THE DOGRUN

Friends – Much like in business and higher education, the landscape of leadership and learning is transforming in the K-12 world. Grant Lichtman, a former client, is one of the strongest voices arguing for fundamental changes in how we educate our students. In his most recent blog post, Grant champions that architects have the types of qualities that would create successful school leadership and cites our very own Schools Studio as an example. Enjoy! I have worked with some extraordinary architects, including Greg Papay and Brandi Rickels of the firm Lake/Flato in San Antonio. I learned a great deal from them, particularly when architects “design charrettes” were a relatively unknown forerunner of what now call “design thinking”. In my experience, good architects are good because they:

• Observe and listen.
• Create a vision for the future that meets the needs of the user.
• Work from a large pallet of options, not one cookbook solution.
• Want to build for the long-term.
• Create solutions that work for all members of the team—plumbers, roofers, electricians, landscapers, framers, etc—not just for their own aesthetic sense.
• Are willing to make changes after a first iteration, even if those changes run contrary to their initial ideas.

Read more from Rise of the Architect-Leader in Schools.