"A cage-buster can't settle for ambiguity, banalities, or imprecision," writes well-known educator and author Rick Hess. "These things provide dark corners where all manners of ineptitude and excuse-making can hide." Hess suggests that leaders need to clearly define the problems they're trying to solve and open themselves up to fresh ways of problem solving--they need to acquire a cage-busting mind-set. Cage-busting requires navigating three self-imposed traps that ensnare so many leaders: the platitudes trap, which is filled with "vapid generalities that foster muddled thinking;" the "sucks less" trap, in which leaders mimic only modestly better performers; and the "more, better" trap, which is filled with system leaders who imagine that improvement is only possible when they have more dollars to spend. A solid problem-solving focus helps leaders continually circle back to six questions that should guide every action they take: Is X important? If so, how well should we be doing when it comes to X? How well are we doing with X? If we're not doing as well as we should, how can we improve X? What's stopping us from improving X? and How do we remove, elude, or blast through the bars stopping us from improving X? Cage-busting helps leaders create schools equal to their aspirations. (Contains 2 endnotes.)