Administrator's Cornera
engagement’. However, gone are the
days when newly qualified educators
depended upon the paternalistic
instincts of their senior management
to provide them with a viable career
path. The capable educator of today
is more informed, incisively skilled, and
comes with a baggage of knowledge
that enables leveraged negotiating
targeted to achieve maximum gains
within a mutually agreed frame of
reference. 4. What are some of the key direct
and indirect metrics that reflect the
impact of school design?
Functional 7. How do you intend to inculcate
lessons
learnt
from
such
experiences in future endeavours?
The Functional aspect focuses on
all areas pertaining to the effective
integration, harmonisation of activities/
initiatives, that are manifested through
prudent school structuring. It elevates
the notion of nimbleness as a core
competitive advantage and points
to the significance of being able to
pivot congruently with respect to the
demands of the Digital Age. This
is crucial in terms of safeguarding
against disruptive forces. However,
care has to be taken in terms of
not being lured into excessive
experimentation associated with ‘fad-
surfing’ or becoming highly vulnerable
to the pitfalls of accelerated growth
and unbridled expansion.
Architectural
The Architectural aspect focuses on
all areas pertaining to designing,
implementing,
maintaining,
improving, and sustaining the physical
work environment that is conducive to
the health and wellbeing of the school
population.
Proactively assuring
and ensuring such initiatives is a
significant part of the overall equation
for school success, especially, in terms
of managing stress levels, reducing
fatigue factors and inculcating
measures for a lively and invigorating
workplace.
Following questions
pertaining to school design should
to be considered for gaining a better
understanding of relevant strengths
and weaknesses: What are you
trying to achieve with school design
now, that earlier initiatives could not
accomplish?
1. How is your school meeting the
associated challenges?
2. How are ‘teacher and student
voices’ being incorporated in the
respective context?
3. Are there any areas where students/
parents needs and educators’
desires clash? If so, how have you
resolved them?
5. What role do you foresee Artificial
Intelligence (AI) playing in the
respective context for the future?
6. Have you used innovative workplace
design as a recruitment tool too? If
so, is it attracting the desired talent
accordingly?
The aforementioned questions create
the ‘thought space’ that can compel
progressive leaders to not only
focus on the ‘palatable’ prioritised
areas, but also, the ‘contentious’
marginalised areas, e.g., overcoming
c o m m u n i c a t i o n /e n g a g e m e n t
challenges through the astute use of
space, elevating productivity levels
by effectively catering to ergonomic
considerations, boosting diversity and
inclusion initiatives through design
innovation, excelling in meeting
stakeholders’ needs/expectations.
Business
The Business aspect focuses on all
areas pertaining to the strategic
imperatives and operational elements
that work in congruence to robustly
maintain a school’s relevance and
competitiveness in the Digital Age. It
cautions against falling into the abyss
of an idealistic vision that projects the
‘mirage’ for embarking upon doomed
initiatives by conducting timely and
effective due diligence of the school’s
capabilities with respect to the
‘mobilizable’ resources, availability of
‘prodigious’ talent, and prevalence of
‘scrumptiously’ favourable factors for
business in the foreseeable future.
The
two toughest decisions that
astute leaders have to make in the
Digital Age are:
1. Saying ‘No’ in an Era of Prosperity
This pertains to going beyond the
allure of short-term gains in favour
of progressive measures that
secure long-term sustainability
2. Saying ‘Yes’ in an Era of Uncertainty
This pertains to taking calculated risks
for initiating progressive measures
against the conventional wisdom of
playing it safe
Therefore, the key question in the
respective context becomes ‘Are our
strategies aligned with our capabilities
to achieve desired results responsibly
and sustainably?’
Technology
The Technology aspect focuses on all
areas pertaining to the incorporation,
utilisation,
supervision,
viability,
efficacy,
and
improvement
of
technology in enhancing the function
of the school. Currently, the preferred
approach is to find the means to
complement the bulk of the human
workforce; however, the future seems
to be gravitating towards minimal
human presence/interface/interaction
as AI-enabled entities achieve primacy
in the learning environment.
A common mistake made by schools,
in their dash to embrace technological
solutions is to equate technology with
innovation
However, innovation is a cardinal
‘humanistic’ concept that refers to the
astute application of human ingenuity,
whereas, technology is a consequential
‘mechanistic’ tool that enables the
efficient accomplishment of targeted
tasks/assignments/responsibilities.
Keeping the ‘human factor’ in prime
position while charting the course of a
prosperous future in the Digital Age is
paramount.
Parting Thoughts
A key aspect of strategic reviews within
progressive schools should be to the
ascertain whether there is an inherent
inclination for the ‘need to change’ or
the ‘want to change’ approach to stay
relevant in the Digital world. The first
one reflects a reactive approach and
is a clear signal for course correction
before being marginalized by more
astute competitors. The second one
indicates a proactive approach that
signifies a hearty embrace of timely
innovative practices for assuring a
school’s competitive future with a
robust ‘going concern’ status. How
was your last school review? Are you
alarmed, hopeful or confident? Your
future awaits…
Murad Salman Mirza is an innovative thinker and an astute practitioner in areas
within and associated with the fields of Organizational Development, Talent
Management and Business Transformation. His LinkedIn profile can be viewed
at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/muradsalmanmirza/
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