Strategic Thinking, Vision and Leadership
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This document outlines an agenda for a leadership training session on strategic thinking, vision, mission, and managing the external environment. The agenda includes introductions, defining key concepts, exercises on strategic thinking types, crafting visions and missions, and building inter-organizational relationships. Participants will evaluate their learning at the end of the session. The goal is to help leaders develop strategic thinking skills and learn how to align their organization's vision and mission with external factors.
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Strategic Thinking, Vision and Leadership
- 1. Core Leadership Skills Series Strategic Thinking, Vision and Mission Dr. John Persico 612-310-3803 Persico.john@gmail.com
- 2. Agenda • Welcome • Introduction of Participants • Strategic Thinking Types of Strategic Thinking • Vision and Mission and Values Crafting a Vision Crafting a Mission Linking Vision, Mission and Values • Managing the External Environment Building Inter-Organizational Cooperation Building Intra-Organizational Cooperation • Evaluation of Course
- 3. Welcome The process of developing new skills should include the following: •Identify a needed skill area. •Agree on a learning method for improvement. •Practice and receive feedback. •Increase awareness of the effects of performance on others. •Measure change within a well-defined timeframe. •Recognize and reward skill enhancement.
- 4. Introduction of Participants • Who are you? • Why are you here? • What was the most interesting event that you ever planned and pulled off? • What are five strengths you bring to this class? • What would you like to take away from this session?
- 5. Learning Objectives 1. Be able to define strategic thinking and why it is important. 2. Identify types of strategic thinking. 3. Be able to define the difference between and Vision Statement and a Mission Statement. 4. Know the steps in developing a Vision Statement. 5. Know the steps in developing a Mission Statement 6. Define the key forces affecting education today. 7. Describe the steps for building inter-organizational cooperation. 8. Describe the steps for building intra-organizational cooperation.
- 6. Promote Lifelong Learning You can develop lifelong learning traits: • By showing curiosity about human nature and how the world works. • By seeking and valuing diversity. • By persisting in seeking out new solutions. • By using your unique talents and intelligence to promote positive change. • By learning and applying technology tools to solve problems.
- 7. Show Respect • Value yourself. Be honest and ethical, and practice strong moral values. • Treat all members of the school community and with politeness and respect. • Honor the ideas and opinions of others. • Offer to help. • Be responsible for keeping an open mind.
- 8. Policies • Ask questions at any time. • Listen to all ideas and opinions. • Leave for restroom when needed. • Please be back from lunch and breaks on time. • Let us know if the day is not working for you.
- 9. What is Strategic Thinking · Definition: • Strategic Thinking: Strategic thinking is the ability to recognize the relationships, complexities, and implications of a situation; anticipate possibilities; and plan what to do. It is an attempt to develop a best guess about the future.
- 10. Benefits of Strategic Thinking Strategic thinking requires exploration of the perspectives and positions of possible stakeholders. “Groupthink” is less likely if different perspectives are explored. Leadership decisions are more effective and people are more motivated if the organization has a coherent strategy. A strategy that establishes priorities and guides the allocation of resources makes it easier to add value and apply the organization’s resources appropriately. Developing a strategy creates a focus and an opportunity to strike a balance between the often conflicting mandates of higher authorities and different stakeholders, whose formal mandates are often broad and ill-defined.
- 11. Personal Change Exercise • Refer to your workbook for this activity: • Recall an experience in your life when you went through a personal change. This may be a major or minor life or career change, but should be something you are willing to share with others. Make a few notes about the change. • Answer the questions concerning this change.
- 12. Why Develop A Strategic Thinking Competency? • The complexity of educational organizations requires senior-level leaders and executives to do their own thinking and to carve out the direction that best suits their environment.
- 13. The Strategic Thinking StrategCic yThcilneking Cycle Acquiring Insight Developing Foresight UNDERSTANDING What possibilities do we face? Identifying strategic levers for competitive advantage Matching levers with capabilities Making the strategy work REASONING What are we going to do about it? Choosing a core strategy PERCEIVING What seems to be happening?
- 14. Stages of Change Assessment • Refer to your Student Workbook for this activity: • In your small group, please complete the assessment in your student workbook. • Select a spokesperson to summarize your discussion and findings with the class.
- 15. The Strategic Management Triangle
- 16. Expanding Your Thinking Different Types of Strategic Thinking • Logical • Intuitive • Conceptual • Creative Logic and Intuition • The logical mode is best used when trying to refine ideas, whereas the intuitive mode works best when trying to explore areas for which the data are not clear or are unknown
- 17. Alien Invasion Exercise • Please refer to your student workbook for this activity. • In your small group, read the description and then answer the questions. • Select a spokesperson to report ideas and findings back to the class.
- 18. Conceptual Thinking • See basic relationships. • See multiple relationships. • Clarify complex data or situations.
- 19. Conceptual Thinking Exercise • Refer to your student workbook for this activity. • With a partner, review the exercise and select the best responses to each situation. • Which is Fact and which is Fiction? • Report from one pair and see what the rest of the class thinks.
- 20. Creative Thinking • Creative thinking assumes experimentation. By its very nature, creativity is about trial, error, and taking risks. To leaders, this sounds at best counterintuitive, at worst dangerous. • To think creatively as a leader, you must shed some of the “safety consciousness” to experiment and risk failure. It can take learning or relearning different skill sets.
- 21. Film on Creativity and Play • TED Film featuring Tim Brown on Creativity • Film on Creativity
- 22. Critical Thinking Exercise • Please refer to your student workbook for this activity. • Read the case. • In your small group, answer the questions and complete the tasks as noted at the end of the case.
- 23. Vision and Mission • Perhaps the most critical task of educational leaders and managers is to help all stakeholders understand the value of the educational organization’s services.
- 24. Definitions of Vision and Mission • Vision: The vision is a broad statement of the unique current and future purpose for which the organization exists and the constituents it serves. The vision represents a deeper level of motivation than the mission. It describes how an organization finds its fulfillment. The vision describes what the organization wants to do or where it wants to go. It projects an ideal future that may not be attainable. • • Mission: The mission is a statement that identifies the core purpose of the organization and motivates stakeholders. The mission describes the means to achieve the vision, i.e., how the organization will get there. It should be both attainable and measurable.
- 25. Pros and Cons of Vision and Mission Statements. • Large Discussion: Pro’s and Con’s of Vision and Mission Statements? • In a large group, can you identify some pro’s and con’s for the idea of vision and mission statements?
- 26. Steps in Crafting a Vision • The three major steps for crafting an organizational vision are: 1.Gather data. 2.Engage senior-level leaders. 3.Develop a vision, a mission, and values.
- 27. Linking Vision, Mission and Values Vision, Mission and Values must link the needs and desires of the internal organization to the critical external forces affecting the educational organization .
- 28. Value Exercise: Futuring • Refer to your workbook for this activity. • You will work in your small group to complete this exercise. • Your goal in this exercise is to identify the essential values need by students and educators for the 21st Century. a • Please refer to your workbook where needed.
- 29. The Role of Mission Effective missions meet the following four objectives: · State the core purpose. · Allow room for expansion into new programs and innovations in carrying out the education organization’s public policy mandates. · Inspire stakeholders. · Encourage staff to work more effectively.
- 30. Steps in Implementing the Mission · Clarify roles and responsibilities. · Develop goals that support the mission. · Make performance and reward systems reinforce the mission.
- 31. Managing the External Environment • Interacting with citizens and interest groups. • Collaborating with other public agencies. • Acquiring necessary resources. • Maintaining a productive place in the education system. • Applying effective techniques and strategies to building public and media relations.
- 32. External Factors Affecting Education: The Wells Model
- 33. Driving Forces in Education Exercise • Please refer to your workbook for this activity. • Read the comment by Schank and Jones on a “Vision for Education in the 21st Century.” • In your small groups, answer the questions. • Please select a spokesperson to share ideas and comments with the class.
- 34. Building Inter-Organizational Relationships Barriers to Cooperative Relationships · Resource Shortfalls. · Mission Conflict and Ambiguity. · Political Obstacles. · Legal and Constitutional Barriers.
- 35. Building Intra-Organizational Relationships • Dr. W. E. Deming · Point 9: Break down barriers between staff areas Deming’s 14 Points Applied to Education
- 36. Building Intra-Organizational Relationships • Regular senior staff meetings • Achieve consensus among the staff • Extensive Planning between the departments • Strong communication with your customer • Strong focus on prevention of issues • Fully analyze goals to assure they do not create barriers
- 37. Intra-Departmental Collaboration Exercise • Refer to your workbook for this activity • Working in your small group, complete the exercise and questions relating to Intra-Departmental cooperation. • Pick a spokesperson to share your comments with the class.
- 38. Evaluation of Session • Please complete the evaluation form in your workbook. (Leadership Course Evaluation) • In small groups, would you please summarize your conclusions in terms of what worked for you in this session and what did not.
Editor's Notes
- This is a module in the Core Leadership Skills series. It is an eight hour session on Strategic Thinking, Vision and Mission and various elements critical to good leadership in the 21st century education system.
- Overview of the agenda for the day. Breaks are not noted in this agenda and should be scheduled as determined by individual class needs.
- Welcome students and introduce facilitators and the logic for this class as shown on the Welcome slide. This slides shows what is the process for change in an organization. The facilitator can explain how the course materials relate to this slide. The needed skill area for educators is leadership.
- At this point, it is time to ask the participants to introduce themselves. This slide is used to help challenge students and to start a process of disclosure and transparency to help them be more comfortable as they interact with the other class participants.
- Briefly review the learning objectives for the class. Some of these objectives may vary determined by whether or not coaching mentors have been selected for each group and whether or not the groups are selected by cohorts or individuals.
- This is still introductory material and is used to show the rationale for this training session.
- Class room etiquette is briefly described in this slide. This can change by facilitator and should be adapted or used by individuals at their discretion.
- Continuation of class room etiquette and expectations.
- Definition of Strategic Thinking.
- Briefly outline the benefits of Strategic Thinking. Ask participants if they can add any to this list.
- This is an individual exercise in the workbook. When completed ask for volunteers to share their perspectives.
- Briefly describe motivations for developing this competency. You might describe or ask for problems with the strategic planning approach versus strategic thinking.
- There are 3 key elements of this cycle. The Strategic Thinking Cycle involves the following three phases: Perceiving. Understanding. Reasoning. Each phase includes two steps. Within each of these steps the same thinking processes of perceiving, understanding, and reasoning are also used.
- Conduct this exercise in small groups. Allow students to comment on their ideas and discussion.
- In Creating Public Value: Strategic Management in Government, Mark Moore provides a simple, yet powerful framework for strategic management that helps leaders to be skilled strategic managers. Moore’s framework, the Strategic Management Triangle defines three functions that a strategic leader must constantly keep in balance: Define public value. Build and maintain political support. Ensure organizational capacity.
- Many educational leaders find strategic thinking quite challenging. They are used to relying on analytical and critical thinking skills that, although essential for many tasks, do not raise the types of questions and possibilities needed for strategic thinking. Viewing the daily tactical issues in a broader and longer term context is an important part of the art of strategic thinking. To do this requires the ability to see the possibilities and to recognize the relationships between seemingly disparate entities. Strategic thinking relies heavily on critical, conceptual, creative, and intuitive thinking.
- This exercise can be conducted in small groups or by individuals. Allow participants to comment on their ideas and discussion.
- Conceptual thinking is the ability to understand a situation or problem by identifying patterns or connections and addressing key underlying issues. Conceptual thinking includes organizing the parts of an issue or situation in a systematic way.
- This exercise is in the workbook. Participants should select or be paired with a partner to complete this activity.
- As outlined by Gebelein and her colleagues in the Successful Manager’s Handbook (p. 27), ways to enhance your creative thinking include the following: Listen, and listen some more. Do not rebut or respond immediately when someone else is speaking. Listen to understand, not to refute. Force yourself to find the “kernel of truth” in what others are saying. Explore new options. When discussing options, reject your first reaction and push yourself to entertain another option. Argue for this option and see what it teaches you about possibilities. Speculate. Speculate—even when you think you have the answer or do not have enough information. Think out loud. Force yourself to examine the thinking process that brought you to your initial conclusion.
- At the 2008 Serious Play conference, designer Tim Brown talks about the powerful relationship between creative thinking and play -- with many examples you can try in class. Tim Brown is the CEO of the "innovation and design" firm IDEO. This film lasts 27 minutes. http://www.ted.com/talks/tim_brown_on_creativity_and_play.html
- Have students read the case and then discuss in small groups. Review comments and answers from the groups.
- This portion of the class covers the concepts of Vision and Mission. It will clarify the difference between the two and demonstrate some ideas for developing and supporting organizational visions and missions. Note it is one thing to develop a vision and mission. It is something else to deploy and support a vision and mission. Many people are skeptical of both because of the incongruity between talk and action.
- This slide describes the difference between a vision and a mission statement. Often they will overlap as it is conceptually difficult to define them as totally independent entities.
- Perhaps the most critical task of executives and senior-level leaders is to help all stakeholders understand the value of the educational organization’s services. The effective leader knows how to identify simply and concretely not just the task at hand but also the reason behind the task. This leader creates a vision that knows how to capture both the heart and the imagination of employees, teachers, parents, and other stakeholders. The effective educational leader creates a vision that helps employees understand the importance of their calling as educators and as employees in an educational system.
- Leaders use a variety of methods to craft a vision; typically, however, the vision comes from others, often the employees of the organization. Although the leader is the catalyst who brings attention to the vision and articulates it clearly, the vision is most often the amalgamation of the thoughts and ideas of many persons. Leaders must take the following steps in crafting the vision: gather data; engage senior-level leaders; and develop a vision, a mission, and values.
- Guiding Philosophy The guiding philosophy has two components. First is the group’s system of fundamental assumptions, beliefs, and principles—not the beliefs they would like to have, but the ones they really do have. This again distinguishes the “vision on the plaque” from a true working vision. The second component is the organization’s purpose or the reason for being— what the group would like to accomplish even though it likely will never fully be able to do so. The purpose statement should resonate with the personal sense of purpose of the individual team members and is often seen as the vision statement
- In a small group conduct a brainstorming exercise where you “Envision the Future of Education” by imaging/imagining exciting and ennobling possibilities for students and educators. Brainstorm ideas on a flipchart or sheet of paper.
- The mission is the way or the means to reach the vision. It should keep the organization focused on its core purpose and motivate stakeholders. Effective missions are vivid and provide measurable outcomes that can be achieved. Although the vision cannot always be reached, the mission can. Although the vision may never change, the mission will.
- Effective missions meet the following four objectives: State the core purpose. Allow room for expansion into new programs and innovations in carrying out the education organization’s public policy mandates. Inspire stakeholders. Encourage staff to work more effectively.
- Managing the external environment for educational executives and senior-level leaders involves interacting with citizens and interest groups, collaborating with other public agencies, acquiring necessary resources, maintaining a productive place in the education system, and applying effective techniques and strategies to building public and media relations.
- One interesting model of the US educational system was created by Wells, Sachez and Attridge in their paper: Systems Engineering the U.S. Education System , 2007. The goal of their paper was to identify potential improvements in the U.S. education system that would increase student interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Despite the somewhat limited objective of this paper, it presents a set of useful strategies and models for viewing education as a system.
- This exercise can be conducted in small groups. After completing the activity ask participants to share their ideas and findings with the class.
- E.H. Schein, in Organizational Culture and Leadership (p. 53), states that according to research, the key to organizational long-term growth and survival is for executive and senior-level leaders to maintain a balance between the needs of their customers/constituencies and the core mission of the organization. Educational organizations have a variety of customers/constituents, clients, and interest groups with different and often conflicting agendas. Education leaders must address the needs of all of these groups, not just a single interest group.
- Dr. Deming has been called the Father of American Quality. He taught many of the Japanese the system they now call “Total Quality.” This film links Dr. Deming’s 14 Points for Management” to improvements in the educational system. The Malcolm Baldrige Award now includes a category for educational institutions. You can asks participants for comments or insights after you have reviewed the file. The film is 15 minutes in length.
- Some key ideas are presented on this slide for breaking down barriers between departments and working units. Ask participants to add any ideas or processes they currently use to achieve results in this area.
- This activity might best be conducted by grouping participants into similar workgroups in respect to their departments or units. After they have completed the activity, ask for comments or insights.
- Ask participants to complete the evaluation form individually. After they have completed the evaluation form, in small groups ask participants what they thought was helpful in the class and what they might change or leave out. Thank the participants and invite any to send comments or emails concerning the class to your attention.