ABSTRACT
Strong school leaders create efficient systems that bring consistency and stability to their schools, but they must also embrace change as they deal with a constant influx of new students and faculty and as instructional methodologies are regularly improved. The more standardized the systems created in a school, the harder it is to foster transformational shifts in thinking. Hierarchical organizations inhibit innovation. Schools that prioritize an innovative culture are nimbler because decision-making is decentralized and given to the people most familiar with an issue. Diverse perspectives vastly increase the likelihood of innovation. The creative process requires “play” and an open-mindedness to ideas that may seem flawed at the outset.
