Finding Courage

Throughout the process of writing this book, I have been challenged to go deeper into the reasons I didn't pursue my potential with more confidence when I wore a younger man's clothes. Why didn't I trial for that rugby league team? Become an architect? And why was I so invested in postgraduate study and chasing promotions? There have been insights that emerged that I didn't expect.

I now realise that the motivation for 'armoring up' through promotions to larger schools, collecting qualifications, and 'being published' was to protect me from criticism and legitimise my voice. I appreciate now that these so-called ‘achievements’ led me to apply the industrial age mindset of control and engineering outcomes in my approach to school leadership. I used this strategy many times I suspect – it allowed me to be a self-important ‘knower'. That doesn't mean my intent was in some way ill-informed, self-serving, or corrupt. However, I now accept that this approach was less effective than it should have been.

Paradoxically, what remained below the surface of the armor was often a nagging feeling of self-doubt and ultimately unmet potential. This reflection has been a difficult, sometimes confronting consequence of this journey, and a journey full of Unlearning and Re-learning.

A motivation for me to act now is time. To use a sporting analogy; there is nothing less important than the score at halftime. It's late in the 'second half' of my career, and while the result is uncertain, it’s indeed becoming important. Having the courage to reinvent myself has resulted in a new mindset about human potential, motivation, and a new understanding of learning.

That time is limited is a feeling many share – a sense of things just could be better and that there is more to achieve, what I sense, is the deeper purpose of my life. My story brings together a career in education, mostly in schools, the recognition that being a Constructive Discontent is the precursor for creative breakthroughs, and the essential need for us all to take action... 'to do'... to enable fast iterative cycles of learning. I'll start by setting the context through my story about schooling.

Next: The Power of the Status Quo