F. Scott Fitzgerald once said, “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.”
F. Scott Fitzgerald perfectly describes the quality of thinking possessed by an Ambidextrous Professional Learning Community. They are comfortable with a duality, an "ambidextrous" approach to their focus and their function.
Roger Martin, dean of Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, and author of the book The Oppossable Mind: Winning Through Integrative Thinking, calls the embracing of this duality as having an, “opposable mind.”
“…we were born with an opposable mind we can use to hold two conflicting ideas in constructive tension. We can use that tension to think our way through to a new and superior idea.”
“Using our opposable minds to move past unappetizing alternatives, we can find solutions that once appeared beyond the reach or our imagination.”
In other words, Professional Learning Communities can think with ambidexterity.
Ambidextrous Thinking
Ambidextrous thinking is similar to what Roger Martin calls Integrative thinking, that is, “…the capacity to hold two diametrically opposing ideas in their heads. And then, without panicking or simply settling for one alternative or the other, they’re able to produce a synthesis that is superior to either opposing idea.”
Martin defines integrative thinking as: "The ability to face constructively the tension of opposing ideas and, instead of choosing one at the expense of the other, generate a creative resolution of the tension in form of a new idea that contains elements of the opposing ideas but is superior to each."
Martin offers 4 qualities of the integrative thinker.
1. "The first difference between integrative thinkers and conventional thinkers is that integrative thinkers take a broader view of what is salient.”
“More salient features make for a messier problem. But integrative thinkers don’t mind the mess. In fact, they welcome it, because the mess assures them that they haven’t edited out features necessary to the contemplation of the problem as a whole. They welcome complexity. And they feel confident that they will not get lost along the way but emerge on the other side of the problem with a clear solution.”
Ambidextrous Professional Learning Communities welcome complexity, they welcome the mess of student needs, strategies, student data, research, mandates, rules, restrictions, and barriers. Ambidextrous PLCs are comfortable with the mess and confident in their ability to arrive at a solution that will benefit students and teachers.
2. "Second, integrative thinkers don’t flinch from considering multidirectional and nonlinear causal relationships. Simple, unidirectional relationships are easier to hold in the mind, but they don’t generate more satisfactory resolutions."
The Ambidextrous Professional Learning Community understands that there are many factors, including nonlinear causal relationships that might account for increases or decreases in student achievement. Easy and quick conclusions are not necessarily the correct conclusions. There are many factor involved in learning, and the ambidextrous PLC considers more of them in their work.
3. "The third difference between integrative and conventional thinkers is in the architecture of their decisions. Integrative thinkers don’t break a problem into independent pieces and work on each piece separately. They keep the entire problem firmly in mind while working on its individual parts."
Ambidextrous Professional Learning Communities can work on keep the entire issue of student learning and achievement in their minds while they plan, develop, improve, and manage individual parts. They do not fall into the problem of “elementitis”, breaking things down into smaller disconnected elements and losing context. They keep all the elements connected and in context of the overall needs of students and teachers.
4. "Fourth and finally, the integrative thinker will always search for creative resolution of tensions, rather than accept unpleasant tradeoffs. The behavior associated with such a search—delays, sending teams back to examine things more deeply, generating new options at the eleventh hour—can appear irresolute from the outside, but the results are choices that could only have been generated by an integrative thinker who won’t settle for trade-offs and conventional options."
Ambidextrous Professional Learning Communities do not accept the traditional method of accepting trade-offs. They believe that all students can learn, regardless of the student, the situation, and resources. They believe they can put students first and put teachers first. The traditional trade-offs of breadth vs. depth, or taking your time vs. staying on pace, can be avoided through creative and innovative thinking. They look for non-conventional options to accomplish their work.
F. Scott Fitzgerald perfectly describes the quality of thinking possessed by an Ambidextrous Professional Learning Community. They are comfortable with a duality, an "ambidextrous" approach to their focus and their function.
Roger Martin, dean of Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, and author of the book The Oppossable Mind: Winning Through Integrative Thinking, calls the embracing of this duality as having an, “opposable mind.”
“…we were born with an opposable mind we can use to hold two conflicting ideas in constructive tension. We can use that tension to think our way through to a new and superior idea.”
“Using our opposable minds to move past unappetizing alternatives, we can find solutions that once appeared beyond the reach or our imagination.”
In other words, Professional Learning Communities can think with ambidexterity.
Ambidextrous Thinking
Ambidextrous thinking is similar to what Roger Martin calls Integrative thinking, that is, “…the capacity to hold two diametrically opposing ideas in their heads. And then, without panicking or simply settling for one alternative or the other, they’re able to produce a synthesis that is superior to either opposing idea.”
Martin defines integrative thinking as: "The ability to face constructively the tension of opposing ideas and, instead of choosing one at the expense of the other, generate a creative resolution of the tension in form of a new idea that contains elements of the opposing ideas but is superior to each."
Martin offers 4 qualities of the integrative thinker.
1. "The first difference between integrative thinkers and conventional thinkers is that integrative thinkers take a broader view of what is salient.”
“More salient features make for a messier problem. But integrative thinkers don’t mind the mess. In fact, they welcome it, because the mess assures them that they haven’t edited out features necessary to the contemplation of the problem as a whole. They welcome complexity. And they feel confident that they will not get lost along the way but emerge on the other side of the problem with a clear solution.”
Ambidextrous Professional Learning Communities welcome complexity, they welcome the mess of student needs, strategies, student data, research, mandates, rules, restrictions, and barriers. Ambidextrous PLCs are comfortable with the mess and confident in their ability to arrive at a solution that will benefit students and teachers.
2. "Second, integrative thinkers don’t flinch from considering multidirectional and nonlinear causal relationships. Simple, unidirectional relationships are easier to hold in the mind, but they don’t generate more satisfactory resolutions."
The Ambidextrous Professional Learning Community understands that there are many factors, including nonlinear causal relationships that might account for increases or decreases in student achievement. Easy and quick conclusions are not necessarily the correct conclusions. There are many factor involved in learning, and the ambidextrous PLC considers more of them in their work.
3. "The third difference between integrative and conventional thinkers is in the architecture of their decisions. Integrative thinkers don’t break a problem into independent pieces and work on each piece separately. They keep the entire problem firmly in mind while working on its individual parts."
Ambidextrous Professional Learning Communities can work on keep the entire issue of student learning and achievement in their minds while they plan, develop, improve, and manage individual parts. They do not fall into the problem of “elementitis”, breaking things down into smaller disconnected elements and losing context. They keep all the elements connected and in context of the overall needs of students and teachers.
4. "Fourth and finally, the integrative thinker will always search for creative resolution of tensions, rather than accept unpleasant tradeoffs. The behavior associated with such a search—delays, sending teams back to examine things more deeply, generating new options at the eleventh hour—can appear irresolute from the outside, but the results are choices that could only have been generated by an integrative thinker who won’t settle for trade-offs and conventional options."
Ambidextrous Professional Learning Communities do not accept the traditional method of accepting trade-offs. They believe that all students can learn, regardless of the student, the situation, and resources. They believe they can put students first and put teachers first. The traditional trade-offs of breadth vs. depth, or taking your time vs. staying on pace, can be avoided through creative and innovative thinking. They look for non-conventional options to accomplish their work.
It is the ability to embrace this duality in their thinking that builds an Ambidextrous Professional Learning Community. To hold to opposing ideas in their minds and reach a creative solution creates an amdidextrous PLC, making them more flexible, innovative, and effective. It’s ability, but maybe more importantly, it’s attitude.
In the coming days I will discuss how the Ambidextrous Professional Learning Community's thinking can have...
Internal and External Focus
Bias Towards Thinking and Bias Toward Action
Put Teachers First and Put Students First
Focus on Teaching and Focus on Learning
Focus on All Students and Focus on Individual Students
Kaizen and Tenakaizen
High Levels of Teamwork and High Levels of Personal Accountability
We Have the Answers and They Have the Answers
Data Driven and Skeptical of Data
Predictable and Change is Normal
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