Read, Study and Learn : A state of natural progression

Today, is the day when the 'drapery' of 2010 will be rolled down with all the 'residues'  collected throughout the year  taken away and washed out to 'welcome' a more 'promising' light of 2011 to shine into the lives of the 'hopeful'  mortals. A minute past midnight is a new beginning to us all regardless of our predilections and endeavors in life. Many, undoubtedly, would already have a set of resolutions as self-guidance in contemplation of a more challenging year ahead, probably after a long 'self-debating' session with oneself'.  As the clock is ticking away, some are eagerly and anxiously waiting for the new dawn to come bringing new hopes for a better tomorrow. 

2011 is, without a doubt, the new beginning to a whole new life experience. In fact, to some of our young, innocent 'compatriots', aka our future leaders, this year may chart a new exciting 'path' for them as they embark on a 'challenging' journey of exploring their potentials as well as discovering the 'truths' of the real world; i.e. away from the safe and comfort of their own homes. We are all familiar with the 'scenes': some urchins may twitch the elbow of their mothers to insist on going home;  a large number will however, successfully put up a brave front throughout the 'trying' day; a few, out of frustration or confusion 'burst' uncontrollably as they could no longer hold the 'pent-up' emotion; while there are still those who merrily running around and getting into mischief and not the single least bothered with all the 'fuss'. Such a 'colorful' event ; the first day of school for the first-school-going-timers.

If I were to ask of my first day of school, frankly, I could hardly recall my 'first' day experience. Nor could I 'relive' those moments of high emotions that many, to my astonishment, seem to be able to 're-experience' and share with others, without leaving any single minute detail of elaboration. Maybe it was an insignificant moment in my life to remember. Or could it be that throughout the years, there were many other happenings and events that the brain 'automatically' redirected them to the 'recycle bin' since my own limited RAM could not possibly store all the 'memory' folders. After all, back then, life was not as sophisticated as it is now, where 'learning' was always  'by heart' and was not 'aided' in any way by any 'technological' learning tools.

What I do remember, nevertheless, is the kind of schooling experience that I had undergone back in the old days. I was asked to read no sooner than I had already recognized the letters and successfully made and combined meaningful sounds of the word clusters. I loved it every time my class teacher, Pn Sakinah (she lives in my memory until today), asked me to 'lead' the class in reading sessions. I was only in Standard Two  then, and already I felt like a teacher-substitute. She, in fact, had to stop me every now and then, as being so excited and proud in my 'teacher-role', I read, "laju macam keretapi"( i.e. with the speed of a train). That was always her comment. (In those days, the train was seen as the 'fastest' and a 'non-stop' moving vehicle.) Maybe her blessings (or impact), was part of the reason I am now in similar path as hers was, of which I doubt I will ever know the truth. Schooling was fun and exciting, and so was 'playing' at home, once I changed my pinafore into something more suitable. As outside-the-school education, I further enhanced my knowledge and skills by 'reading' tactics in games with mostly my childhood boy-'friends',  as we tried to outsmart each other. Only occasionally  did I occupy myself with some 'soft' stuffs with the girls.

Only when I reached the upper level of that primary education that my earlier 'reading' stretches, turned to a more meaningful 'study'. Most of my teachers in those days were 'stern';  at times I had the craziest ideas that they were actually 'short-listed candidates' who unfortunately did not meet the 'physical' criteria for 'military' personnel, though if judged by 'disposition', they could easily made their way into one of the platoons. A few, just by their looks, could swiftly grab the 'commandant' title, as just a 'killing' stare would  be enough to deter any potential contender from vying the post. Amazingly, some of us succeeded in sharpening our 'survival' skills, since being caught not doing homework was almost equal to send oneself on a 'death row', or if luck happened to pass by at that critical moment, the punishment was reduced to a mere 'commando-like' torture. And so, we did 'study' these outstandingly 'frightening' characters 'critically', which to a substantial extent, had made us to 'study' well too.

Well, that was how my 'reading' and 'studying' took place. So, when did learning actually take place? Isn't it supposed to be nurtured and developed within the confines of the school? If you ask me, personally, I would say, my learning only began the moment I stepped out from the school compound and made my first 'entry' into the real world. The learning started as soon as I realized that I had to make use of my school and home knowledge (i.e. formal and experiential knowledge), to bear with the demands of the 'real' situations outside school. Those years of 'reading' and 'studying' are invaluable, up to this day;  thanks to all those 'stern and not-so stern' teachers at school ( actually, I did exaggerate a little), who diligently and dutifully imparted me with  the necessary knowledge, skills, values and beliefs, so that  when  finally I managed to become a 'holistic' individual, and situate myself within a larger social domain, I could also, as a grateful and loyal citizen make meaningful contributions to my religion, race and nation. And not forgetting, there were those people of  'real' life-setting who had provided 'extra' reading  opportunities for me to develop my 'individual' knowledge.

With all that said, I just want to add a final personal opinion. I, on a personal basis, do strongly believe in our education system. I bet many others do too. And I also have a strong genuine faith in our teachers, who always sincerely have the best interests of their students in their hearts and minds. Like everybody else, I do want to see the progress of our nation beyond  its current state of achievement. And like everybody else, I also want to see our school-going children  happily  and 'naturally' experiencing their school and home life of 'reading' and 'studying', so that when they go out into the 'working' world, they could confidently 'learn' to use their knowledge adaptively and positively. The real working world is the ultimate place where all the knowledge acquired are put to test to determine one's success and failure after spending years of 'reading' and 'studying'.

Well, after all my long years of reading, studying and learning, have I not at this moment, been able to provide you with my own solid 'reasoning' of why the progression of educating children should go on a 'natural' course. No doubt, school is  still the best place to nurture and nourish the seeds of knowledge, love, good conduct, beliefs, unity, etc. But, as they say, and it still rings true, "Charity begins at home". For that, we need to combine our sincere efforts to make both home and school better places for our children to spend their meaningful younger years to discover, develop and enhance their potentials 'naturally'. After all, are we not, as members of education community and the society as a whole, intricately connected within a single large social system? WE make up the society and WE determine the kind of society that we want to be part of and the one we want our younger generation to inherit from us. WHAT then, should OUR culture be? With that, I rest my case.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!

Leadership perception and schemata

Of all behaviors of human, the most often 'mis' or 'less' understood yet the most still fascinating 'mystery' to uncover, no doubt, is of the cognitive behavior. The various cognitive processes such as input processing, retention, production, to name a few, are among the interests of many researchers trying to figure out the relationship between these cognitive processes and leadership behaviors, processes and practices.

It is human nature to be greatly 'awed' by spectacular events or happenings as they are simply and truly 'believable' and 'unbelievable' to the eyes. The eyes, of course, are our most trusted 'tool' of perception. Well, as they say, "Seeing is Believing"; i.e. we only believe in things people say when we have actually seen them  ourselves. Until then, we always keep our options open. 

Similarly, it is simply easy to be greatly inspired by leaders we 'perceive' as 'charismatic'. Though it is not easy to substitute the term 'charisma' with another single, parallel word, the multiple terms used indicate a 'complex' personality; i.e. which actually is the 'attraction'.  In other words, the more difficult we find in 'describing' a person, the more 'curiosity' is aroused in us. The more 'curiosity' is aroused in us, the greater the 'admiration' we have of that personality. That of course, often in 'distant'-kind of acquaintances.

It is an 'ordinary' occurrence to find that most of us 'freeze the movement' of our mind at that very point when our perception 'hits' the exact raw neural node of our emotional nerves. To the extent, it seldom travels back to where it starts, i.e. the mind. Often, we keep ourselves occupied by 'replaying' the  great 'performance' we had witnessed in our mind over and over again, to 'revel' in the great feelings awakened within us. Such is the great impact of perception on our emotional state of being.

Thus, it is not surprising to find how easy it is for our emotion to be swayed by the perception that we have of others. In fact, the frequent contacts that we have with the 'charismatic' leaders, subconsciously  and gradually shape a 'leadership schemata' in our mind. Consequently, it 'narrows' our perception  and  rigidly define our expectations. Without realizing, we tend to trap our minds into perceiving 'good' leadership as one that corresponds to our own leadership schemata.

Yet, in an organization where apart from personal or physical attributes, leadership is also defined through the organizational roles and functions, relying on our 'existing' schemata alone may not be appropriate. Others may have developed their own schemata of leadership based on their own experiences  with  other leadership 'figures'. Often, quite paradoxically,they may strongly assert that not everything that we see is believable, and thus, unreliable. 

Undoubtedly, leadership perception is a critical issue. As a matter of fact, being in an educational organization which is deeply rooted within a social domain, there are bound to be multiple leadership perceptions and expectations of us as educational leaders by different stakeholders. Our self-concepts as educational leaders, therefore, need to be developed accordingly so as to meet these various expectations.

Of 'Destination' and 'Journey'

This is the time of the year that many commit to earlier plans of their 'dreamed' holiday destinations. The planning, waiting, anticipation, excitement (i.e anxiety and what-not), all gradually boiling up till the day they depart for their destination. And off they 'fly'; some in 'soul-searching' endeavors, others, for mere pleasure of being away from familiar surroundings, while a few, with a plain aim of 'recharging' their almost fully-used 'batteries'.

Well, upon coming back from their 'destinations', did we not notice some differences in their observable behaviors, physical appearances, or cognitive inclinations? Some came back with a 'fresher' look and a renewed 'zest' to 'conquer' the world. Some, as if by a 'twist' of circumstances, came back feeling more 'regretful' and 'discontented' than before, of things or events happening in their lives. Alas, the endeavor did not seem to change things for the better.

Surely, we did notice the 'usual' as well.  There were those who 'remain' the same as ever before; who, without a second thought, proudly announced their 'next' destination and 'booked' their dates of departure and 'blocked' the calendar should there be any possibilities of 'professional' events 'interfering' with their 'personal' plans. All in the name of being 'proactive'.

Let's take some time to ponder on what actually do these destinations mean to us. As a 'respite' or a 'final' destination? It is, of course, in how we perceive our destination to be that will to a substantial extent, determine the kind of 'journey' that we will embark on. A long-planned journey indicates a carefully-chosen destination guided by a clear purpose and an awareness of one's capacity and capability in reaching the destination. To those embarking on a long journey, hardships, hurdles, challenges, setbacks, disadvantages are some of the things they foresee for themselves and anticipate. In preparation, they seek to equip themselves with the necessary 'resources' to help them successfully 'arrive' at their destination.

Likewise, short frequent journeys are indication of multi-placed destinations; though not necessarily truly satisfying. The plans are often not carefully-thought of since the aims are rather short-termed and  the decisions are of ad-hoc nature. The more destinations one wants to go, the more 'ambitious' one becomes and the more urgent the decisions have to be made which results in the more 'hastily-thought' of plans. In fact, the more ambitious one becomes, the more obscured the purposes turn out to be and the more ignorant of one's actual capacity and capability to attain them. Finally, the more 'tiring' and 'burdensome' the journeys will be and the more likely one tends to forget about the actual purposes of going to the destinations.

This, actually is my analogy of vision and mission. In any organization, it is the leaders who provide their subordinates with the vision of what and where the organizations will be in the future in comparison to the past and  present performance. It is the leaders who determine whether to go for a long-termed or a short-termed goal. It is the leader, with some feedback from his or her people, who will decide on the 'missions' that the organization will embark on; taking into account its present capacity and capability to meet and counter the demanding challenges and setbacks . In retrospect, should the current capacity and the capability of the organization fail to match  the vision and missions, then, it is imperative that the leaders actively seek to 'acquire' critically needed resources.

It is, nevertheless, an understatement to say that leaders who do not have visions will not be able to  provide clear direction towards achieving greater organizational success. In fact, some may succeed in carving further achievements merely by continuing from what was left by their predecessors who had earlier laid out a very good and clear long-termed vision for the organization and the course of directions and actions to pursue.  The guidelines : vividly understand the vision and missions, collectively own them with the other members in the organization, clearly communicate the aims and goals, strategically plan the necessary actions and contingencies, rightly place the right people for the right tasks and constantly gain feedback and do reflection regarding the performances.

Well, it is definitely this time of the year that we always do some reflection on our performance, both as individuals and as a collective unit. With better insights on our strengths and weaknesses as well as successes and failures, let's build new resolutions for future missions towards greater achievement for our organization.

Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Organizational Learning

It seems that the word 'innovation' is in the 'active' vocabulary of many nowadays. No exaggeration on my part in saying that we sleep with 'innovation', eat with 'innovation', do things with 'innovation', breathe  with 'innovation', or even talk with 'innovation'. In fact, our whole existence is deeply rooted in 'innovation'.  Come to think of it, the word 'innovation' is itself an 'innovation'.

People evolve; so is language. Both are dynamic. Change through time, grow dynamically and adaptively in different contexts. To say that 'innovation' is the 'in' thing of today , is to discredit the great contributions of our predecessors; some in fact, did not last long enough to see how their 'thinking' and 'inventions' had greatly impacted the ways we live. To say the least, the comfortable life we conveniently 'inherit'.

Oh, yes. The previous widely-used word, was 'invention'. Remember some of the great inventors in history? Alexander Graham Bell, the Wright brothers, Thomas Edison, James Watt. Well, the lists could go on and on. Excluding of course, those unknown or 'undiscovered' by us since their 'inventions' may not 'impress' the world but were only 'meaningful' to those within their immediate surroundings. Let's give them  some credit by 'reminiscing' the good old days when all that we had were the small insignificant 'gadgets' our forefathers, who had, out of love and responsibility, painstakingly 'created' to ease in the carrying  out of our 'household' chores, whatever that may be. Wow, I sounded 'ancient', but actually it was not so long ago a time when we  had the 'rare' opportunity of appreciating the 'aesthetics' of our ancestors.

Well, coming back to the term 'invention' mentioned earlier. Because the 'reference' meaning of the word 'invention' exclusively limits itself to things of 'tangible' nature,  it gradually turns itself into 'obsolescence', and the word 'innovation' takes precedence as it adds more 'sense' to the meaning. Thus, the generation and creation of great ideas, methods and products are in its real sense of meaning, to be regarded as 'innovations'. An act to include the 'intangible' attributes to the meaning of the word.

Well, if that is the significance and rationality behind the change in the use of term, then, why is there so much fuss about it? The complexity, undoubtedly, lies in its 'contextual' meaning. Surely, both 'invention' and 'innovation' start from the generation of ideas. And in all instances, the best idea prevails. What significantly differentiates them is the 'context'; i.e. the former is individually-oriented (i.e. solely the inventor's effort), while the latter, germinates a collective spirit of a team, a group, an organization, a nation.

Thus, innovation becomes more crucial a matter for us, situated within a knowledge domain. Suffice, innovation marks our 'advancement' in knowledge-seeking, knowledge-creating and knowledge-producing practices. No current knowledge could 'expand' itself without an 'understanding' of past wisdom.  Both, tightly related. It is through the acts of assimilation and accommodation of past and present knowledge that a 'fresh blend' of knowledge could be generated, which could be contextually filtered to suit the present  and future needs. As a matter of fact, it is the mixing of past and present knowledge which allows us to 'anticipate' future challenges; i.e. a 'historical' cycle of knowledge.

So, with recent call for 'entrepreneurship' values to be inculcated among our youths, it is not too late a call to remind all of our members of knowledge society to enhance our own 'entrepreneurial' values. Since, as knowledge workers, we ourselves own our 'means of production'; a belief well-expressed by Peter Drucker, and hence, should be accountable for our own relevancy in this forever challenging and changing global society. 

As an individual knowledge worker, it is imperative that we engage ourselves in life-long learning. We need to learn, unlearn and relearn. As things may mean differently to different people, they may also be differently interpreted in different contexts of situation. Thus, we need to be aware of the 'obsolescence' of our knowledge, as well as the importance of acquiring a new one. Embrace change, brave it, survive it. Be, by all means, dynamic.

As members of an educational organization, more crucial than ever to ensure that each of us, contribute to organizational learning. For our organization to stay relevant and competitive, both in local and global setting, we as educational leaders need to contribute our effort collectively to achieve our organizational goals. And this, by enhancing our organizational knowledge and to effectively perform as both a learning as well as a teaching organization. It will guide us on the course of actions and directions to take in ensuring our best contributions to the society in which our organization exists. Thus, continuously and constantly fill our organization's 'reservoir' with both individual as well as collective knowledge, which will inevitably characterize our unique organizational knowledge.

Crucial therefore for an educational organization such as ours to be able to sustain itself despite the 'ups' and 'downs'  occurring in both the local and global scenes. The 'culture' of our educational organization should prevail. Cutbacks  in budget should not adversely affect the development of our human resources, in terms of the enhancement of their capacity and capability. Quite the contrary, there is no better time than during an economic downturn that we should invest on enhancing the capacity and capability  of our manpower. There is no better time than now to review our products, practices and processes, which may have over the years become irrelevant and uncompetitive, to seek for new frontiers to explore and to find new challenges to test our strengths and discover our weaknesses.

In sum, innovation, entrepreneurship and organizational learning are vital issues that we need to boldly and truthfully address to avoid what is termed by Drucker as 'organizational inertia' from setting in; i.e the organization's inability to grow. While the 3'R's of Environment (i.e. Reuse, Reduce, Recycle), may be said to accurately translate the need of preserving our nature, the same 3'R's concept  (Reuse, Recycle, Rebranding) could not be taken as totally applicable within our knowledge-oriented domain, lest, it will lead to the addition of another  'R';  i.e. the 'Reduce' of intellectual capacity of our knowledge society.

" How do you know....?" - From 'tacit' to 'explicit' knowledge

Much of what we know is 'tacit'. Remember the nice, cutely-humorous tv commercial featuring Adibah Noor, 'ambitiously'-clad in her diving gear, 'curiously-snorkeling' in the muddy river looking for 'crocodile-hunter'? I bet all of us do. It was simply nice and funny. When informed that the crocodile-hunter had gone snake-hunting, she suspiciously asked, "How do you know...? The informer, unperturbed by her tone,  though 'innocently' adamant, replied : " I know lah...".

Well, my own memory may have failed me in 'reliving' the 'exact' scene, but the matter of concern I'm raising now, is of 'tacit' knowledge, as implied in the " I know lah..." reply. It is a common practice to disregard the significance of this 'tacit' knowledge since it is by its very nature, indescribable, unobservable and unquantifiable; hence not easily understood and believable, to the 'quantitative' people especially, as they solely rely on 'hard' evidence as source of 'valid' and 'reliable' information.  

I wrote earlier about 'experiential learning'. Make no mistake; it is actually the 'source' of tacit knowledge. I talked about how we come to make our judgment of people; of how through experiences we come to develop and sharpen our instincts, our hunches, which may to a substantial extent, determine our decision regarding 'people' issues.

Of course, I do not want you to simply 'take my words' of 'superficially' describing to you the importance of relying on your tacit knowledge. Rather, I prefer to illustrate 'explicitly' what I mean about tacit knowledge and how to develop it and apply it in real contexts. In doing this, I have to rely on some 'guiding' principles and in this case, in the tenets embedded within the theory of 'systems thinking'. 

Simply described, within the threshold of 'systems thinking', the postulation is to view things, issues, happenings, etc in a 'holistic' manner, as a 'system' rather than as 'disconnected' separate parts. This perspective closely identifies itself with the 'Gestalt' theory of perception, whereby the tenet is that the 'whole is greater than the sums of the parts'. 

Thus, to apply 'systems thinking' in making judgment of people is to 'explicitly' identify, classify and categorize our tacit knowledge about people based on our experiences; i.e. of the good and bad encounters or of the right and wrong decisions. These may include, among other things, the 'contexts' of experience (e.g. good/bad, positive/negative, neutral/political, etc.); types of behavior exhibited in both contexts (e.g. facial expressions, tone of voice, etc.); the expected or unexpected outcomes in both contexts; and many other more, which could not be possibly listed and discussed here.

'Self-reflection' is then needed for us to identify what or where we went wrong or being right in making judgment about people based on our 'reviews' of the 'processes' as mentioned above. Upon reflection, (i.e. intra-personally), we come to realize that we may need to 'self-regulate' our own behavior or modify our thinking to suit the 'contexts' of our current experience of interaction (i.e. inter-personally), to come at better conclusion or judgment. 'Context', undoubtedly, is the 'frame of reference' that we should always use as a guideline in making decisions.

So, dear leaders, a quote by Henry B. Adams, " All experience is an arch, to build upon", beautifully sums up the role of experience in enhancing our leadership skills. Nevertheless, of equal importance is for us to also learn from the experience of others since we may not live long enough or be 'lucky' enough to experience ALL.

Note: For a better understanding of systems thinking, read Peter Senge's The Fifth Discipline.

A time to reflect: "What did we produce...???"

It was a simple event (i.e. Innovation Day), but pleasantly organized and managed in a professionally-elegant manner. 'Kudos' to the organizing committee; a true display of high commitment. Those rightly recognized for their contribution to the organization had received their 'tokens' of appreciation and recognition. The impact is significant. To the receivers, their hard work had not gone unnoticed. It provides continuous encouragement for future contribution. To the others, it serves as a challenge for they have yet to prove their 'real' worth to the organization.

Nonetheless, what caught my attention were the speeches. Delivered in a rather unassuming manner, devoid of any 'air of arrogance', they were straight-forward 'pleas', 'hopes' and 'urges' from the 'top' people. Very sincere indeed. The question, "What did we produce....?", rhetoric though it may seem, conveys messages of high density and urgency.  As members of an educational organization, each and everyone of us, though positioned at different organizational levels, is an educational leader.

A crucial time to reflect, indeed; of our roles, functions and tasks, as and of educational leaders.

About : 'Leadership Development for Educational Leaders'

Within the educational setting, the need for leaders has always been crucial, and it has become even more

urgent in this knowledge-based era. With the constant, accelerating, unpredictable change in today’s global 

competitive environment effective leadership is seen as crucial to be employed by educational leaders in order

to provide right courses of direction and action through uncertain and challenging times. The book: 

'Leadership Development  for Educational Leaders' (in press),  is written in response to this situation; as a 

reference point for educational leaders, scholars, practitioners and other stakeholders interested in knowing 

and understanding the fundamentals crucial for developing their leadership effectiveness.

Of being critical and judgmental

Often in life, we are given choices to make. About things, about events, about people. The CRUCIAL one is always about PEOPLE. In making judgment about people, we can only make TWO mistakes. One, is in 'TRUSTING' them, the other, is in 'DISTRUSTING' them. In either choice, the consequences are ours to bear, good or bad. The most often overlooked fact is that, the lessons we could learn from making the mistakes of trusting people is that it can sharpen our 'instinct' to learn to distrust people in times of critical judgment. This is actually EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING. It shapes our 'CRITICAL' view, not develops our 'JUDGMENTAL' attitude. So, learn to trust your 'INSTINCT'. It may fail you for the first few times, but it gets better and sharper through experiences. No matter, what others say, deep down in your heart, you know you are not being judgmental, but critical.