KAOSPILOT MONTHLY #2 12/2006 Immortal Mindset Across Generations Individuals Neighbourhoods Existence
or simply...
Imagine you will soon wake up to the sight of 365 fresh, untouched days. Days to unfold your talent, to make a positive difference, to have some fun, to help the world live as one. Imagine all the opportunities ahead of you.
in September, a new principal and a new CEO, the international board and new Hall of Respectmembers. Not to forget the 34 KaosPilots who graduated in June and our fantastic birthday party that took place on October 6.
You may say we are dreamers, but at the KaosPilots we will do our best to make the dreams come true.
Thank you all for your support and for sharing lovely moments with us.
Thanks for the year drawing to a close. A year enriched with days to remember and people who joined us – some of them being 35 new students
We are looking forward to the year to come and wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
KaosPilot Monthly #2/2006 – Content # What can the KaosPilots take to the world? # The things we accomplished # KaosPilot New Year’s Quiz # For those who don’t like soft Christmas packets
# KaosPilot Alumni
KAOSPILOT MONTHLY #2 12/2006 The things we accomplished by Christer Lidzélius, CEO at the KaosPilots So this is Christmas … and what have you done … another year over … a new one just begun… What have you done? John Lennon’s soft melody playing in the radio around every Christmas time always made me sad, even a bit guilty – being part of a Lutheran, Swedish rural-working-class-heritage that doesn’t exactly grant you acknowledgement of what you have done ... more of what you did not do … what you could have done … what you could have accomplished … but you didn’t … you did something else ... or nothing? So the question echoes in the long winter nights … are you satisfied with what you have done? However, today I’m CEO at the KaosPilots, and at the KaosPilots we’d rather celebrate the things we have accomplished than reel off the things, we didn’t manage to do. Just like we prefer to say yes instead of no, focus at the opportunities instead of the limitations, the successes instead of the failures, the good news instead of the bad ones. – Shouldn’t be a tough manoeuvre, by the way, as 2006 has been a year of great news, big success, promising initiatives, entertaining events, new products and wonderful people. Here’s just to mention some of them.
The CEO at the KaosPilots, Christer Lidzélius. Singing or talking?
Internationalization Looking back at 2006, a thing that juts out is that the first serious internationalization spit took place with the opening of 2 new KaosPilot educational programs in Oslo (2005) and Malmö (2006), a school most likely coming up in Rotterdam in 2007 and maybe even Stockholm. After the summer holiday, we met for our first joint seminar in Aarhus – and what a meeting! It is quite astonishing to consider that we now have operations in 4 different countries. A big and warm welcome to all of you. Looking forward to a fruitful and inspiring collaboration ahead. Another big and warm welcome goes of course to our new international board bringing the world into the KaosPilots in Aarhus as well. 26 guardian angels and sources of international inspiration from all corners of the world decided to contribute with ideas, advices, contacts etc. and to meet once a year to discuss the development, directions and opportunities of KaosPilot International. On October 5th, we had our first board meeting and no doubt next board meeting on October 4-7 2007 will give food for thought and new initiatives. Again.
Change of guards October was also the month when Uffe stepped back as the KaosPilot principal through 15 years to become chairman of the International Board – handing over the management baton to Jytte Vikkelsø and my self. As the new CEO, my primary responsibility is to develop the commercial department and the internationalization, whereas Jytte as the new principal will be dealing with the education and the pedagogical development – however in a close collaboration and with several overlaps. Having met her, I have every faith in the future and look forward to the time she joins us. Jytte starts on March 1st ’07. New leading stars During springtime, we also decided to take a deep look at ourselves and try to redefine the purpose of the KaosPilots. If the KaosPilots was the answer to the unemployment problems of the nineties, then what question do we answer today? One of the answers that came out of the discussion was that the KaosPilots is “Positive social change through personal growth”. Moreover, we chose three focus areas or global challenges that we – in our own way – consider to be essential issues to deal with today for the world of tomorrow. They are:
New principal, arriving in DK March 1st 07, Jytte Vikkelsø
KAOSPILOT MONTHLY #2 12/2006 • sustainability • cultural diversity and • social innovation The three new focus areas were written into our Worldview Paper in relation with the board meeting and we will endeavour to couple the new focus areas with our current vocational focus (process, project and business design), the external assignments we accept and the way we act and behave in our everyday at the school.
The party Not only the international board met in October. On October 6th a lot of other people also met – to celebrate the KaosPilots 15 years birthday. The celebrations were held here in Aarhus starting at Aarhus Theatre and with Uffe’s stepping down (or stepping up) speech as the zenith. The speech wasn’t the longest, I’ve heard by him, but probably the best,,,-;). And Mejlgade took a long spin out into the autumn morning – so thank you all for making it a truly memorable day and night and morning… Old students and new (international) students Spring and summer 2006 was also the time when Team 10 graduated, Team 11 did their outpost in San Francisco, Team 12 finished their first year and a new Team 13 started – represented by students from 8 different countries eg. Brazil, USA and the Netherlands. During the autumn 2006, Team 12 did a cultural diversity project in Aarhus as a prelude to their process exams and Team 11 headed off for their world internships – leaving the ‘little ones’ – Team 13 – behind to work with boxing, marketing and branding projects etc. Outposts The outpost 2006 took place in the creative melting pot of San Francisco. Here, Team 11 had a peak at what the future might bring when it comes to leaders of the future, corporate and organizational sustainability. They did a splendid job over there, and so did their team leaders, Bjarke Stark and Kristin Birkeland. In February we had visitors from Canada and the US, a visit that probably paved the way for the next outpost, which will be in Vancouver. This time headed by Simon Kavanagh, Fanny Posselt and Paul Natorp. Commercial The commercial activities took a new turn – as a new thing, we won a contract to work on sustainability as well as turned up for the work on educational design. The next year looks promising, the order book being full of new arrangements and new collaborations. New colleagues Not only did the KaosPilots go out into the world. The world also came to the KaosPilots bringing in a new Irish colleague from Shanghai, Simon Kavanagh. – Mind you as the only new male colleague, among a lot of new female colleagues: Majbrit Gottrup, Tina Broberg, Line Rönnow and Astrid Wierzba – all looking well in the picture and bringing in new inspiration and knowledge. Friends and partners During the year, we have had so many great people visiting us, like Elena Sawka, the Demos-people, Chat the Planet, Bliss Browne, Wagner University, N.Y, Toronto University, Bertel O. Steen, Patch Adams, Synnøve Finden, 16 Russians from the Russian President’s Programme and many, many more. Thank you all for your visit, we look forward to have you back. New book Last but not least, the second and updated edition of Uffe’s book KaosPilot A-Z 2 was released on December 8th. Don’t miss it – there’s lots of new material, new photos, new names, new reflections and new jokes, giving the reader an insight into the KaosPilot organization and mindset.
New staff Símon Kavanagh dj’ing at the birthday party
KAOSPILOT MONTHLY #2 12/2006 New Year resolutions So what have we done and where does it lead us? Well, this week there will be the annual Christmas party and the following week the staff seminar – and then we are all off for Christmas holiday. A chapter has ended, but the book is far from finished. New initiatives and experimentations are in the pipeline as well as an adjustment of the internationalization strategy and the rewriting of the curriculum. So, when getting ready for Christmas and the coming of the New Year we all have our ways to bring up the Christmas spirit. For me it includes (sorry John) Shane MacGowan & the Pogues’ Fairytale of New York. For those interested – follow the link below http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyPq3uzTHOk&mode=related&search= Hope, you understand what he says … if not … who says everything can be grasped through words…;-) Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to all of you, Christer
Got on a lucky one Came in eighteen to one I’ve got a feeling This year’s for me and you So happy Christmas I love you baby I can see a better time When all our dreams come true (Shane MacGowan)
For those who don’t like soft Christmas packets Christmas time is reading time and why not sweeten the holidays with the second English edition of the probably most controversial and undoubtedly most beautiful Danish book about management, -training and (social) innovation, KaosPilot A-Z 2? Three years have passed since the first English edition was published and in the name of renewal new contributions have been added – one of them being Marco Visscher’s article The best school for the world, published in Ode Magazine 2005. Moreover, there’s more emphasis on the school’s academic focus and learning tools in this edition. The internationalization strategy, the new schools and educational programs in Oslo, Malmö and Rotterdam, the initiatives in London and Hong Kong, the international board – it’s all there along with a range orientation, flash backs, visions and jumping up and down, professional experiences, open questions and equally open answers. And of course the updated version is also full of new pictures. Heaps of new pictures. Order the book at books@kaospilot.dk or call us at +45 8612 9522. Of course, you’re also more than welcome to drop by the school in Mejlgade 35, Aarhus, Denmark, to buy the book.
What can the KaosPilots take to the world? By Alan Webber In the second article in the new series ‘Board’s Corner’, Alan Webber writes about a public educational system in crisis and the lack of ambitions on behalf on the public schools.
The new KaosPilot A-Z book
KAOSPILOT MONTHLY #2 12/2006 Here are just three newspaper headlines from The New York Times in the month of November: “Schools Slow In Closing Gaps Between Races”; “Most Students in Big Cities Lag Badly in Basic Science”; “As Math Scores Lag, a New Push for the Basics”. Historically, public education has been the ladder of opportunity in America. Families could come from anywhere in the world, and even if they didn’t speak English, they could put their children into the public schools of America’s big cities, confident that their children would learn the language, would get an education, and would begin the journey to a better life. In large measure, the promise of the American Dream has had as its first principle the idea that public education – that learning – is not only the great equalizer but also the great enabler. Why? Because deep down, we all want to believe in the even grander ideas of democracy and a society that operates as a meritocracy. We want to live in a country – or a world – where your effort and your talent will take you as far as you want to go; where the historically limiting factors of race or gender, religion or national origin give way to individual aptitude, however it is measured or defined. Your gift, your passion may be music not math, counseling not consulting, or environmentalism not entrepreneurship. It doesn’t matter; one is not more “worthy” or “important,” more “valuable” or “acceptable” than another. What does matter, in an ideal sense, is a commitment to study, to learning, and a love of life-long learning. But before there can be life-long learning that has to be a beginning. The first steps of public education have to be strong and solid before the higher rungs on the ladder can be climbed. And today, not only in America, but also around the world, public education is a massive, systemic failure. In the United States, the response has been national legislation: The No Child Left Behind Act. This measure was designed to create performance benchmarks in English and math – test scores – that America’s school children are required to achieve. Then schools and school districts are held accountable: If their scores don’t measure up, they risk losing their federal funds. In worst case situations, the school districts could be taken over. This approach is failing, failing as miserably, massively, and systematically as the schools have failed for years. So here’s where we are. There is widespread agreement that good public education is essential to the future – for the well-being of individuals, for the well-being of societies, for economic reasons and for social and political reasons. And there is widespread agreement that what’s being done now, both in education and to reform education, isn’t working. After that, there is little agreement. Is the problem not in the schools and in the classrooms, but in the families? Are parents at fault? Is the problem not with the students, but with the teachers? In the United States, the teachers’ union is very strong – is that the problem? Is the problem not with the teachers, but with the administrators? Is there too much bureaucracy? Is the problem not with the administrators, but with the elected officials? Are elected school boards to blame for flawed policies and bad budget priorities? Is the problem financial? Are teachers underpaid? Are we putting too little money into our buildings and facilities? Is the problem class size? If the ratio between students and teachers were smaller, would student performance go up? Is the problem in the curriculum? Perhaps we’re teaching the wrong things, or in the wrong way?
Mr. Alan Webber
KAOSPILOT MONTHLY #2 12/2006 Is the problem in the way we’re teaching? Perhaps our pedagogical techniques haven’t kept pace with the times – do we need more computers and fewer blackboards, more experiences and fewer books? Is the problem just in the society – are we simply witnessing the gradual breakdown of social standards and social order, an inexorable erosion of old-fashioned virtues? Is what’s missing as simple as structure, accountability, and no-nonsense discipline? Everyone has an opinion; few have data. But there is one source of data worth taking a look at. Several years ago, the State of Arizona decided to take a serious look at the future of public education as it concerned Hispanics. The concern: that “demography is destiny” – and that if the state didn’t find a strategy to improve the educational performance of its fastest growing population, its economic future would be severely jeopardized. Using a methodology developed by Jim Collins, whose book Good to Great has become a must-read for leaders in all kinds of industries and sectors, including not-for-profits, Arizona tried to isolate the variables that could account for a public school making the change from being a “good” school to a “great” school. The findings may not be surprising; they may, in fact, be nothing more than common sense. But they do help to change the discussion about education to something based on facts and data, and not mere opinion. Some of the findings are: • The most important person in determining the overall performance of a school is the principal. The principal sets the standards, inspires the teachers, and establishes the overall tone for the school and the direction of the school. • While it is true that measuring performance is important for accountability, measurements have to be done for each student – averages don’t matter. What matters is how each student is doing. And progress has to be measured every week, so that interventions can be made before learning problems escalate. If a student doesn’t get a certain kind of math problem, the time to take corrective action is immediately. • Working with students isn’t just a matter of each teacher taking responsibility in his or her classroom; it takes a team of teachers to see the whole student, and to address learning needs and learning styles as a group. Principals who get their teachers to work together are the kind of leaders whose schools create real learning gains. • When it comes to curriculum, there is no “silver bullet.” School districts have a bad habit of believing that one reading program or one math system is somehow going to elevate their students’ performance – just because of the teaching methodology. The Arizona study says that’s just plain wrong – there is no “best” curriculum. Far more important is that a district pick a system and stick with it, rather than making frequent changes in search of the right one. When it comes to curriculum, too much change is a problem, not a solution. But these findings are currently confined to Arizona, and even there, I’m sure, there is still great disagreement on how to implement them – or whether to implement them at all. I’d like to believe that the KaosPilots can become a contributor to the larger conversation about public education and the future, not only in the United States but also around the world. As a board, we were asked at our meeting in Aarhus, “What can the KaosPilots take to the world?” As a school, I think one thing the KaosPilots can contribute is a calm, considered inquiry into what it will take to make public education work as a positive force for as many people around the world as possible. When it comes to education, what works for the KaosPilots – and how can those principles be identified and then applied to other educational programs? Over the years, what have the KaosPilots learned about education – what key knowledge can we distill that could help others who are grappling with improving education? What do the KaosPilots see as the key ingredients to making public education work better?
KaosPilots, Aarhus, 2006
KAOSPILOT MONTHLY #2 12/2006 How can the KaosPilots get involved – either as individuals or as a school – in efforts to improve public education? Are there examples – in Denmark or around the world – of public schools that are working? Where are they and what could they teach all of us? What best practices could be distilled and transferred for the benefit of others? As the KaosPilots enters its next phase – and as the new international board develops and grows – I’d like to see education become a focus and a contribution. The KaosPilots have much to teach – and always more to learn – about the essence of learning and the promise of education.
KaosPilot New Year’s Quiz 2007 How sharp are you to tell the future from coffee grounds and crystal balls? Test your skills in KaosPilot New Year’s Quiz 2007, where there are fine prizes at stake for the skilled and lucky ones. How many nationalities will be represented at Team 14? Colloquially, who are ‘The Three Musketeers? How many articles about the KaosPilots and Team 12 will be published in the Vancouver press? Make a guess at these questions and let your imagination bubble at www.kaospilot.dk/quiz Enjoy!
KaosPilot Alumni We are well under way with the establishment of KaosPilot Alumni giving you the opportunity to meet with old fellow students, strengthen your carrier track, participate in vocational brush ups-days etc. A further description will follow during springtime. Till then, we seek your help in locating the missing alumni, who are not in contact with us. If you receive this newsletter directly, we seem to have your email…;-) If you receive it from a friend or a friend’s friend, it seems we lost you along the way and need your new emailaddress. – In that case, please call us, write us … or even better: sign up at the new Alumni website http://klubkaos.net/, where there are currently more than 200 sign ups. Our phone no is as always: +45 8612 9522, but you’re also more than welcome to send a note to head of communication, Astrid Wierzba, astrid@kaospilot.dk