Organizational Leadership as a System
When one thinks of Organizational Leadership, or any subject
that one might study, as a system of thinking, and not just a body of
information, then Organizational Leadership becomes a rich collection of
well-ordered and cascading concepts that allow one to critically think through
an Organizational Leadership question, challenge, or situation to derive a
well-reasoned conclusion. In other
words, approaching Organizational Leadership as a system of thinking causes one
to internalize the deep and essential concepts that comprise the discipline in
order that one might then apply these concepts to any scenario involving the
leadership of an organization. When I
was a graduate student many years ago, my statistics professor worked with us
to draw a detailed diagram (a concept map, actually) of the fundamental
concepts of statistics that included the different types of distributions,
statistical tests, and conditions under which one might go down one branch or
path of the diagram, and in so doing this exercise as the class progressed, when
we were done, we could see the entire field of statistics in one picture – a
roadmap – and we also knew how each different area could be applied to problems
that we might encounter in the future where we needed to draw upon statistical
analysis. But just as importantly, with
this diagram, we could see the relationships among the parts, and we knew how
to think about statistical problems in such a manner that we could then
diagnose a particular problem, think through the right technique to apply, and
then go dig into the depths of that application to solve the problem
correctly. Also, with this type of
knowledge, we could communicate these concepts to others and help them to
understand what we were doing for example when we established a detailed system
of statistical process control on a complex manufacturing line that was at the
heart of the acquisition program I was assigned to after graduation. I should note that the statistics course
structured, and the concept map was based, on a great book entitled Learning How to Learn, by Novak, Gowin,
and Kahle (September 28, 1984). It was
the first time that I had ever encountered this teaching method and also the
first time that I had a true grasp – a complete picture and thorough
understanding – of a complex subject that I had studied in school. When I came away from that treatment of the
subject of statistics, I truly knew about statistics and I could reason my way
through any situation that required its application.
Contrast this with treating the topic of Organizational
Leadership, or any subject, as merely a body of knowledge. Treating subjects as merely bodies of
knowledge was, in fact, the way that my entire academic career had progressed
until that statistics class. You learn
rote facts, you study for the tests, you regurgitate these rote facts when
prompted, and then not only do you promptly forget those facts, when someone
asks you about the subject you find that you really don’t know the first thing
about it. How incredibly frustrating it
was, for example, to work my way through an entire four-year degree in chemical
engineering and then discover that I really couldn’t remember much of anything
that I had learned. I couldn’t answer
questions or analyze problems. In fact,
in retrospect, I had not learned
about chemical engineering at all. I
crammed my head full of numbers and facts so that I could pass the exams but I
came away without a picture of what chemical engineering was, or how to solve
chemical engineering problems. So too
with treating Organizational Leadership as a mere body of knowledge. And as a leader, one will not succeed if all
you have at the end of your MS in Leadership degree program is a perishable
collection of disparate facts. Leaders,
of all people, must be able to think through problems, understand the
fundamental and key concepts, use these concepts to diagnose an organizational
issue, and know where to go if necessary – what specifically to reach for – to
solve the problem. As I continue to
approach my learning as part of this MS in Leadership program, I will seek to
understand the key concepts – the fundamental and powerful concepts as Nosich
puts it – and apply the appropriate concepts (just as I would apply the right
statistical technique to a statistical problem) to the questions that each
assignment poses and the overall questions that the course as a whole generates. I would be empowered to do this because I
truly learned about Organizational
Leadership. So when I’m done, I won’t
walk away with a bunch of facts – let’s call them trivia – that I quickly
forget and just go back to my old ways of approaching the topic. Instead, I’ll have a roadmap that allows me
to engage my newly earned knowledge and to discuss and explain, and to reason so
that others within the organization and those above me will understand and
agree with my diagnoses and recommendations.
In so doing I will be well equipped to apply my MS in Leadership to my work to enable better outcomes.
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