journal of public affairs education - NASPAA *The Global Standard ...

Operation PSA: The Action Learning of Curiosity and CreativityCohen and Tichy (1998) discuss the ability to do something and do it well, andthe ability to articulate how to do it, as two very different skills. The very basis oftheir article is in the phrase “but until you can articulate your knowledge toothers, you won’t succeed as a leader” (Cohen & Tichy, 1998, para. 3).Similarly, previous investigations into the state of turmoil in higher educationhave determined that only 31 percent of graduates are able to complete the basiccommunicative tasks of effective leadership (i.e., the ability to discern and shareinferences across multiple audiences) (Boyer, 1990; Griffin & Kaleba, 2006;Kingsbury, 2007). In order to reverse this negative trend, Operation PSA positedthat one path to leadership could be gained through the incorporation of creativeassignments and challenges within the classroom environment. Rather than beinga place for rote memorization, higher education should be a venue that encouragesand facilitates action learning. As Sternberg and Luppart (1991) suggest, there is adifference between knowledge and usable knowledge. What this means is thatstudents can be taught, but can they apply what they know? It is evident thatcollege graduates struggle with critical thinking skills (Bok, 2006; Casner-Lotto &Barrington, 2006). The focus then, in order to facilitate learning, is to commandan environment where innovation is fostered and rewarded.Through the “Speak Truth to Power” campaign and NASPAA’s promotion ofthe PSA format in making public policy tangible for students and theirstakeholders, Operation PSA was stimulated by a desire to determine how PSAscould be used as action-learning tools that could make administrative leadershipcome alive. The project was further refined by a fundamental concern abouthow communication could be employed as a means to coalesce ever-changingviews of public administration, in a fast, succinct Web-based environment,while extending the boundary-spanning capabilities of its users.For example, two PSAs — discussed in greater detail later in this article —were developed to document (a) the branding and creativity employed within anintroductory undergraduate course in public administration, and (b) the energythat transpired between attendees of the 2008 Annual Teaching PublicAdministration Conference (TPAC). In the former case, the PSA elicitedexamples from students of how they have undertaken and realized their owngrowth in administrative leadership (Kimoto, Frasco, Juta, & Mulder, 2008a;see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyeqrPBKti4). The latter PSA projectrevealed the fluidity of how conference participants blended their individualgoals for the conference with organizational resources for identifying TPAC as amarket leader within its field (Kimoto, Frasco, Juta, & Mulder, 2008c; seehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ugf9nzZcxko).The goal of the article is to stimulate the reader’s determination to utilize actionlearning in general, and PSAs in particular, as an inventive format for acquiringthe marketing, analytical, and technological competencies necessary to becoming aleader. The article begins with a clarification of the role that action learning playsJournal of Public Affairs Education 363