Where you stumble and fall,
there you will find the gold.

I've used this old proverb from the Far East in a previous blog, and I'm repeating it now because more and more it applies so significantly to today's economy and to the governance of all organizations, especially our schools. We have stumbled and fallen, but the gold is right there at our feet. Thus, this blog is a reminder that it's time to turn to collaboration, now.

As organizations try to stay afloat through some painful cost cutting measures, they are missing the golden opportunity of Open Book Management that includes collaborative stewardship and collaborative budgeting. Organizations that have long practiced doing this are faring far better than the bureaucratic, top-down managed organizations.Collaborative approaches to fiscal issues help to expose the kind of wastes that impacts on the entire organization and that are hidden from management's perspective. Those who want to know more about this see Chapter 5, "Open Book Management," in the free e-book, CRISIS IN SCHOOL MANAGEMENT (go to my home page above). Administrators, you can be highly effective leaders by becoming fully transparent about the economics and budgets of your schools or organizations. And all other stakeholders, demand that this transparency be done. Amazingly positive things can happen when organizations use collaborative democracy.