Learning as Navigation: A Manifesto for HB3
We live in a world addicted to certainty. Systems demand compliance. Leaders chase metrics. Schools chase “what works.” In a world drowning in noise, we cling to control wherever we can, mistaking certainty for insight. HB3 rejects this world. I believe learning, leadership, and change are about mastering navigation rather than creating more detailed maps.
A philosophy shaped by curiosity
My path to founding HB3 has been circuitous: classrooms, cultural institutions, policy labs, mountains, highways, and oceans. I’ve always been drawn to patterns, connections, and the subtle ways disparate systems interact. That curiosity brought me to the intellectual work of Dr. Michael Fullan and to studying under my dissertation advisor, Dr. Andy Hargreaves, who taught me that meaningful change is relational and that improvement is inseparable from the human context in which it occurs.
It also led me to Stoicism, which provides a compass for action in uncertain conditions; to Polynesian navigation traditions, which teach relational awareness and attentiveness to natural and social currents; and to Buddhism, which emphasizes presence, observation, and the disciplined cultivation of attention. This blend of perspectives fills HB3’s toolbox with approaches to connect with partners, navigate complexity, and foster growth. Each influence shapes HB3’s core perspective: learning, leadership, and growth emerge from connection, awareness, and careful navigation.
Leadership is not control
There’s a pervasive illusion in organizations: that leadership is synonymous with control. It is not. Control is temporary and often superficial: the ability to dictate processes, outputs, or behaviors for a time. Leadership, by contrast, is the sustained practice of influence, discernment, and relational awareness in conditions that can never be fully predicted. True leadership is about moving thoughtfully through complexity, not forcing compliance. You can issue rules, mandates, or policies, but they do not create alignment, commitment, or understanding. Those emerge only when you read the currents of culture and context, anticipate responses, and act with clarity of purpose amid uncertainty.
Control is an illusion. As Marcus Aurelius reminds us, “You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” Leadership emerges not from bending the environment to your will, but from guiding attention, judgment, and action in ways that influence outcomes without coercion. It is the ability to adjust course when reality refuses to bend to your plan, to model composure when the unexpected arises, and to cultivate trust when control is impossible.
Even traditional “metrics of success” are misleading without this perspective: efficiency, compliance, or output can be measured (to some degree), but they say nothing about whether a system is learning, adapting, or sustaining itself over time. Leadership is not about domination; it is about enduring navigation, insight, and relational attunement.
Learning is not a ladder; it is a journey
Education reformers like Fullan remind us that meaningful change emerges from relationships, trust, and collective professionalism, not top-down directives. Hargreaves warns that interventions without relational and cultural grounding are fleeting: initiatives may succeed temporarily, but without attention to context, they fail to endure. Change is not a formula; it is a dynamic, iterative process embedded in human systems.
HB3’s framework embraces this complexity. I train those I guide to navigate ambiguity with intention, resilience, and curiosity. Learning is not a linear progression, a ladder to climb, or a checklist to complete. It is the art of reading the terrain, adjusting to currents, and responding thoughtfully to the human ecosystem around you.
Learning is relational, reflective, and recursive. It requires noticing what patterns exist, what is emerging, and what is resisting change. It asks that we attend simultaneously to individual development and collective dynamics, to what is in our influence and what is beyond it. In this sense, learning is navigation: each challenge is a waypoint, each reflection a course correction, each decision an opportunity to practice discernment. Polynesian navigation traditions show that each current, star, or wave is relational; nothing exists in isolation. Similarly, learning unfolds in the space between individuals, systems, and contexts. Buddhist practices of mindfulness and presence reinforce this: noticing patterns, observing responses without attachment, and cultivating attention sharpen our ability to sense the emerging currents of a situation.
Stoicism and other wisdom traditions remind us that we cannot control outcomes, only our engagement with them. Leadership and learning converge here: mastery does not come from rigid certainty, but from the capacity to act wisely amid unpredictability. HB3 cultivates that capacity through deliberate practice, reflection, and attentiveness to the relational and moral currents that shape every learning journey.
Navigation is relational, not solitary
Traditional maps suggest a solo path: point A to point B, step by step. Real navigation, whether across oceans or within organizations, is relational. Polynesian wayfinders understand va, the relational space between things. Stars, waves, birds, the canoe: they all speak to each other. Success depends on perceiving these relationships and acting in harmony with them. Leadership works the same way: people, culture, and context are currents, not static obstacles. Mastery comes from attuning to these forces rather than imposing direction.
Navigation requires humility. It is the recognition that we cannot control the system, only our engagement with it. Influence is exercised through awareness, responsiveness, and relational intelligence. Trust, dialogue, and alignment are as critical as any plan; rigid enforcement or top-down certainty is a poor substitute for attentiveness to the currents around you.
This relational lens mirrors lessons from education and organizational theory: Fullan emphasizes that deep change emerges from collective professionalism and collaboration, not individual heroics. Hargreaves stresses the moral and emotional dimensions of improvement: relationships are of central importance. Every interaction is a microcosm of the larger system, and navigation is measured not by solitary command, but by how effectively the collective moves forward together.
Practically speaking, relational navigation involves:
Observing patterns in systems and people without immediately trying to control them.
Responding with flexibility, curiosity, and attention to nuance.
Recognizing that influence is distributed: leadership is exercised through alignment and attunement, not coercion.
Leadership and learning converge: the path is never entirely clear, and mastery lies in cultivating relational awareness, resilience, and responsiveness. Navigation is a shared, iterative journey through uncertainty, not a solo endeavor.
Practice as a pathway
HB3 embeds navigation across practice areas, transforming reflection into action:
Leadership Navigation Coaching: Leaders cultivate awareness and agility, learning to move their organizations through uncertainty without fracturing trust.
Culture as Curriculum: Corporate and institutional learning is reframed as a shared journey, where knowledge is co-constructed, not transmitted.
National Cultural Learning Lookup (NCLL): Learners, families, and educators engage with localized, curated cultural experiences in ways that foster curiosity, relational awareness, and thoughtful navigation of the learning landscape.
Each project is structured like a navigational exercise:
Waypoint Reflection: Identify a recent challenge. Where were you reactive? Where did you exercise foresight?
Course Correction: Choose one behavior to test differently next time. Small moves, big impact.
Observation Log: Record patterns in people, processes, and outcomes. Ask: What do these currents tell me about my influence and limitations?
Iteration: Apply lessons immediately. Treat every interaction as a chance to recalibrate.
Navigation is practiced, not theoretical. Each reflection, each adjustment, is a waypoint on the journey toward more deliberate, responsive, and relational leadership.
A manifesto for practice
This manifesto is a refusal. I refuse to treat learning as a factory, leadership as hierarchy, culture as compliance. I refuse the illusion that change can be prescribed. And I refuse to act as if giving instructions leads to understanding.
Instead, HB3 commits to the discipline of navigation:
The courage to act amid uncertainty.
The curiosity to explore complexity.
The humility to learn from every turn of the tide.
Reflective exercises for leaders (Stoic-inspired):
Morning Compass: Begin each day by listing what is within your control and what is not. Focus action only on the former.
Evening Observation: Journal three decisions where your response, not the circumstance, shaped outcomes.
Waypoint Check-ins: Every week, pick one challenge and map it like a navigator—currents, obstacles, opportunities, and relational forces.
To those who wish to control, I offer observation. To those who fear ambiguity, I offer practice. To those who seek maps instead of mastery, I offer a compass: your mind, your judgment, your relationships. Navigate them well.
For those ready to explore the practice of navigation further, reach out to HB3.
