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Embracing Confusion: What Leaders Do When They Don't Know What to Do

Author(s): Barry C. Jentz and Jerome T. Murphy


Source: The Phi Delta Kappan, Vol. 86, No. 5 (Jan., 2005), pp. 358-366
Published by: Phi Delta Kappa International
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Embracing Confusion:
$S What Leaders Do When They
Don't Know What to Do
Rapid change is making confusion a defining feature of
management in the 21st century. Paradoxically, the authors
argue, leaders who accept their confusion can turn a perceived
weakness into a resource for learning and effective action.

BY BARRY C. JENTZ AND JEROME T. MURPHY

HILE we didn't know it at the time, the seed for this article was planted
some 20 years ago when Jerome Murphy became the new - and often con
fused - associate dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Blind
sided by unexpected problems and baffled by daunting institutional chal
lenges, Murphy often lost his sense of direction and simply didn't know what
to do. To make matters worse, he felt like a phony. "For God's sake," he said
to himself, "isn't a Harvard dean supposed to have the answers?"
Enter Barry Jentz, an organizational consultant who helped Murphy learn
that confusion is not a weakness to be ashamed of but a regular and inevitable condition of leader
ship. By learning to embrace their confusion, managers are able to set in motion a constructive
process for addressing baffling organizational issues. In fact, confusion turns out to be a fruitful en
vironment in which the best managers thrive by using the instability around them to open up better
lines of communication, test their old assumptions and values against changing realities, and develop
more creative approaches to problem solving.

THE LOST LEADER SYNDROME

The two of us were recently reminded of our early encounters with confusion when we had the

BARRY C. JENTZ is an organizational consultant to public and private schools, corporations, and private firms and a
lecturer in the Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. JEROME T MURPHY is Harold
Howe 11 Professor of Education and dean emeritus, Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, Cambridge,
Mass. He is currently a visiting professor at the Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsy/vania, Philadel- _
phia. The authors would like to thank their colleagues and the participants in the Superintendents Leadership Program,_
a? collaborative effort of the Graduate School of Education and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard Univer
sity; Ron Heifetz for his enduring insights; and Sama?ntha Tan for her research assistance and counsel. The authors would_
particularly like to thank Thomas Champion for his extraordinary contributions to this article, and they are especially_
grateful to the Wallace Foundation for its support._

358 PHI DELTA KAPPAN Illustration: Artville

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opportunity to work on issues of leadership with a disthat we have come to call the Lost Leader Syndrome.
tinguished group of urban school superintendents. GivThe standard pathology may look familiar. No matter
how capable or well prepared, managers regularly find
en the challenge of getting to their present positions,
all of these superintendents had long since mastered themselves confronting bewildering events, perplexing
the skill of presenting a confident, take-charge demean information, or baffling situations that steal their time
or. But after developing enough trust to talk frankly and hijack their carefully planned agendas. Disorient
with one another, these seasoned superintendents ad ed by developments that just don't make sense and by
mitted that they were often confused and sometimes challenges that don't yield to easy solutions, these man
simply didn't know what they were doing - not that agers become confused - sometimes even lost - and
they could ever admit that in public. don't know what to do.
This candid discussion revealed a pattern of behavior Many managers inevitably will respond to these symp
toms by simply denying that they are confused. Others
will hide their confusion - their search for sense -
because they see it as a liability, telling themselves, "I'll
lose authority if I acknowledge that I can't provide di
rection - I'm supposed to know the answers!" Acting as
if they are in control while really not knowing what to
do, these managers reflexively and unilaterally attempt
to impose quick fixes to restore their equilibrium.
Sometimes, these managerial responses may even suc
ceed in making the immediate symptoms of problems
go away, but they rarely address underlying causes. More
often, they lead to bad decision making, undermine cru
T :w;ffi:f<w-si fiNg
cial communication with colleagues and subordinates,
and make managers seem distant and out of touch. In
the long run, managers who hide their confusion also
damage their organizations' ability to learn from experi
lHi e r : 0j X . g ence and grow. Yet, despite these drawbacks, few man
. $ R i iat: r ~.w

agers can resist hiding their confusion.


- <J 9~~~~~~~I
We have observed this dysfunctional pattern hun
dreds of times in the public, private, and nonprofit sec
tors - in government agencies, corporations, universi
ties, and foundations - and believe that it is becom
ing more common as the pace of change accelerates.
Our recent discussions with school superintendents
suggest that this pattern of confusion and hiding or
covering up is particularly prevalent in the pressure
cooker world of public education. Parents, taxpayers,
and political and business leaders expect educators to
address issues for which there are no ready answers.
Tony Wagner maintains that "the overwhelming ma
jority of school and district leaders do not know how
to help teachers better prepare all students for the high
er learning standards."' Similarly, Richard Elmore ar
gues that "knowing the right thing to do is the cen
tral problem of school improvement."'
In these pages, we will look at a method by which
managers can transform their confusion from a liabil
ity into a resource and describe how this resource can
be used to promote learning, new ideas, and the abili

JANUARY 2005 359

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ty to take effective action. We call this method Reflec fusion. 'When the tape is played back, participants are
tive Inquiry and Action (RIA), a five-step process through surprised to see the discrepancy between how they be
which managers can assert their need to make sense and have and how they think they behave. They watch how
enlist individuals and teams without sacrificing their their retreat into hiding produces interpersonal dynam
goals, values, or judgment. We believe that in the all too ics characterized by posturing, guessing, arguing, and
frequent situation of not knowing what to do, manag accusing - when the truth is that everyone is equal
ers can make progress and maintain their authority by ly confused.6
knowing how to move forward. By contrast, when one of the participants is able to
The RIA process is designed primarily for "micro" acknowledge her confusion without fear or shame
work, such as that in private meetings between indi and to invoke the rigor of a structured inquiry - the
viduals and small groups. But, as we shall see, several videotape reveals a palpable change in the participants'
of the guiding principles behind RIA - embracing sense of energy, competence, and confidence. For a man
your confusion, structuring a process for moving for ager who is capable of creating the conditions neces
ward, listening reflectively - can be quite useful on sary for interpersonal learning and for those who have
a larger scale and even in public venues. Significantly, witnessed these methods at work, this moment of dis
these ideas can help leaders make headway while strug covery raises hope that the RIA process can be the foun
gling with the daunting "macro" challenge of educat dation for shared progress. For advocates of RIA, these
ing all children in every school, often a cause of con revelations are a powerful argument against dismiss
fusion.3 ing these ideas as too soft for a tough world.

THE TALE OF THE TAPE THE "OH, NO!" MOMENT


Is "confusion" even the best term for that sense of Imagine being the head of a team charged with pre
disorientation caused by having the rug pulled out from venting deadly radiation leaks at a nuclear power plant.
under one's feet or by being baffled in the face of an You hear an alarm sound. Based on years of experience
unyielding challenge? It is certainly a loaded word in and training - and a quick review of the data - you
management circles, and to suggest that an educator make an educated guess about what the problem might
should acknowledge confusion, even to close and trust
ed colleagues, is risky. 'When a New York City teacher
recently posted on her weblog: "I have no idea how to
teach these kids, and I'm not sure I ever will," her prin
cipal called her in to assess her emotional state.4
Even if managers can privately bring themselves to ac
cept their confusion, can they truly use it as a resource
for effective management? Many managers dismiss this
idea as suspiciously touchy-feely. After all, phrases such
as "embracing your confusion" sound too much like
"getting in touch with your inner child" - hardly the
basis for making progress in a rough-and-tumble world.
Some managers may be unsettled by what they see as
the "soft" nature of RIA, even if deep down they know
that there is truth in the old diche that real men never
ask for directions - instead they end up driving around
in circles.5 (In the RIA model, real managers accept that
they are lost and metaphorically ask for directions.)
Nowhere is this skepticism more evident than in
RIA workshops. To overcome it and to get managers
to take these ideas seriously, we have learned to put par
ticipants in front of a video camera and ask them to re "For the last time, we're not trying to see who can
spond to difficult scenarios that thrust them into con finish first.11

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be. Suddenly, one of your team members reports that situation and its impact. Often this initial investiga
a key piece of information from the reactor systems tion fails to reconcile our old assumptions with our new
doesn't fit your hypothesis. In fact, it's the exact oppo reality, and we find ourselves confused or even lost.
site of what it should be. You have encountered what One of the ironies of these disorienting situations
we refer to as an "Oh, No!" moment. You can't make (and the "Oh, No!" moments that signal them) is that
sense of what is going on. As you sit stunned in front we often forget how much we rely on our world to
of your reactor-systems console, your team stares at make sense until our world is turned upside down by
you, waiting for a decision. new information or changing circumstances.
Now imagine that you are a member of the team,
looking nervously to your leader. The last thing the
GOING INTO HIDING
situation requires is someone who:
* instinctively blames circumstances or other peo In the face of an "Oh, No!" moment, few of us are
ple when things go wrong; willing to reveal our confusion or our sense that maybe
* says he is open to input but regards any feedback we are lost. To admit such a possibility opens the door
as criticism and doesn't listen to others; not only to the fear of losing authority but also to a
* hates uncertainty and opts for action even when host of other troubling emotions and thoughts:
totally confused; or * Shame and loss of face: "You'll look like a fool!"
* takes a polarized view of leadership in which any * Panic and loss of control: "You've let this get out
thing less than take-charge decision making shows ab of hand!"
ject weakness. * Incompetence and incapacitation: "You don't know
We all understand that a manager who neither lis what you're doing!"
tens to nor learns from others can quickly turn a messy At the gut level, many managers believe that saying
problem into a nightmare. "Oh, No!" moments are "I'm at a loss here" is tantamount to declaring "I am not
familiar to all of us. They are caused not only by emer fit to lead."
gencies but also by a wide variety of everyday situa So, when faced with disorienting situations, most
tions that regularly arise out of the blue and call into managers deny, hide, or opt for the quick fix, rather
question our fundamental assumptions. We just can't than openly acknowledge that they feel confused.7 De
make sense of what's going on. Taken aback by these nial takes the form of blaming themselves or others,
situations, managers become distracted from their stra usually the person who delivers the counterintuitive
tegic agenda and reflexively respond to "Oh, No!" mo information. Hiding leads to keeping their mouths shut
ments like the following: in self-protection, not wanting to risk exposure as any
* A change in technology renders a valued program thing other than completely composed and confident.
obsolete. (One former school principal calls this the "art of the
* A promotion that everyone knows to be "ours" bluff.") Many managers unilaterally go for the quick
goes to a rival. fix, often making the wrong choice or dealing with a
* A key administrator resigns without warning, of symptom rather than a root cause. In time, their unwill
fering an explanation that we simply do not believe. ingness to consult with others and reluctance to seek
* After repeated efforts to address a strategic chal out new information isolates these managers even fur
lenge, we get feedback that our latest attempt is a fail ther - having earned a reputation for not getting it,
ure. they are offered less and less candid information by
* The long hours that produce triumph at work al their colleagues and staff.
so produce trouble at home. Managers who hide their confusion are also send
In moments like these - and in many situations ing out a strong signal that open acknowledgment of
that are more mundane but no less challenging - our confusion is not acceptable behavior. Everyone else learns
minds begin to teem with questions. Our stomachs to hide as well. Organizations can spend thousands of
churn with emotion. Our old bearings no longer keep dollars every year on development seminars that teach
us on course. We struggle to reorient ourselves because the power of becoming a "learning organization" that
the assumptions that gave meaning to our daily lives grows and improves over time, but managers who hide
are suddenly rendered inadequate. We grope for new their own difficulties send the opposite message. They
information that can help us make sense of this new ensure that no growth occurs, that coworkers have no

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incentive to communicate openly, and that the organi to herself. "What the hell is the problem? These are
zation drives around in circles, making the same mis my top people! How could they miss the mark on a
takes again and again. plan that should have been as easy as falling off a log?"
And what did she do with her confusion? She buried
it and admonished the group for not finding the right
THE HIGH COST OF HIDING: A CASE IN POINT
"focus." Crucial weeks and many hundreds of staff hours
Hiding is not only the natural managerial response had been wasted.
to the confiision created bv dramat
ic "Oh, No!" moments but also a
common reaction to many mundane, by putting into place an overt arid orderly
everyday interactions, as illustrated
in the following case of a meeting of
process, you not only maintain your authority
a school district project team that but aloo contain the confusion, avoid
went disastrously awry.
The superintendent was starting premature closure, and enlist your team in
a reform effort with a tight and ag
gressive timetable. The changes had
finding the best way to move forward. You
been long discussed, but never in de turn your confusion into a resource.
tail, and now it was time to make
definite plans. In her personal kick
off meeting with her business manager, chief deputy, In a project post mortem, the superintendent ad
and a senior aide, the superintendent said, "We haven't mitted that she had withheld her confusion after read
had much time to talk about the approach, but I'm ing the team's first draft and asked why her people had
really not so concerned about that because the prob not voiced their own confusion during the first proj
lem here is really straightforward." The deputy super ect meeting. Team members gradually acknowledged
intendent was confused. "'Not much time' is an un that they had concealed their confusion because they
derstatement!" he thought to himself. were afraid of looking stupid, making her angry, dis
He wanted to say, "I don't want to appear stupid, appointing her, and being judged as not up to the job.
but I need more clarification. I'm not at all sure of the
approach you expect." Instead, he chose to hide his con
THE RIA MODEL
fusion, saying, "I think I understand your perspective,
but can we talk about the approach a little bit more?" To succeed, managers must learn to embrace a new
To which the superintendent responded, "I'm afraid approach - one that is deceptively easy to describe
I'm overdue for a meeting. If you get stuck, give me a but remarkably hard to practice. Yet this method can
call. I've got full confidence in the team. We should be applied to a wide range of unexpected problems,
reconvene in two weeks." from time-sensitive emergencies to long-term projects.
As the superintendent left the room, the deputy Here are five steps for you to consider when you are
thought, "This looks about as clear as mud - but I confused and uncertain about how to get from Point
A to Point B (or even unsure of what or where Point
can't let the others think that I'm not on top of things.
They'll lose confidence." Deciding once again to with B might be). By putting into place an overt and or
hold his confusion, the deputy said to the business man derly process, you not only maintain your authority
ager, "It's too bad we didn't have more time with the but also contain the confusion, avoid premature clo
superintendent, but I think we've got enough to go on. sure (caused by internal or external pressure to act too
Let's flesh out the work plan." Meanwhile, the busi quickly), and enlist your team in finding the best way
ness manager was thinking, "Boy, I'm glad I'm not the to move forward. You turn your confusion into a re
one who has to make sense of this - but it looks like source.
the deputy is clear. It'll probably work out all right." These steps are presented as a sequence, but in prac
When the superintendent saw the draft plan prepared tice their implementation should be seen as flexible and
by her team, she was completely caught off guard. opportunistic. They should also be seen as a process
"They're only about 60% on target here," she thought within a larger framework: you may need to use them

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in multiple cycles or multiple venues in order to achieve * "Leadership is not about pretending to have all the
the best effect. answers but about having the courage to search with
Because going public with your confusion runs coun others to discover solutions."
ter to conventional thinking, we suggest care in doing Step 2. Assertyour need to make sense. Having prepared
so in circles that go beyond trusted team members, yourself mentally, you now need to engage in dialogue.
advisors, and confidants. RIA should be tried out ini This face-to-face interaction will normally take the form
tially in limited but critical venues (e.g., with those of a meeting in which you describe your confusion so
who report to you directly), and even then you should that others will know the point you (and they) are start
lay the groundwork carefully by discussing the antici ing from. You might say any one of the following:
pated change in your problem-solving approach. Sched * "This new information just doesn't make sense to
ule a special meeting, distribute this article for discus me.
sion, and be open about the potential pros and perceived * "I have a few thoughts about this, but I'll be the
cons of RIA. first to say we don't have enough information to sug
Step 1. Embrace your confusion. When confronted gest a definitive course of action."
with disorienting problems, you need to do the one * "Before I can make a decision, I need help in un
thing you least want to do - acknowledge to your derstanding this situation and our options for dealing
self that you are confused and that you see this con with it."
dition as a weakness. Indeed, the biggest hurdle in get Unless you come to recognize that being confused
ting from Point A to Point B is first getting to Point is a normal - even necessary - consequence of lead
A - that is, acknowledging your true starting point. ership, it will be difficult for you to state firmly that
Getting to Point A is extremely difficult because dis you are at a loss. How you deliver this message is as
orienting situations typically produce a painful split be important as the words you use. Unless you unambig
tween feeling confused and listening to the loud voice uously assert, with conviction and without apology,
that says that "real" leaders are not supposed to feel this your sense of being confused, others will fulfill your
way. In the grip of this ambivalence, managers will worst expectations - concluding that you are weak
typically respond in primitive fight-or-flight terms, say - and they will be less willing to engage in a shared
ing to themselves, "What's wrong with me for getting process of interpersonal learning.
into this mess?" or "How do I get rid of this awful con At the same time, publicly asserting your confusion
fusion?" Neither of these predictable responses offers helps others to do the same - to claim their own con
a way to get beyond your inner conflict. fusion and begin trying to make sense out of a disori
Rather than fight or flee, you need both to recognize enting situation. By taking the lead, you make it eas
and accept your tacit, yet firmly held, assumption that ier for others to follow. Together you and your team
confusion means weakness.8 You might take a deep breath will often discover that you share a common problem:
and say to yourself, "I'm confused and that makes me how best to structure a process that can turn confusion
feel weak." Paradoxically, fully embracing where you into a productive, shared search for innovative solu
start will not lead you to wallow in your confusion, but tions.
rather frees you to move beyond your inner conflict. Step 3. Structure the interaction. Publicly acknowl
You can then do what you most need to do - ques edging that you are confused is important, but it is
tion your assumption that confusion is a weakness that only a beginning. Without skipping a beat, you must
needs to be banished and entertain a new assumption next provide a structure for the search for new bear
that confusion can be embraced as a resource for lead ings that both asserts your authority and creates the
ership. Because changing a firmly held belief is so dif conditions for others to join you. You provide such a
ficult, it helps to develop a personal mantra. Here are structure by stating the purpose of the joint inquiry,
some examples: offering a set of specific steps or procedures to fulfill
* "Confusion is not weakness, but the strength to that purpose, providing the timetable, and identify
take in new information at the risk of challenging my ing the criteria and methods by which decisions will
zasic assumptlons. be made. By doing so, you will tacitly send the message,
* "Leadership is being out in front where I have no "To be confiused is not incapacitating. I may not know
choice but to encounter situations that make no sense what course to take, but I know the next step. I know
tO me. how to structure a process that we can go through to

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gether to make sense of our new situation and move reflecting back in your own words the essence of what
forward." In other words, you announce that you are she was trying to express. Finally, you come to a full stop
metaphorically asking for directions but that you are and allow the other person the time to confirm, retract,
still in charge of a process that will produce a clear out or modify what she originally said. Here's the sound
come. of reflective listening:
As an example, let's return to our story of the nu * "You seem to be saying that x caused y. Do I have
clear power plant executive and recall that after hear that right?"
ing the alarm he receives a report
telling him the exact opposite of
what he expected. Stunned, he is Reflective listening is especially dificult when
thrown into a state of confusion.
While it will not be easy for him, he you most need to do it - in situations where
must acknowledge his confusion in
new informatiotn threatens to undercut your
a spirit of inquiry so that others
might question his theories or offer cherished assumptions. You tend to be blind
explanations for the discrepancy be
tween the expected and the actual to what may seem obvious to those around
report. To establish a good structure
you; to you, their perceptions sound stupid,
for this discussion, the manager might
say, "Listen up! We've got two min wrong, and intentionally hurtful.
utes, and then you'll get my decision.
Between then and now, I'm going
to talk about what's got me confused, and you are going * "You're torn between two explanations. On one
to give me new information, feedback, or explanations hand, you think x accounts for z; on the other hand,
for what is going on." you thinky does?"
As in this example, it normally makes sense to start * "So you're angry because I am saying one thing
a meeting by revealing your state of mind, describing and yet doing quite another?"
how you propose to structure the interaction, and then Reflective listening sounds simple but is actually an
offering suggestions about the type of data you need acquired skill that requires repeated practice, like hit
to clarify and resolve the problem.9 ting a backhand in a fast-paced tennis match. And
Step 4. Listen reflectively and learn. You now need to even after you have learned how to do it, you will still
listen reflectively as others respond to you. In the con encounter major challenges in applying it to real-world
text of the RIA model, "reflective" carries both of its situations. One such challenge is dealing with people
common meanings: you reflect thoughtfully on what who typically are not very good listeners themselves.
other people have to say, and you consciously attempt In conversation with them, it will be only natural to
to reflect your understanding of what was said back respond to their reflexive style by falling back into the
to the speaker.10 same pattern. Indeed, our habit of responding in kind
Reflective listening is not normal listening. Ordi is such a powerful force that it has a name: the Norm
narily, most of us listen from a reflexive mindset that of Reciprocity. ("If you don't listen to me, I'll be damned
automatically judges the other person. This mindset if I'll listen to you.")
is embodied in the question: "What's right or wrong To make matters worse, reflective listening is espe
with what was just said and what am I going to do cially difficult when you most need to do it - in sit
about it?" In effect, your first mental act is to judge uations where new information threatens to undercut
the worth of what was said, and your first verbal act is your cherished assumptions. Because you are inside
to agree or disagree. This typically leads to a confron your frame of reference, you tend to be blind to what
tation, not a joint inquiry. may seem obvious to those around you; to you, their
By contrast, reflective listening requires you to put perceptions sound stupid, wrong, and intentionally
yourself in the other person's shoes and, with an open hurtful.
mind, reflect upon her words, tone, demeanor, and non For all these reasons, surprisingly little reflective lis
verbal behavior. You then test what you have heard by tening goes on in most organizations. Yet, as hard as

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reflective listening may be, it is an essential tool for teachers were not going to be scapegoats.
checking the depth and accuracy of your understand Confronted on all sides with demands for action,
ing and thereby avoiding action based on untested in the superintendent used RIA to interrupt the blame
ferences. Reflective listening also ensures that the other game, gain time for analysis, and avoid a rush to a quick
people in the discussion feel that they have been heard fix, which he thought would exacerbate factional di
and understood, thus increasing their inclination to visions without solving the problem. He was also con
trust and collaborate with you. By mastering and us fident that he could deal with his confusion without
ing this skill, you produce conditions for joint inquiry appearing weak or out of control.
rather than confrontation. Meeting privately with each board member, with
Step 5. Openly process your effort to make sense. Once small groups of the district's administrative staff, and
you have taken in what others are saying - some of with the head of the teacher union, he asserted his con
which will probably be puzzling and may be upsetting fusion about the test scores; he listened reflectively to
you need to process your responses out loud. You accusations, demands, and explanations for the poor
must suppress the automatic instinct to process inter results; and he argued that action should follow a bet
nally and simply announce the products of your pri ter understanding of the problems. He used a similar
vate search for new bearings. When you find the cour approach, with only slightly less candor, with business
age to externalize your intellectual process, you invite and community leaders, parent groups, and the local
others to engage in interpersonal learning. Working to media. By listening carefully to everyone's concerns, the
gether, you can discover the limitations of one anoth superintendent was able to garner support for a period
er's thinking - limitations that you cannot know as of structured inquiry.
long as you process privately. Here are three examples: After these initial meetings, the superintendent cre
* "That's news to me. I haven't heard that before." ated an inquiry group of teachers and administrators,
* "That really throws me. How do you get to that charging it to analyze existing student data to evalu
from what you were saying?" ate the competing explanations for the poor results.
* "That helps me a lot by pointing out x." As the group examined the data and tested hypothe
If you end up using all of the available time with ses, everyone realized that they were all in the same
out coming to a clear resolution, bring closure by ex boat deeply confused. None of their assumptions
plicitly summarizing where you are in the learning and or preconceptions seemed to account for the low test
decision-making process and describing next steps. scores. That shared recognition freed them to work in
You can say something like, "Clearly, we have a dis concert.
agreement here. Let's state it and put it aside for now. Within weeks, the inquiry group came up with three
We should move on and get next steps in place, includ significant findings: most of the nonreaders had entered
ing agreement on when and how this will be finally the district after the third grade and so had missed the
decided." district's exemplary phonics program; the nonreaders
were clustered in several schools in disadvantaged neigh
borhoods; and the transfers of students from one grade
ANOTHER CASE IN POINT: RIA ON A LARGER SCALE

This case illustrates one way that the techniques of


RIA apply not only to isolated and limited interac
tions and meetings but also to larger-scale initiatives.
Two months into a new job, a school superinten
dent received the results of a statewide literacy assess
ment: 25% of his district's eighth-graders couldn't
read! A flash flood of dismay, blame, and calls for im
mediate action stormed in from the community, the
media, and the schools. Behind the scenes, the school
board demanded that the superintendent institute an
emergency remedial reading program in all elementary
schools and issue a strong "shape up" memo to the en "You reach an age where shredded homework is a
tire teaching staff. The teacher union made it clear that lot easier to digest."

JANUARY 2005 365

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to the next were uncoordinated, so that those who need premature closure. It enlists the manager's team in find
ed long-term remedial assistance were not getting it. ing the best way to make progress and promotes hon
On the basis of this new, shared understanding of esty, trust, and mutual respect. It turns a perceived weak
the problems, targeted programs were implemented ness - confusion - into a resource for learning and
to address them, which led to an improvement in test effective action.
scores the following year. Moreover, the superintendent Armed with confusion and the RIA process, leaders
gained widespread credibility because his more meas can take timely, constructive action - even when they
ured and informed approach avoided an ill-considered don't yet know what to do.
quick fix and produced results.
"So what?" a skeptic might say. "So the superinten 1. Tony Wagner, "Beyond Testing: The 7 Disciplines for Strengthening
Instruction," Education Week, 12 November 2003, pp. 28, 30.
dent did his job - big deal." The fact remains that,
2. Richard E Elmore, "Knowing the Right Thing to Do: School Im
every day, managers in similar situations don't do their
provement and Performance-Based Accountability," NGA Center for
jobs because they are afraid of their own confusion. BEST PRACTICES, August 2003, p. 9, available at www.nga.org/center.
Instead of acting on it with some version of the steps Click on the center's logo, and search on the author's name.

described in this article, they insist on denying it, hid 3. When applied to these "macro" agendas, RIA may be seen as one of
many methodologies available to managers to pursue the larger-scale
ing it from others, or trying to banish it with a quick
challenges of long-term "adaptive" leadership, as described by Ronald
fix. And, all too often, the problems get worse. A. Heifetz in Leadership Without Easy Answers (Cambridge, Mass.: Har
vard University Press, 1994).
4. Mark Toner, "'Blogs' Help Educators Share Ideas, Air Frustrations,"
CONFUSION AS A RESOURCE Education Week, 14 January 2004, p. 8. For many leaders, it's easier and
safer to employ humor or euphemism. After a long lifetime of blazing
In the 21st century, as rapid change makes confu trails on the American frontier, the octogenarian Daniel Boone was asked
sion a defining characteristic of management, the com by a friend if he'd ever been lost. "No, I can't say as ever I was lost,"
Boone replied, "but I was bewildered once for three days."
petence of managers will be measured not only by what
5. One of the lessons of our work in leadership and management train
they know but increasingly by how they behave when ing is that this pattern of reluctance to seek assistance from others when
they lose their sense of direction and become confused. lost and confused is not limited to male executives. It may be that many

Organizational cultures that cling to the ideal of an female leaders respond to the pressure of gender bias by cultivating a
style even more self-contained than that of their male colleagues.
all-knowing, omnicompetent executive will pay a high
6. The discrepancies between the way managers behave and the way they
cost in time, resources, and progress, and will be send think they behave has been extensively reviewed in the literature on lead
ing the message to managers that it is better to hide ership theory. See Chris Argyris and Donald Sch?n, Theory in Practice:
Increasing Professional Effectiveness (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1974).
their confusion than to address it openly and construc
7. Some managers may take their confusion "off-line," revealing it to
tively.
only one or two trusted confidants. As one veteran executive told us, "I
Being confused, however, does not mean being in could never say something like that in public. It would be suicide. But
capacitated. Indeed, one of the most liberating truths there are people I can call on to talk things through with and then say,
'This conversation never happened.'" Unfortunately, while this safety
of leadership is that confusion is not quicksand from
valve provides a valuable sense of relief for managers wrestling with con
which to escape but rather the potter's clay of leader fusion, it doesn't help others in the organization to open up and engage
ship - the very stuff with which managers work. Man in productive conversation.
agers can be confused yet still be able to exercise com 8. For a similar argument about the power of basic assumptions, see Robert
Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey, "The Real Reason People Won't Change,"
petent leadership by structuring a process of reflective
Harvard Business Review, November 2001, pp. 85-92.
inquiry and action. The MA process can help address 9. The joint inquiry model can be used on as small a scale as a one-on
the maddening "Oh, No!" moments that can hijack one meeting but has obvious applications in larger situations as well. At
the macro level, one of the best situations in which to use this model is
managerial agendas. Equally important, the central prin
when a manager starts a new job. Obviously, entering a new workplace
ciples of RIA can be quite useful on a larger stage (as is bound to throw a manager into a state of confusion, since historical
seen in the school superintendent case) and can help explanations of key events will vary from source to source and there will
managers make progress when taking on longer-term, be little initial guidance about which sources are reliable (i.e., whom to

strategic challenges, such as meeting the public expec trust). For a detailed account of "structuring the interaction" at the be
ginning of a new job, see Barry Jentz et al., Entry (McGraw-Hill, 1982;
tation that all children learn. reprint, Leadership & Learning, Inc., available from www.entrybook.
The RIA process provides an orderly way for man com).
agers to move forward when they don't know what to 10. The definitive article on listening remains Carl R. Rogers and F. J.
Roethlisberger, "Barriers and Gateways to Communication," Harvard
do, to stay "in charge" when confused and even lost, to
Business Review, November/December 1991, pp. 105-11. (Originally
contain shared confiusion and work on it, and to avoid published in 1952.) IC

366 PHI DELTA KAPPAN

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