This title of this course is "Technology and Leadership" and it was this course’s title as well as my love of and affinity for technology that caused me to select this course to take as an elective. After having gone through the course, I realize that my top takeaways from this course from Britt and all of my peers in this course is that at the end of the day; it is all about people. It is about managing leadership, people, society and culture by being an effective change agent. I can’t say that I learned significantly more about technology in the past eight weeks or how to use technology more effectively in my leadership role – and I say this without intending any offense - I say it because that is what my assumption was that this course was about.
Instead, I learned much more valuable lessons and strategies from my peers’ leadership styles and perspectives and realized just how many of us are facing the same questions and problems surrounding technology and leadership within our varied jobs and institutions.
You can have the best leaders in the world and the latest technology; but if these leaders are unable to effectively integrate the latest technology in a way that is accepted by the people and the culture of their respective domains and institutions; then nothing will be accomplished but a successful failure. Successful failures are just expensive dead ends that aren't good for anyone involved, in my opinion. There is tremendous potential in new technology, but unless it is wielded wisely and well, most of it will amount to no more than a costly, faddish fling with distracting devices (Hess & Saxberg, 2014).
My leadership has already changed as a result of this course and like many of my past courses in this Ed.D program; I have learned much and have adapted much of what I learn into my day-to-day role as a leader in my institution. I am in the midst of evaluating an iPad pilot proposed by our academic dean and have been caught in a crazy tug-of-war between several top level leaders who have been intoxicated by technology and in their technologically induced drunken haze; they are not seeing or thinking clearly. This course has given me new perspectives and words and strategies that I didn't have just 8 weeks ago to help sober up the technologically drunk and to keep them from drowning and losing focus.
As we go into the future as leaders, we must also learn to think like an engineer – a process engineer of sorts if you will. Engineers in any field operate by identifying problems to be solved, designing smart solutions consistent with the relevant science, and figuring out how to make those solutions feasible (Hess & Saxberg, 2014). Leaders are change agents. Leaders are innovators, planners, problem-solvers, strategists and forward thinkers. Leaders must help to engineer the changes that are necessary and a lot of this is accomplished only by being aware.
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I have taken away so much more from this course than I initially imagined and it truly has been one of my best learning experiences in this program. I sincerely believe that this course should be a core course in the program (and I don’t share that opinion about all of the core courses that we currently are required to take).
Thank you, Dr. Britt Watwood and to all my peers and future leaders in this class for all that you have shared and have taught me in the past 8 weeks. It has been awesome and I will definitely miss the great topics and discussions.
Pat
References:
Hess, F. M., & Saxberg, B. (2014). Breakthrough leadership in the digital age: using learning science to reboot schooling. London: Corwin.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1452255490/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1452255490&linkCode=as2&tag=aeor-20
Pat,
ReplyDeleteWell written synopsis of the course. I agree with you that it has progressed differently than I had imagined it would for me, personally. I learned so much about the technology aspects & how it's affecting the nonprofit sector, in particular. I often am so people-focused that I am not as vigilant about tracking the tech trends & now think I have a more balanced perspective of leadership needs in the nonprofit (& other) sector(s).
In the end, the users often determine our responses as leaders. I do appreciate your term "intoxicated by technology" because it's frequently very apt. I think the only thing that deters this from happening more often in my sector is we simply cannot afford new trends & have to take it very slowly before adopting them. This is both a positive & negative as it can hinder progress if we're too slow to adopt.
This is definitely where your concept of beware & be aware translates across sectors. Technology will always be pushing the boundaries of what's possible. As leaders, we must be very astute about how decisions are made & involve all levels & teams in order to make sound decisions.
As always, I've enjoyed reading your posts & learning from you.
Cheers,
Eileen
Hi Eileen,
DeleteThere is so much "tech intoxication" going on at the high levels of my organization lately that it is scary...no monies for sound educational programs or infrastructure building and maintenance but plenty to throw at becoming an 'iPad University'. Of course, the top leaders don't want to hear how much it will 'really' cost because the Apple rep assured them that all they needed to do was to hand faculty an iPad and the rest would coalesce like magic - without additional costs or resources needed. Very irresponsible of the Apple rep and I gave him quite a piece of my mind when he called me to awesome his presentation to the top chiefs went...but I'm ranting now LOL.
Great as always to have you in class and get your perspectives as well Eileen,I look forward to seeing you in another class!!!
Pat
Pat,
ReplyDeleteGreat post! We do agree on a lot of things. (Those are two separate ideas--I don't mean to imply that only the posts or ideas I agree with are great...) Nicely stated insights, and you articulate some of my own experiences--namely, coming away with something bigger than I expected from the course description, and with broader implications--as well. I agree that this is a "core" content course--maybe with a title like, Technology and Leading in a Connected World, because the concepts are some of the most relevant I have encountered to date, for leaders in the 21st century. (I said it in my own blog already, but I'll go again: "Thanks, Britt!").
Paradoxically, as a Web 2.0 pioneer--in the mid 1990s I created a teaching website and was blithely and clumsily coding HTML (honestly, mostly by copying things I liked, pasting, and modifying by trial and error until what I saw in my Netscape browser seemed acceptable) to create teaching content and to publish student work--I have been very wary of social media, hearkening to stories of trouble and woe, and extremely cautious about friend requests, publishing anything mildly controversial (as I commented on in my "personal" blog, here, http://patrickgross.blogspot.de/2012/02/saving-facebook.html)
I've come to a bit of a change of heart, beginning to see these tools more as extensions of the "physical world" simply towards positive connections. I see the days of anonymous presence on the internet as numbered (you treated the topic in another post, I remember), and, for leaders, the days of having an option to ignore the digital world, to opt out, and to avoid a public digital presence, as numbered as well.
So (last water metaphor) if not taking the high dive, I am intentionally and decidedly venturing past the shallow end of the pool. And, it's going to be OK.
Thanks, by the way, for your specific nod to my own blog, and your kind words. Also, those custom animated gifs are very cool (an example of a new form of artisanship and industry?)
Finally, my initial thought was, like you, I will miss these online discussions, but then it also occurred to my that as with the Buffy fans at BronzeBeta.com (Shirky, 2009), the end of the course does not have to mean the end of our community here--beside and beyond our continued connections through the Ed.D program.
Maybe we should all check back once in awhile.
Cheers,
Patrick
Patrick, just because the course ends does not mean our networking via our blogs need to end. I plan to continue following all of you...you are loaded in my Feedly. :-)
DeleteHi Patrick,
DeleteI have enjoyed your posts, as well as the posts of Britt and our classmates very much and it made me remember how much I like to blog. My own blog (http://patrickchadd.blogspot.com/) with content of no real merit has been neglected for some time since I started this program but I am going to try to get back into blogging there and to also keep this blog going with topics related to Tech and Leadership.
The custom gifs are mostly courtesy of PresenterMedia http://www.presentermedia.com/ and it is a site I use often when I have to create images to convey an idea on the fly and don't have time to do it myself in photoshop or illustrator. I subscribe to it so I can download as many images and PPT templates that I want - feel free to email me if you want my login to check it out and to use it anytime.
Hope to have you in another class and I am not sure where you are in the process or what cohort you are in; I am in cohort 13 - and we have a facebook cohort 13 & 14 page (with people from other cohorts in it as well) at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/cohort1314/
This session, I have 899B Dissertation Research with Dr. Ehrlich and 835 Sustainability and Leadership with Dr. Uri.
Take care,
Pat
Cool gifs, a book recommendation that I had not previously seen but will check out, and nice reflection, Patrick! This is one of those courses where being a part of it is not "work" but instead, an opportunity for my own growth as I reflect with all of you. It has been and will be a joy for me (and this was my fifth time teaching it).
ReplyDeleteLike Eileen, I particularly liked your comment about "...their technologically induced drunken haze." An affliction all to common in today's organizations! Like you, I ultimately believe that the intersection of technology and leadership is all about the people...both within your organization and within your larger network.
With full attribution, I would like to use your "Beware - Be Aware" gif in the future. It captures the "balance" necessary in leadership quite well!
Hello Britt,
DeletePlease feel free to use the gif - no attribution necessary lol - it's purchased public domain as far as I am concerned and I'm happy you felt it conveyed the idea intended.
As I posted inmy response to Patrick G., the custom gifs are mostly courtesy of PresenterMedia http://www.presentermedia.com/ and it is a site I use often when I have to create images to convey an idea on the fly and don't have time to do it myself in photoshop or illustrator. I subscribe to it so I can download as many images and PPT templates that I want - feel free to email me if you want my login to check it out and to use it anytime.
Thanks again for the one of the best learning experiences I have had online!!
Take care,
Pat
FIRST of all, ROCK ON with your personalized video! That was AMAZING! I hope you continue this blog. Like the rest of your other blogs, you were able to capture a message that was approachable to any reader. You are truly talented in this medium.
ReplyDeleteIn this blog, I appreciate the point you made when leaders can be intoxicated by the “bells and whistles” of technology and miss the importance of why we visited this medium in the first place. Technology as a tool and not a master--- this is the key point that many of our peers reiterated. As I revealed in a comment in another blog, I get very involved in a new gadget myself... I become intoxicated by the things we “could do.”
Even today, I decided that it would be much nicer to print from my iPhone to my wireless printer. So I was sidetracked to look up the driver for this function. Then, I realized that my printer actually broke within my last printer conquest. So--- tempted into a world with “greener grass,” I want to look up wireless printers that are compatible with a PC as well as MAC products…. And I stop… reminding myself that I have assignments due in our technology class, a new Global Sustainability class to start, and about 70 outstanding assignments that I need to grade for my regular day job… When I come to think of it, I don’t even remember what I wanted to print. Does this sound familiar? If I do this, just in a short morning, imagine what this is doing to our students, peers, and other leaders.
Hopefully, this newness will wear off, but in the meantime, management of our time and ourselves is crucial.
Thank you for the insights!
Ivette
"FIRST of all, ROCK ON with your personalized video!"
DeleteI have to admit, I was wondering what software Patrick used to create this??? :-)
Pat,
ReplyDeleteYou constantly amaze me with your skills! You are a technological jedi master!
I really like how you brought in the concept of 'leaders as change agents.' I have brow beat many of you with my strong desire to be an agent of change at my school. So I thoroughly enjoyed how you inserted that into your post. Technology and access to it can be powerful agents for change as well.
Thank you so much for your insight over the last eight weeks.
Much luck to you my friend. See you around.
Robert