Working in Complexity and Doubt

This chapter studies how, when we are faced with complexity and doubt, we can make decisions about health that align with the approach of the Cherokee Nation and avoid some of the mistakes made by other leadership teams during COVID-19. Working in complexity and doubt requires, above all, balance. On one hand, we must be able to identify what we do know and respect the science enough to integrate this information into the choices we make. On the other hand, we must appreciate the limits of our understanding while not being paralyzed by them. It is important to cultivate a comfort with ambiguity and doubt, so we can position ourselves to make decisions that support health. Operating in a grey area between knowledge and ignorance is, in many ways, a common practice in science and public health. The chapter then raises the issue of cancel culture, polarization, and political groupthink, arguing that they reflect something core to the collective relationship to ambiguity, doubt, and complexity. They suggest how uncomfortable many of us are with these fundamental elements of life.

Going Deeper into Curriculum and Pedagogical Activity

This chapter takes a deeper dive into curriculum and pedagogy as these are defined and applied within education. Here terminology like pedagogy, curriculum, leadership (including leadership teams) and education itself are defined in terms of a particular ‘educational’ interest. Such an approach also features a mediation among state and national standards and the needs and interests of children. This approach sees the task of educating children as necessarily occurring in the pedagogical relation between teacher and student in classrooms and between formal leader/principal and teacher in schools and between district leader/superintendent and principals. We recognize the value of understanding the foundations of education developed in earlier times of political and cultural uncertainty. We explicitly define key terms for education, curriculum, pedagogy and leadership in school development using foundational understandings amidst the contemporary situation. Application of the concepts is explored through case studies.

Values, Culture and Context

This chapter presents our conception of culture for school development, including broader cultural aims and humanistic values of education for an increasingly multicultural society reflected in the micro-organizational culture of schools and the sub-culture of the leadership team. Specifically, drawing on the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP) research, related studies, and education theory, we defined culture as the values, beliefs and norms of behavior embedded within the individual, the leadership team, the organization, and the larger community. The balance of the chapter presents application of theory and practice in the Arizona project (AZiLDR) as well as lessons learned. The chapter illustrates the critical importance of culture to readiness for school development. Often, during the project, teams were at different stages of readiness, resulting in the need to spend time building and solidifying the culture. In schools with less readiness, we found the diffusion process to progress much more slowly. We saw these schools existing in the Zone of Uncertainty much longer. We describe our process to develop school culture through leadership teams, using the AZiLDR delivery system of institutes, regional meetings and on-site coaching. Example case studies and activities are provided.

Proactively Pivot: Guidance on Adapting the PBIS Framework in Response to Crises to Support Students With Disabilities

Schools that employ evidence-based multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) frameworks, like Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), invest in core system, data, and practice features to support students, families, and educators. A strong framework enables settings to enhance and adjust their implementation to meet the needs of all students, including students with disabilities, in a range of contexts. Importantly, as schools pivoted among remote, hybrid, and in-person learning modes throughout 2020 and 2021, effective leadership teams used their PBIS framework to successfully navigate these transitions. Based on lessons learned during this period, we present three key recommendations to adapt implementation in response to crises: (1) leverage existing systems, (2) use data to guide decision-making, and (3) pivot practices. To illustrate these recommendations, we describe PBIS implementation in an alternative setting supporting students with disabilities and share examples of how educators used the PBIS framework to meet the challenges presented by new contexts.

The Imagination Premium: An anticipative performance metric

Purpose The authors offer a new metric for assessing a company's potential for growth that CEO's and leadership teams can actively manage. Design/methodology/approach The Imagination Premium metric reflects the value of a company's equity, beyond what can be readily explained by its ability to throw off cash. Findings For a CEO, TIP provides support for an argument that investments in future growth are well warranted. Practical/implications A negative TIP signals that investors will not even pay for the capitalized value of current cash flow and this usually leads to activist investors, hostile acquisition threats and C-suite turnover. Originality/value The article shows executives how to drive the premium investors will pay for corporate growth initiatives. One of the first things strategists can do to manage their company's TIP is a portfolio analysis that looks at how uncertain each current investment is, and whether the whole portfolio is one growth investors will reward with an increased TIP.

How Do We Optimize Risk in Enterprise Architecture when Deploying Emerging Technologies?

Emerging Technologies which merge cyber-physical systems continue to transform businesses and digital agility in transformative ways. Importantly, most investigations around focus on either cyber risk or the risk around physical systems but it does not encompass both. However, the immediate challenge is new opportunities occurring with emerging technologies. Examples include automobiles, the Internet of Things (IoT), medical devices, and building controls. In this study we will focus identifying risk as an optimization not a minimization problem and how to develop a practical approach for executives and boards to use in the oversight of cyber physical systems. Based on interviews with executive leadership teams and boards of directors we explored the over-arching research question: How can we apply a risk-based approach to cyber-physical security and what questions should business leaders be asking? The research methodology used a survey instrument and multiple qualitative methods involving business leaders from 60 companies and 80 business leaders from September 2018 – September 2019. Based on this analysis, we developed an extended framework for executives, as well as questions and process for boards to consider as part of their oversight. The Extended Risk-Based Approach equips boards and executives as they begin to develop their thinking around enterprise cyber physical risk.

Camp Abilities: Accessibility and Virtual Summer Camps

Youth with disabilities are less likely to participate in community activities than their nondisabled peers (Bedell et al., 2013). For participants with physical disabilities, summer camp can increase knowledge of one’s own abilities (Aggerholm & Moltke Martiny, 2017). Camp Abilities is an international sports camp model that recognizes the ongoing challenges that people with disabilities have with respect to accessing physical activity and living active lifestyles. There are over 25 independent camp programs throughout the world with a mission of providing high quality sport, health, and physical activity programming to youth with visual impairments. In the summer of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused many camps to close their in-person sessions. In order to continue summer camp programming for the youth they serve, the staff at several Camp Abilities programs for youth with visual impairments developed a virtual service delivery model based on collaboration between physical activity and visual impairment processionals. Staff used digital platforms such as YouTube and Zoom, as well as emails, text messages, and video chats to safely create a camp experience despite the pandemic. Both camps had positive responses to the virtual model from children, parents, and staff. Leadership teams at both programs discovered methods that were successful for their participants, as well as some approaches that they would not use again.