Welcome to this edition of the Co-Lab Brief. In this issue of The Co-Lab Brief, we ask:
How might higher education change if leadership were understood as an act of design?
Further, we raise the question: What if the next generation of higher education leaders thought less like administrators of existing systems and more like designers of future ones?
We believe that higher education is at an inflection point. Institutions are navigating increasing complexity while many of the leadership models they rely on were built for a different era. The challenges have changed. Leadership must change with them.
Over the past decade, the University Design Institute has worked alongside university leaders, policymakers, philanthropists, and innovators across 26 countries. One lesson has become increasingly clear. Lasting institutional transformation does not come from managing complexity alone. It comes from leaders who can frame challenges differently, engage diverse stakeholders, experiment, learn, and create new possibilities.
With this context in mind, UDI is launching the Design Leadership Lab and sharing our Design Leadership Framework with our global audience. Built upon decades of experience transforming leaders within Arizona State University and around the globe, Design Leadership offers a new way of understanding and practicing leadership that builds the capacity to intentionally and continually design universities for greater public value.
The Lab is not simply another new initiative. It brings together UDI's leadership programs and fellowships within a global learning community dedicated to institutional transformation. It builds on years of work with leaders around the world and provides a framework for continuing that work together.
Our goal is to contribute a new way of thinking about leadership in higher education. We believe the future of higher education requires leaders who do more than steward existing systems. It requires leaders who see leadership itself as an act of design.
