treasurers.
Next, IT should be considered a partner in the organization to help the school achieve its curricular goals.
Superintendants should also trust outside experts such as my fine co-presenters, Dean Shareski , Christopher Sessums, Dennis Richards , David DeShryver, and Vance Stevens – to help them understand best practices in integrating technology into the classroom.
Finally, the only way for this to be successful is through strong leadership at the district. District leaders, superintendents, and curriculum directors need to understand the importance of building 21st century classrooms and invest their time and energy into understanding this new environment.
Districts can overcome the obstacles of integrating Web 2.0 into the classroom with a combination of policies, smart budgeting, and leadership.