Leadership in Action: Transforming Self and Structure

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Allen Olson, Dean
Evening & Weekend Studes
The Evergreen State College
2700 Evergreen Parkway NW
Olympia, WA, 98505

Information from this survey will help with planning future program development at Grays Harbor.

Thanks!

Take a minute before the final unit (Conflict and Resolution) to answer these questions.

First, watch this clip:

What story is being played out here? What do you expect to happen?

Now watch this fuller version of the same scene:

How did your version of the story (based on the first clip) match with the one you saw in the final clip? How were the two different? Why?

Q: Ken, it’s wonderful to get to talk to you after hearing you speak at various conferences. I was very much struck by the broad scale approach you’re taking to the challenges of education in the future, and thought that they might have some implications for leadership. Perhaps, though, we might begin by finding out the major thrust of your work these days?

A: Most of my work is focused on creativity and innovation. I’ve spent many years in education and have been particularly interested in the need for a complete reorientation of national education system. I have worked in a number of them to try and press for a different approach to education reform. I also work with cultural and commercial organizations.

One of the great problems facing us is that these three sectors—cultural, commercial and educational have operated separately from each other, almost in isolation. For the future, it’s essential that they recognize the challenges they have in common and the ways they can collaborate. For example, I feel that education has to be enlivened and enriched by cultural practices, beyond traditional schooling. Also, for generations there has been a tacit compact between the economy and education. That compact is now breaking down seriously. The way forward has to be through increased dialogue and collaboration. My work is focused in promoting ideas about innovation and creativity, and also methods and strategies of implementation in and between those three sectors.

Read more here.

I know that most of you have seen the TED talk by Sir Ken Robinson. If you haven't, please do. It encapsulates some of the important themes of this quarter.

The project for this quarter will address the relationship between our heads and our bodies. For the first part of the project, I want everyone to read Sir Ken's book: Out of Our Minds. Then I want everyone to do a self-inventory of the skills, abilities, and interests that you each posses. In particular, I want to know about the ways you typically tend to think about problems, and also the ways that you are not so good at, but would like to develop. In short, I want a map of your personality in a leadership role, showing how you can use your skills as a multidimensional being. You can use any of the various tools that exist to help you make your self assessment, but I'd like you each to write up a narrative about your sense of your own strengths and weaknesses in approaching problems form different angles. Please post your work on the blog if you feel comfortable doing so.

Here is the breakdown for Spring quarter:

• The Ethics of Helping -- No text required. I'll ask you to re-read a familiar text that has played an important role in shaping your values. Come prepared to summarize the ideas during the weekend.
• Reducing Stress in Mind and Body -- Farhi, D. (2000). Yoga, Mind, Body and Spirit. Henry Holt & Co.
• Health vs. Wealth -- No text required. Articles will be posted on the blog for this course.
• Conflict and Resolution -- Cloke, K. & Goldsmith, J. Resolving Personal and Organizational Conflict. Jossey-Bass Press.

The Cloke and Goldsmith book will not be available at the bookstore. You should be able to find it through various on-line sources.

Reducing Stress in Body & Mind: Therapeutic Yoga for Stressful Times

Course Syllabus

Please complete the following three assignments before the first class meeting.

1. Read pages 4 through 80 of Donna Farhi’s text Yoga, Mind, Body and Spirit before the first class meeting.