ABSTRACT
Schools exist as systems “open” to the influences and uncertainties of the environments in which they exist. With this realization comes an abandonment of hyper-rational views of leadership and organizational life and a shift toward a more complex, ambiguous view of school leaders’ roles. Tensions between organization and anarchy challenge the myth of leading and organizing as hyper-rational endeavors. Decision-making capacity refers to the ability of the principal or leadership team to identify, collect, analyze, and as needed, generate the data required for decision. Educational leaders must be ever vigilant in honing their decision-making skills, particularly in conditions of ambiguity and uncertainty. Leaders are often under a lot of pressure to ensure that practices are the same, or as same as they can be, for all students. Decision-making capacity refers to the ability of the principal or leadership team to identify, collect, analyze, and as needed, generate the data required for decision.
