Collective Vision: Igniting District and School Improvement describes a school district’s 10-year journey of transformation. It began with the creation of a district-wide shared vision, mission, and values, using an appreciative inquiry process that engaged all stakeholders in the school district, thus establishing shared ownership and responsibility for the outcomes. The book demonstrates how the power of a collective vision and collaborative inquiry across a system helps establish a district-wide culture of collective efficacy, resulting in improved outcomes. In the field of education promising practices are sometimes discarded before improvements can be observed and schools are often charged with the responsibility for improvement without being given enough support or guidance from the district. This story describes how continuous inquiry and district support for promising practices led to significant improvement and transformation. The book serves as a practical guide that provides useful “lessons learned” and questions for self-reflection throughout. Educators at all levels of the system will be inspired to take action toward district and school improvement.

"It is said that art reveals the heart of humankind, architecture the soul of civilization. This summer, heart and soul will merge in the new building for Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art. Designed by famous Berlin architect Josef Paul Kleihues (his first U.S. commission), the new MCA stands beside both celebrated Michigan Avenue and the city's stunning lake shore. This book examines the entire process of starting and then dramatically expanding a contemporary art museum, from the tumultuous sixties to the cusp of a new century. The MCA's achievements, such as Christo's first wrapping of a public building (1969), Frida Kahlo's first U.S. exhibition (1978), and Jeff Koons's first full-scale museum exhibition (1988) are discussed, accompanied by historic photographs. -- In his essay "Josef Paul Kleihues: Chicago and Berlin," art and architecture critic Franz Schulze considers the conceptual framework of Kleihues's design for the MCA, as well as the architect's adaptive reuse of the Hamburger Bahnhof train station to house Berlin's Museum of Contemporary Art. Finally, color reproductions of 40 works from the vast MCA permanent collection are juxtaposed with informative text on more than 30 featured artists, including Francis Bacon, Leon Golub, Jasper Johns, Sol LeWitt, Bruce Nauman, Ad Reinhardt, Mark Rothko, Cindy Sherman, and Andy Warhol. The sum of these parts is a fascinating volume that thoroughly examines the very idea of an art museum according to its corresponding ideal: presenting, interpreting, and collecting the art of our time for a diverse audience." -- Publisher description.

Offers a vital, unique and agenda-setting perspective for the field of social epistemology – the philosophical basis for prescribing the social means and ends for pursuing knowledge.

Drawing on Linda Stout's 30 years of experience training organizers, advocates, activists, and coalition groups, Collective Visioning provides a revolutionary guide to collaboration within and across diverse organizations.

“In this rich treasure trove of historical inspiration, contemporary ideas, and future-oriented how-to’s, Valerie Brown has brought together a lifetime of work synthesizing science, participatory processes, and action for sustainability. A seasoned explorer, she moves effortlessly between disciplines as she describes a comprehensive approach to tackling the great challenges of our time—together. Because together is the only way they can be tackled. Read, learn, and act.” - Alan AtKisson, author, Believing Cassandra, and Executive Director, Earth Charter International.

Why can some organizations innovate time and again, while most cannot? You might think the key to innovation is attracting exceptional creative talent. Or making the right investments. Or breaking down organizational silos. All of these things may help—but there’s only one way to ensure sustained innovation: you need to lead it—and with a special kind of leadership. Collective Genius shows you how. Preeminent leadership scholar Linda Hill, along with former Pixar tech wizard Greg Brandeau, MIT researcher Emily Truelove, and Being the Boss coauthor Kent Lineback, found among leaders a widely shared, and mistaken, assumption: that a “good” leader in all other respects would also be an effective leader of innovation. The truth is, leading innovation takes a distinctive kind of leadership, one that unleashes and harnesses the “collective genius” of the people in the organization. Using vivid stories of individual leaders at companies like Volkswagen, Google, eBay, and Pfizer, as well as nonprofits and international government agencies, the authors show how successful leaders of innovation don’t create a vision and try to make innovation happen themselves. Rather, they create and sustain a culture where innovation is allowed to happen again and again—an environment where people are both willing and able to do the hard work that innovative problem solving requires. Collective Genius will not only inspire you; it will give you the concrete, practical guidance you need to build innovation into the fabric of your business.

This book presents a powerful model for using relational trust, cultural humility, and appreciation of diverse perspectives to build learning communities that collectively uplift all students and all members of the learning community.