Introduction:
In the first blog I wrote for CACE, The Power of Connectivity: I Gotta Guy, I shared my thoughts about the Christian school network:
In my experience in Christian education there is a specialist, expert, or innovator in every part of the country, and over the past four years as Vice President of the Christian Coalition for Educational Innovation (CCEI) I have seen the powerful change that occurs when Christian educators and leaders are able to connect.
Now, after 3 years of working with CACE I’ve come to the realization that not only are Christian school networks important, but also partnerships within the broader profession are significant to the growth and improvement of education throughout the US and within the Christian school marketplace. Therefore, I have begun to do short interviews with experts, innovators, or supporters of our work.
Rex Miller: 3 Questions on Leadership and Mindshift
I met Rex Miller of Mindshift this summer at the Innovation Retreat we hosted in Northern California this past summer. Since that time I have read his books Millennium Matrix and Humanizing the Education Machine. Rex has been generous to provide me his thoughts on leadership and Mindshift:
- In your book “The Millennium Matrix” you state that leaders have a ‘tiger by the tail’ and ‘don’t know how to get off the treadmill’. Why do you think leaders are unwilling to let go in order to see innovation and change take off? And in your experience what is the result when leaders do?
- Likewise, in this book you write about ‘Federation Networks’. Why are these essential to the future of change and innovation and how are they different than traditional associations or current structures?
- Recently, we were part of an email string where you stated that in a process of Design Thinking you discovered that the basis for most current school structures is ‘fear’. How did you come to this realization and what needs to change before real innovation takes hold in schools?
