Introduction
In the 2018 article, “How the Startup Mentality Fails Kids in San Francisco,” the author reports on a new middle school in San Francisco. According to the report, it was “the most expensive new public school in San Francisco history”(para. 3). You have been asked to conduct an analysis of the Willie L. Brown, Jr. Middle School project in order to help the San Francisco Unified School District (and other districts contemplating similar projects) understand the current state, causal factors for the project’s difficulties and implications for moving forward. Your task is to analyze the case using the knowledge, tools, and technique you have learned in your program thus far. Your only source of information about the project is the article. Assume the current state to be the situation as of the date of publication.
Introduce the purpose of the paper and write a brief, high-level descriiption of how the school came into existence. Do not describe the author’s personal interest in the case or details about the school’s problems. You are simply setting the stage by providing context for the analysis. Your goal is for the reader to have enough information for your analysis to make sense (1– 2 paragraphs maximum).
Delete all instructions once you have completed the paper. Do not delete headings.
What’s Going on Here?
Your opening paragraph should be an introduction to the content of this section. This section includes several complementary approaches to understanding the problem(s). Base your analysis on the information in the report and include any assumptions you are making as you complete each of the components of the analysis below.
Performance Gap Analysis
Planning and implementing a project like the Willie L. Brown, Jr. Middle School is a complex undertaking. Using the Gap Analysis Worksheet linked in the assignment, identify two or more performance gaps between the current and the desired or expected state, including one that was still evident at the time the article was written. In addition to the worksheet, provide a brief narrative that describes the gaps.
Systems Analysis
A systems analysis offers another perspective on the case. The system includes different levels, e.g., the school, the district, community. Provide a narrative that illustrates the issue from a systems thinking perspective, including a map. Consider delays in the system that affected performance.
Root Cause Analysis
Review your performance gaps and systems analysis and develop a fishbone diagram of root causes that you glean from the article.
Organizational Analysis
From the author’s interviews, observations, and descriiption of events, develop an analysis of organizational dynamics. Whose vision was it to build the school? Were important voices left out or excluded? The author implies that a “start-up mentality” was part of the reason for the school’s problems. How is a start-up mentality (or mental model) defined, and what does it look like?
Consider also espoused theories and theories-in-use; single- and double-loop learning; defensive routines prompted by fear of failure; accountabilities; and communication issues in your analysis.
Habits of Mind, Heart, and Imagination
Consider the stakeholders in the article and their roles in the project. Use the habits of mind, heart, and imagination framework to illustrate stakeholder thinking habits. What are examples of at least two habits that were practiced – or not practiced – by stakeholders? Explain the specific habits and stakeholder(s) in your examples. (Example: Continuous Learning.)
Analysis
Provide a cogent narrative that synthesizes your work above and describes what’s going on and reasons why. Organize your analysis around themes. While the project experienced many problems, what are the main causes of the ongoing problems at the school? (These would be the causes that, had they been addressed, would have greatly increased the likelihood of fulfilling the vision.)
How did leadership behaviors and mindsets affect organizational performance? Organizational learning?
In this section, think about what you learned that you would convey to the district about the problem.
(Do not include your recommendations or your assessment of what should have been done differently or implications for the future.)
Implications for Practice
Having provided a transparent analysis of the issues, what are the implications for the district in terms of what they could do differently when planning and implementing a future improvement project? Be specific about how the district might need to think differently about improvement projects in the future relative to:
• How people interact and communicate.
• Systems perspectives and analysis.
• Accountability.
What leadership behaviors and mindsets, including habits of mind, would better support organizational learning? Despite the best of intentions, how are people involved in the project part of the problem, and what should they do differently? The author suggests that a start-up mentality was the cause of the school’s problems. Do you agree?
Conclusion
Provide a conclusion that includes three takeaways, that is, the three most important things you learned about change and improvement initiatives that you would share with your own organization or any other organization.
