Dr. Russell Ackoff, the eminent systems thinker said, “Managers do not solve problems, they manage messes.” My take would be more optimistic than Ackoff’s assuming managers knew something about variation. This is in fact why I’ve spent so much time over the last year studying this idea as it fits into W. Edwards Deming’s theoretical framework, the System of Profound Knowledge.
Read MoreAs schools consider how to restart in the fall, some are galvanizing their community to consider this an opportunity for reinvention, a way to rethink how we educate our young, while others simply want to get students back in the building and return as quickly and safely as possible to the normal that existed prior to the pandemic. Regardless of a school’s position on the spectrum from restart to reinvention, a more sophisticated manner in which to analyze student engagement and track efforts to improve engagement will be necessary.
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