foreign policy was skewed for generations because our policy
makers operated on the false assumption that communism was
monolithic. It was a textbook example of maintenance learning.
In fact, even during the Soviet era, there were many varieties of
communism. Maintenance learning sees communism as purely
political, rather than social, economic, and political. Innovative
learning sees through the political similarities to the social and
economic differences that make the few remaining communist
societies distinct.
Innovative learning is a way of realizing vision. Attorney
Shirley Hufstedler spoke about looking ahead. “You have to be
able to envision in fairly concrete terms what ought to be done
or what you want to do or where you want to go.... A certain
amount of conceptualization is required. It’s not unlike plan-
ning a trip. First you have to figure out where you want to go.
Then you have to devise a mode of transportation. If no one’s
done it before, you may have to make it up. You have to main-
tain a certain amount of flexibility in organizing people to go
with you. You have to know from the beginning how much bag-
gage you have to haul, or how light you can travel. It requires a
combination of historical perspective, vision, and institutional
appreciation—what its texture is, what its possibilities are.”
Maintenance learning, which most organizations and educa-
tional institutions practice, seeks to preserve the status quo and
make good soldiers of us all. It’s a monologue based in author-
ity— hierarchical, exclusive, and isolating. Being limited and fi-
nite, it is a static body of knowledge. It requires us to adjust to
things as they are.
Shock learning keeps us in line and obedient, by confirming
our inability to control events or prepare for the future as indi-
On Becoming a Leader