In Schools That Learn, Senge and others (2000) speak of the need to
learn how to be an effective group member, to learn to state one’s assump-
tions aloud (“Here’s what I think”), to describe one’s reasoning (“Here is
why I arrived at this conclusion”), and to ask for others’ perspectives (“You
might think differently; what are your thoughts?”).
Some educators might consider advocating for an idea to be a type of
confrontation, and they might feel uncomfortable at the thought of not
being liked or appearing mean. Systems-savvy leaders look at thinking
interdependently as an opportunity to share a perspective and be passion-
ate, but they anticipate that others will have their say as well. Systems-
savvy leaders will want to know others’ views because they understand
that more knowledge helps bring about buy-in and can lead to a sense of
ownership from all the stakeholders in a given school.
Systems-savvy leaders know that one change is actually many
changes. Although we normally think of interdependent thinking as
something that happens during team meetings or among members of
decision-making bodies, this Habit of Mind also shows up during every-
day interactions with assistants, secretaries, and associates who support
the work of the school. Systems-savvy leaders think interdependently from
step one of a process that uses this type of support; they constantly think
about the ripple effect of their actions. They know that acting indepen-
dentlycan cause others to feel unseen or unappreciated.
Consider this example. Let’s say someone needs to change the loca-
tion and date of a training for 60 new teachers in order to accommodate
a previously scheduled meeting that was inadvertently overlooked (an
interdependent moment gone awry). As we think through how to correct
this error, witness how a lack of interdependent thinking can cause addi-
tional problems. The ripple effect might occur like this:
•Sending announcements of a date change puts more on an assis-
tant’s plate. The need to communicate the change quickly adds more
stress to the plate, in the form of “This must get out now!”
•Once the announcement is delivered to the 60 participants, they
must rethink day care arrangements, change car pool plans, and possibly
switch previously scheduled meetings.
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