Millersville University Matthew J.

Monahan
EDLD 610 October 8, 2014

Reflection 3- How Integrative Thinking Fits in Education

The practice of education necessitates an endless decision-making process. From the

individual classroom to the United States Department of Education, challenges arise and

educators must seek effective solutions. Educational issues have a long reach. The decisions

that educators make affect students, parents, teachers and community members. Therefore, it is

vital that educators strive to find the best possible solutions to problems. A situation may require

educators to consider ideas that seem to be in conflict. In The Opposable Mind, Roger Martin

suggests seeking solutions through integrative thinking, “…the capacity to hold two

diametrically opposed ideas…to produce a synthesis that is superior to either opposing idea.” 1

Martin contends that integrative thinking can achieve creative and satisfying results by keeping

the problem in the forefront of one’s mind, digging into the problem’s complexity, and refusing

to accept compromise solutions. Integrative thinking fits into education because, within this

endless decision-making process new challenges constantly present themselves. In many cases,

new solutions must be invented. Martin’s concept provides a useful framework for inventing

creative solutions that best serve those affected by the decisions that educators make.

Martin’s work juxtaposes integrative thinking with conventional thinking. Conventional

thinking can produce solutions however, their effectiveness may be limited. Conventional

thinking may also cause people to make undesirable compromises.2 People fall into two traps.

1
Roger L. Martin, The Opposable Mind: How Successful Leaders Win Through Integrative Thinking
(Massachusetts: Harvard Business School Press, 2007) 6.
2
Ibid., 48. “Integrative thinking produces possibilities, solutions, and new ideas. It creates a sense of limitless
possibility. Conventional thinking hides potential solutions in places they can’t be found and fosters the illusion that
no creative solution is possible.”

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The first is to believe that the only solutions lie in existing models. The second is to insist that

only one model is correct, making opposing models seem threatening to one’s position.

Roger Fisher and William Ury also advise against “positional bargaining”3 It is easy for

people involved in a decision to succumb to the temptation of choosing a solution and defending

it. “Our first impulse is to determine which one [model] represents reality and which one is

unreal and wrong, and then we campaign against the idea we reject.”4 This line of defensive

thinking is problematic because the focus can shift to defending one’s own established opinion,

rather than finding the best possible solution. Also dangerous is the assertion that the only

acceptable solution already exists, precluding the possibility that the solution may be a

combination of existing models or something not yet invented. Mary Parker Follett would seem

to agree, arguing for, “…getting the desires of each side into one field of vision where they could

be viewed together and compared.”5 Integrative thinking fits in education because, as problem

solvers, educators should avoid pre-established positions and work together toward creating the

best possible answers to problems.

Martin sees integrative thinkers as uncompromising problem solvers. They concern

themselves with what is best rather than focusing solely on precedent, ease of implementation or

given models. He argues, “When you refuse to take your thinking for granted, you give yourself

the best opportunity to enhance and utilize your opposable mind to its fullest.”6 In Martin’s view

a key difference between the integrative thinkers that he interviewed and conventional thinkers is

the refusal of the former to accept the limitations of what most people would consider reality.7

3
Roger Fisher and William Ury, Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In (New York: Penguin
Books, 2011), 3-11.
4
Martin, 55.
5
Mary Parker Follett, Prophet of Management: A Celebration of Writings From the 1920s, ed. Pauline Graham
(Washington, D.C.: Beard Books), 76.
6
Martin, 191.
7
Ibid., 123. “…reality isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Very little in life should be viewed as incontrovertibly real.”

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Perhaps the hallmark of a conversation with an integrative thinker would be two recurring

questions: “why?” and “why not?” As Follett considered conflict simply as difference with

which to struggle and overcome, Martin suggests that, “…the integrative thinker will always

search for creative resolution of tensions, rather than accept unpleasant tradeoffs.”8 It seems

unlikely that Follett or Martin would believe in the existence of a perfect solution. But, leaders

can use integrative thinking to achieve the goal of inventing creative solutions that meet the

needs of all interested parties.9

Martin explicitly laments the Western model of education. He borrows from Craig

Wynett’s ideas about “factory settings…[the] preset of the human mind is a tendency to assume

that our models of reality are…reality.”10 That tendency diminishes the ability of many to use

our opposable mind for integrative thinking. Martin’s criticism of Western education hinges on

its “emphasis on finding a single right answer.”11 If educators, particularly educational leaders,

hold a vision of education that embraces integrative thinking, instruction and assessment should

encourage creative problem solving to produce any number of effective solutions based on

multiple models.

One of the major thrusts in the Central York School District is customization. Our

district leadership champions a vision that education should be relevant and meet the needs of

our students.12 To support this vision our district has implemented several initiatives to

customize learning for students. For example, the High School schedule includes a “Flex”

8
Ibid., 43.
9
Ibid., 157. “Assertive inquiry’s intent isn’t argumentative, and its method isn’t to ask leading questions…or
discourage challenge…Assertive inquiry involves a sincere search for another’s views…tries to fill gaps of
understanding…seeks common ground between conflicting models…”
10
Ibid., 49-50. Wynett was the head of corporate and new ventures at Proctor & Gamble at the time of publication.
11
Ibid., 126.
12
cysd.k12.pa.org http://www.cysd.k12.pa.us/education/school/school.php?sectiondetailid=23860&linkid=nav-
menu-container-1-185448 “The mission of Central York School District is to provide educational opportunities
through which ALL students strive to achieve their full potential.”

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period at the end of each day during which students choose an activity in which to participate. If

students need to meet with a teacher, or vise versa, Flex provides an opportunity for that

interaction. Students may also choose to join an academic or social club. Flex provides those

opportunities as well.

Efforts to customize learning have also led to conversations within the Central York

School District, specifically in the High School, about offering seminar classes during the Flex

period. Building leaders expressed a desire to have teacher input regarding what seminar classes

would be, and how they would function. I voluntarily attended the seminar planning meetings

and participated in the conversations that formed the program. From my observation and

participation it seems to me as though our conversations involved a significant level of

integrative thinking because we were tasked with creating an academic model which did not yet

exist at our school. I did not sense that our building leaders entered these meetings with a

preconceived model of how the seminars should work. The result is surely not perfect, but the

opinions of all participants were heard and considered before finalizing the program. I feel

strongly enough about the value of the program to have volunteered to teach a seminar on the

Roman Empire during Flex in the second semester this year. The prospect of teaching this

seminar is salient to me because it will satisfy my intellectual desire to teach content of my

choice, outside of my assignment, to students who choose to participate in the course.

The Central York School district is also considering I ways in which students may be

able to take more than eight credits throughout the course of a school year. Again, I voluntarily

participated in this conversation. By seeking input in these processes through voluntary

conversations among several interested parties I believe that our school building leaders made

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concerted efforts to use integrative thinking through what Martin may call a “renaissance team”

of administrators, teachers and guidance counselors.13

An omission from our team that may have hindered truly integrative thinking, pointed out

by colleagues afterward, is that there were no student representatives involved in the seminar or

eight-plus credit conversations. Student input would have broadened the salience of our

conversation by offering perspective from those whom these customized programs have been

designed to serve.

Integrative thinking fits in education because as we attempt to make school rigorous and

relevant for students, and intellectually and emotionally fulfilling for teachers, we are appealing

to salience. Through integrative thinking school leaders, teachers and students can take an active

role in the educational process. Students can participate in learning that will develop their

integrative thinking skills by encouraging collaborative problem solving rather than the pursuit

of the one right answer. As the world becomes more interconnected and people have access to

an unprecedented amount of information and opinions it will be increasingly important for

educators to help students develop our opposable minds.

13
Martin, 82.