How do we change our schools and organizations? How do we adapt as the world evolves around us? It’s a tough task—organizations have structure and inertia. Sometimes it even seems that they have antibodies, antibodies which remain hidden until they attack outside influences that threaten the existing order.
We all face this issue, in one way or another, and today more than ever as the digital world upends decades of traditional teaching methods. It’s a challenge facing us here at Behrman House—founded in 1921—just as it’s a challenge facing Notre Dame University—founded in 1842.
Notre Dame? Wait, how did they get into this conversation?
Last week I travelled to South Bend, IN to speak with the 15-person core group of Notre Dame’s Office of Digital Learning. You can read more about my visit here. Their challenge: set up a new department within an existing university, a department charged with moving at digital speed in a larger institution with multiple priorities and constituencies, one not thoroughly accustomed to the pace of the digital world. Their mission: develop course materials and digital tools that will extend the University’s role and ensure that it takes full advantage of evolving digital learning technologies.
And it turns out that the challenges facing Notre Dame are surprisingly similar to those facing both Behrman House and Jewish education generally. How do you create (or re-create) an organization that honors a long tradition and history of excellence? How do you create new practices of responsive decision-making, and rapid development of programs in a new environment while preserving valuable resources and practices from the prior era? How do you migrate a 20th-century institution smartly into the 21st century?
And so I came to South Bend, to share some of what I have learned both as a management consultant and as the leader of Behrman House during what has turned out to be the most interesting five or so years of my time here. Our challenges are similar; they are not limited to Jewish education, or secular education, or even education generally. They’re the challenges of organizational leadership, of fidelity to high standards, and commitment to a mission that compels us to move forward.
In my next blog, I’ll reflect on some universal practices that can advance the growth and mission of any organization seeking to change and move smartly into the future.
And perhaps we can begin a dialog:
How are you and your institution moving forward? What leadership, professional development, and other practices do you have in place to help you and your colleagues cope with the change all around us?
