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Schools are extremely complex organizations in part because we invest in them our most precious assets - our children. Unlike businesses or commercial enterprises, schools have a multitude of success indicators, some of which are extremely difficult to quantify and may be time delayed by many years.

Simplistic and superficial approaches to improving student learning simply don't work. School improvement isn't a technical challenge; it is an adaptive one. It requires a change not just in behaviors and skills, but in values, beliefs and even identity.

In a results-oriented age, impatient and frustrated school reformers may perceive this approach as a 'soft' option. However, any review of outstanding and improving schools will clearly demonstrate that high quality student learning is tied to school cultures that embrace learning for all. Raising organizational intelligence is all about re-culturing schools.

Reviews of The OIQ Factor

Bill and Ochan have triumphed with this book; they explore and explode some of the myths and faulty assumptions that surround and bedevil our profession while simultaneously offering us a way to look at what educational leadership now and in the future needs to and should, focus upon. --Ian Morris, Head, International School of Havana

I read it from cover to cover with great joy! I shared large sections of the text with our staff and felt that it brought so many ideas together that have been tremendously helpful. Thank the heavens for this work and the authors' commitment to bringing this material to our attention in such accessible ways. Simply fabulous! --Mary-Lyn Campbell, Head, International Community School of Zurich

Whether you are an experienced head or are just starting your career in school administration, you will find chapter after chapter filled with profound analysis, astute advice and case studies that resonate. There is an old Maori saying: 'He aha te mea nui? He tangata. He tangata. He tangata.' It translates as: 'What is the most important thing? It is people, it is people, it is people.' Above all else, this is what Bill and Ochan's book confirms about schools. --David Toze, Head of School, International School of Manila