Blog, News, Video & Podcasts

Great Educators Deserve Better Than Watching Their Work Disappear

A Conversation with Dorothea Williams, Chief Academic Officer CFP Innovation

Every district she entered had the same thing in common — deeply committed educators who were working hard and still not getting the results they deserved.

Dorothea Williams has spent 40+ years inside K-12 education. She’s walked into low-performing schools where teachers were exhausted, leaders were overwhelmed, and communities had quietly stopped believing. And she helped turn them around. Not once. Many times. Across dozens of districts.

But something kept happening after she left.

The progress would fade. The momentum would stall. And eventually, the call would come — “Can you come back? We need help again.”

Same district. Same challenges. Not because the people failed — but because no one had built the infrastructure for the success to sustain itself.

That pattern is what brought Dorothea and me together. Because I’d witnessed the same cycle in industries outside of education. Talented, committed people solving real problems, with results that quietly unraveled once the initiative ended or the leader moved on.

The question we kept returning to was simple: What would it take to make the gains permanent?

That question became the foundation of the LEGACY Sustainable Success FrameworkTM — and Dorothea’s decision to bring her life’s work into that collaboration is a story worth hearing.


Dr. Dorothea Williams is Chief Academic Officer of CFP Innovation and founder of A2Z Educational Consultants, with 20+ years of district-level leadership experience across 20+ K-12 districts.


Have you seen this pattern in your district or organization? Progress that didn’t hold — not because people stopped caring, but because the system wasn’t built to sustain it? We want to transform the public school districts in the US. Contact us and let’s talk about how we can help you create a generationally successful academic powerhouse in your community. Let’s create your LEGACY District send an email to info@CFPInnovation.com

News

Agile Sprint Video Series

We are developing a series of videos on the importance of organizations making the cultural and operational transition to embracing agility.  Our view is agility is the critical competitive advantage needed for sustained success.  You can find the links to all of the series here.

Agile Sprint Series: INTRODUCTION

The New Role for Leadership: LEADERSHIP

 

News

Publication: 2019 Technology in Industry Report by Automation Alley

Do you know about the 4th Industrial Revolution?

Do you understand how it will impact businesses and our daily lives?

How about the challenges of developing, recruiting and retaining the best possible people to leverage the new technologies?  

All these questions and more are address in this report.  CFP colleagues, David Pistrui, Ph.D. Chief Researcher and Academic Liaison and Darrell Kleinke, Ph.D. Associate Researcher are key drivers of the information and insights in Automation Alley’s report.  Stop, download and read the report.

We are thought leaders in Industry 4.0, organizational agility and developing talent to meet the challenges of the future.

Click Here to Continue to download.

News, Publications

Publication: Industry 4.0: A Roadmap For Michigan’s Global Leadership

What are the best strategies for Michigan to leverage its unique capabilities to capitalize on the dramatic disruption related to the technological change of the 4th Industrial Revolution?  CFP colleagues, David Pistrui, Ph.D. and Darrell Kleinke, Ph.D., collaborated with Automation Alley, The Michigan Economic Development Corporation and the World Economic Forum to take a deep dive into the opportunities for Michigan. Continue reading

Blog, News

Blog: What happens if your organization DOES NOT become more agile?

November 1, 2018

To answer the question, let’s first discuss what it means for an organization to be agile.  An agile organization proactively seek opportunities to identify and apply new ideas that improve organizational effectiveness. It also has a cultural mindset that values and encourages learning, collaboration and shared ownership of the vision, mission, and purpose of the organization.  Continue reading

Blog, News

Blog: SEARS- The Agile Organization From Another Era Files Bankruptcy

October 15, 2018

Last night Sears filed for Chapter XI bankruptcy. Started in 1886 by Richard Sears as R.W. Sears Watch Company, it transformed retailing. Sears developed an innovative distribution delivery system and mail order catalog that offered virtually any product, to anyone, anywhere in the United States. They accomplished this feat by leveraging the US Postal Service’s Rural Free Delivery program that connected the most remote parts of the US. Sears recognized the opportunity to re-imagine retailing as a national versus a local business. In many ways, they started out like the Amazon of its day and then followed with retail stores across the country to become the Walmart as well. Continue reading

News, Video & Podcasts

Video: Will Your Family Business Stay in the Family Business

Family businesses are the lifeblood of the local and global economy yet there are challenges in keeping these businesses in the family.  This is the # video in the series of family and closely-held businesses. Continue reading

News, Video & Podcasts

Video: The Family & The Family Business

In this second video on family and closely-held businesses we discuss the 3 systems of a family business (family system, business system, ownership system) and the challenges of balancing those systems. Continue reading

News, Video & Podcasts

Video: The Family Business Challenge

In this video we breakdown with a Venn diagram the unique elements of the family business system. Continue reading