As a high school principal, I deal with challenges a million times a day. You become so desensitized to the drama and commotion that your every thought and every action is in reaction to a question, a problem, or a challenge. Most administrative teams become very accustomed to the daily conflict that you face – with students, staff, and/or parents. Being a planned and organized leader helps one navigate through the many issues.
The writing assignment given was to identify an adaptive challenge in the current work environment and explain the leadership strategies to help effectively address the challenge. The word adaptive is what perplexed my thinking. The many challenges we face are not always adaptive ones that may change the course of time or impact the organization in a large way. Although we do handle such situations, it was difficult to determine one to discuss.
The writing process seemed to flow better this past session and there was not as much stress; although I still INTENSLY disagree in regards to the assignment’s due date. I believe a Saturday would be a more appropriate due date than Friday at midnight after a long work week – just saying!
Working in groups and bouncing thoughts and ideas off of each other is very helpful to me. I would have liked to have been able to get more peer feedback on the actual written product. Due to time, I only had a good outline and simple draft completed and did not have a good solid draft to give for peer review. I learn best from others in regards to writing, editing, and reviewing. I would prefer an assignment be due in two weeks in draft form, have good peer review time, and then the final paper due the following week. I realize time is a factor to consider.
I enjoyed writing the memo for this assignment as it was tied to the adaptive challenge we analyzed. I believe the majority of our doctoral writing will be from a scholarly perspective and we must prepare for that process and understanding. However, most of our professional writing will not be for a research paper or for a magazine, it will be for our daily communication purposes. Writing memos, letters, newsletters, and emails is how I professionally communicate on a daily basis.
As I grow to be a better writer, I need to focus some on mechanics but more on the scholarly writing part; how to expand my thoughts and reflections and how to use “economy of expression” to say only what needs to be said. I love this phrase and feel this is an area I need to work hard to grow in – making good sense with fewer words.
