Most people seem to settle into the comfortable status quo and are very reluctant to change. In fact some will put far more energy into resisting the change, than it would take to just conform to the new method. Now here is the problem though, change is our ever present reality in this very modern, global, connected, competitive, technological, etc world."Every body remains in a state of rest or uniform motion (constant velocity) unless it is acted upon by an external unbalanced force."
With this in mind, how do we help the change resistant to:
- Understand the system, process, equipment, etc that is in question and how it relates to them?
- Understand the key inputs, efficiencies, productivities, quality, outputs, etc that are in focus?
- Understand what the current state is?
- Understand what the desired future state is?
- Understand the gap that needs to be overcome?
- Understand and sanction that the current state no longer acceptable? In fact the current state could lead to disastrous results...
- Help them to address the normal fear and resistance to change that they are encountering and feeling?
Some of my favorite books on the topic are these fictional light reads. Two of them even have pictures...
- Who Moved My Cheese (Spencer Johnson)
- Who Killed Change? (Ken Blanchard, Britt, Hoekstra, Zigarmi)
- Our Iceberg is Melting (John Kotter, Rathgeber)
During the next couple of days, I'll be posting regarding the topic. I'll likely use Public Education's resistance to change as the topic. Since I got the idea during our discussions regarding, if "starving budgets" was the only way to change the status quo system? However, please join in with any examples you have. (ie kids, family, work, etc) I love hearing Chg Mgmt stories, large and small. (especially techniques that really worked or totally failed)
Change is almost never easy, and it is much worse when the Change Agent is an idiot that just thinks everyone will CONFORM because they are in charge... It is amazing how creative resistant humans can be. Better if the Change Agent involves the folks early and prepares to manage the resistance that is so very natural.
Especially with those strong minded toddlers, tweens and teen agers...
8 comments:
I did it for a lot of years, and it was very simple. I went to those who would be involved and said, I think I can make your life better if we did .... What do you think? Then I would come back with a trial setup, offer to give them as much training as they thought they needed and then ask if that made their lives better. If it didn't, we went back to the drawing board until we did. For example: We wanted to install a computer program for a certain task, but it took 20 minutes to run the program through, while the guy could do it in 10 minutes in his head and rarely made a mistake. When we could do it in 5 minutes, he started using the program and never did it the old way again.
The trick is twofold. First you have to ask, and second, you have to deliver. School boards don't do the first and can't do the second.
J. Ewing
I would say that first we have to identify the key Inputs and Outputs of the system/process. A SIPOC is a tool that we can use to do this.
This will help us to identify the Suppliers and Customers, and their Critical Requirements. With this we can understand where the system is succeeding, where it is deficient and by how much? Otherwise how do we decide what needs to be improved? For who? And what it is worth?
I'll assume the system/process consist of classes, teachers, technology, processes, facilities, etc.
Suppliers include Parents, Tax Payers, Curriculum providers,etc. Some Inputs they provide are students, funding, curriculum, etc.
Customers include Parents, Tax Payers, Colleges, Companies, etc. Some Outputs include educated adults, documentation of student performance, etc.
What other key Suppliers and Customers am I missing? What are they providing into or expecting out of the system?
John,
Did you forget STUDENTS as customers by accident? I believe that LEARNING is a KEY output?
I think learning is what occurs inside of the process, therefore it is not technically an output.
It is kind of like processing tax returns. You do calculations and make assumptions during the process, however the output is a the tax return and the numbers on it. If the calculation and assumption processes deliver consistently high quality, the numbers on the return will likely be correct. If those same processes are effective and productive, then your processing costs will be competive/low.
The student can also be both a Supplier and a Customer. I just picked their Parents to be their representative. Besides I really want to challenge the readers to help with this. (therefore I left a lot of gaps)
With that in mind, what inputs do the Students bring to school? (ie academic level, behavior level, capability, aptitude, etc) The range of these Inputs are what the system needs to be able to handle, and still meet the Output requirements. And what measurable outputs do they want when they leave the process/system 13 years later? (transcript: good grades, transcript: certain classes, good ACT/SAT scores, etc) These are some of our societal measurements of what they learned and how well they learned it.
Another process Output may be annual student satisfaction survey scores...
Anymore?
I was largely talking about replacing existing processes/systems/work methods with something new, generally a new technology. If we're talking about schools, I think we have a different situation. We don't need change management, all we have to do is insist they DO THE JOB they are being paid to do. And if they don't like the pay and can't figure out how to improve output so we CAN pay them more, then they should be free to go someplace that pays better.
All this "study" and (we called it HIPO) analysis is just so much waste of time, a deception to keep us from discovering that they either know how and refuse, or don't know how and should be fired. Really, there are dozens of ways for public schools to do a better job with less money. What is missing is the political will to force that to happen against the entrenched interest of public employees. That is why I keep coming back to the notion of a universal voucher, where EVERY parent gets a voucher and can take it to ANY school. The good public schools will quickly become efficient (working for the amount of the voucher), and poor schools will lose students--i.e. go out of business-- as new private schools spring up to serve this new market. Competition, in other words, is the single best change we can make, and the one tool the public schools will never willingly accept.
The only way "change management" figures into the schools, IMHO, is in forcing them to change-- the opposite of what we would propose if we were talking about a private enterprise with individuals cooperating to advance the corporate quality and profit.
J. Ewing
J,
I thought I talked about this already... Resistance is Futile
HIPO Looks similar but different. I find identifying the Supplier and Customers critical to identifying all the I/O's and critical reqts...
Now maybe this is a waste of time and we will end up with the same answers that you believe are the only answers. Then again... Maybe we will come up with some others ???
And what else do we have to do? I guess we could continue blogging about vouchers being the only solution and hope for some monumental and unrealistic change...
This seems more productive and useful to me, so play along for awhile...
I believe that discussing these issues is good, but "WE" also need to put action to "OUR" words. Therefore, below is a "PLUG" for an up coming meeting.
Hello Everyone,
Before the holiday season gets going, I want to get our group back together after the election. We need to get started on the 2011 agenda and planning.
The meeting is at the Fieldhouse Sports Tavern, 5632 West Broadway Avenue, Crystal, MN 55428-3510, (763) 533-3400, http://www.fieldhousetavern.com/
Meeting will be from 6:30 - 8:30 pm on Tuesday, November 16, 2010.
The topics to cover include;
* the possible formation of a Legislative Committee of citizens to promote eduction policy changes & improvements at the MN Legislative. I envision this group coming from the whole metro area and covering multiple school districts.
* Planning on organization structure long-term and funding needs.
* Local races - Openings in 2011 or 2012 in City, Park District or County.
* Other items from attendees.
Please RSVP me back at rkstoffel@cfaith.com (by Monday night 11/15/2010), so I can give a estimated number of people to the Fieldhouse. Everyone is welcome and guests that you think would be interested in our group.
Check out our blog at https://communitysolutionsmn.wordpress.com/
Best Regards,
Ron Stoffel, Executive Director
OK, I'll play along. How do any of the tools of effective change management apply to the problem of changing public education? Since they are established by law, have an effective monopoly and the power to tax, control the flow of information about their costs and quality, and for decades have refused all entreaties, blandishments, obvious necessities and threats, I would be surprised if there was any solution at all. That I suggest there may be one in universal vouchers, as difficult and radical as that may be, ought to be a relief, not a concern that I believe it the "only" solution.
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