Taking the opposable mind and integrative thinking * to the arena  (Page 3/3)

This approach doesn't just apply to everyday tasks. It is an enormously valuable concept that can be applied to the way people work together in every kind of organization . In my experience, when you gain agreement on what needs to be accomplished, the people on your team will always find a way to do it. This is especially true when we talk about human issues -- all the things people do with other people, like serving, negotiating, planning, and dealing with colleagues. Creating tool books instead of rule books grows people's spirits. It allows us to be productively human. As Studs Terkel, the social historian and workers' philosopher, said in quotting one of his interviewees, Most of us have jobs that are too small for our spirit. Leaders have an obligation to grow peoples' spirits for the good of the organization and for the good of the individual. In other simple yey equally powerful terms, the poet Marge Piercy wrote, The pitcher cries for water to carry and a person for work that is real. (Behar, p. 52)

People are not assets

The person who sweeps the floor should choose the broom

In the case of brooms, the people who know about things like getting the best price for brooms and how many the whole company will need can enter the picture and perhaps select five brooms that make sense from a purchasing perspective. But why in the world would you want to leave the final selection to the person sitting back in the purchasing department, when he or she will never touch it? The person who uses the broom should decide which one to buy.

In your own sphere of influence and relationships, you can practice independent thinking and encourage others to think independently. Rather than experiencing a loss of control, you'll experience an immediate gain in the commitment of people around you and incfreased satisfaction and productivity in the work you do together (Behar, p. 55).

Closing thoughts

So, my friends and colleagues - what do the Opposable Mind, Integrative Thinking, Entrepreneurial Leadership, Thinking Big, and Thinking Independently have to do with a course in the Administration of School Personnel? What does Roger Martin's suggestion that the secret to effective leadership may have less to do with what leaders actually do, but more with how they think and creaqte ideas have to do with a course in the Administration of School Personnel? And where does a metaphor of the Trojan Horse fit in here? And lastly, what does a Starbucks President know about the Administration of School Personnel? I am not sure I have the answers. But I suggest that together we might !!!!! TC

References

Behar, H. (2007). It's Not About The Coffee: Leadership Principles from a Life at Starbucks. New York: Penguin Books.

Creighton, T. (in press). Entrepreurial Leadership. In (R. Papa, Ed.), 21st Century Technology Skills for Educational Leaders . London: Sage Publications.

Martin, R. (2007). The Opposable Mind: How Successful Leaders Win Through Integrative Thinking. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Schmitt, B. (2007). Big Think Strategy:How To leverage Bold Ideas and leave Small thinking Behind. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.