Tweet thread on leadership in a time of crisis, by Amanda Ripley

“In every disaster, people in charge tend to underestimate the public.

“On sinking ships, in burning buildings & in pandemic press conferences, authorities usually withhold information, underplay threats & tell us ‘not to be alarmed.’”

Why does this matter to the future of learning?

If you are a leader, you may have the instinct to share less rather than more information.

It’s usually the wrong instinct.

People abhor uncertainty. They want to know that they can trust their leaders to tell them the truth. And they expect to hear from leaders a lot more often than leaders think they do.

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“Are Colleges Prepared to Move All of Their Classes Online?” by Audrey Williams June, in The Chronicle of Higher Education

Why does this matter to the future of learning?

Note the difference between what works (from the perspective of the student) in online vs. face-to-face.

Online: transactional activities.

Face-to-Face: relational activities.

Just one problem: nobody will be learning face-to-face anytime soon.

Which means we need to find ways to design online encounters for relationship and not just transaction.

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“Virtual Board Meetings,” by BoardSource

[In the case of phone conferences], “the following guidelines ensure that everybody has equal possibility to interact:

• “Prepare the meeting well. Set a strict starting time that is convenient for all participants; take different time zones into account. Make sure that everybody receives information prior to the meeting. Communicate the purpose for the meeting.

• “Ask all participants to call from a quiet location to minimize background noise.

• “Take roll call in the beginning to make sure you have a quorum.

• “Ask speakers to identify themselves. This also facilitates minute-taking.

• “As in all meetings, allow only one person to speak at a time.”

Why does this matter to the future of learning?

Like learning, Board meetings are not going to be face-to-face any time soon. The above bullet points may refer to phone conferences, but they apply equally to videoconferences.

If you move to Board meetings via videoconference, consider additional norms:

• Be present. (Video on, sound off. Facial expressions help us; background noises distract us. If you need to attend to another task, switch off video temporarily.)

• Curious > Certain. (At a time of great uncertainty, demonstrate a bias for better questions more than quick answers. Both matter, but one matters more than the other.)

• Share the well. (Note whose voices we have heard and whose voices we need to hear. And remember: the chat box is our friend.)

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“Why Coronavirus Looks Like a ‘Black Swan’ Moment for Higher Ed,” by Goldie Blumenstyk, in The Chronicle of Higher Education

“Once colleges develop the ability to serve their students via technology, there’s little reason for them to abandon it. That doesn’t mean giving up on in-person teaching. But as the ed-tech executive John Katzman suggested to me this week, these events could prompt colleges to stop distinguishing between online and classroom programs, and instead just develop programs that could be offered during good times and during crises. ‘This will push schools to move faster to that model,’ said Katzman, ‘to be truly agile.’ Agility is good. […]

“Agility, flexibility, and resiliency aren’t just crucial skills for 21st-century students. They’re also vital skills for 21st-century institutions — especially in an era when disruptive superbugs and superstorms are predicted to become all the more common.

Why does this matter to the future of learning?

Agility.

Flexibility.

Resiliency.

Now that you’ve had a couple of days (weeks?) of COVID-19 keeping you at home, score your organization on a scale of 1-10 for each of these characteristics.

How do you plan to improve?

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Question of the week:

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