CHANGE MANAGEMENT

The School Leader as Change Agent

Why Change?
MOST SCHOOLS HAVE BEEN
DESIGNED TO SOLVE YESTERDAY’S
PROBLEMS, RATHER THAN
CAPITALIZING ON TODAY’S
OPPORTUNITIES TO EFFECTIVELY
CONFRONT THE ISSUES OF
TOMORROW
THAT WHICH GOT US WHERE WE ARE
IS NOT VERY LIKELY TO GET US WHERE
WE WANT TO GO!
PEOPLE USUALLY SUPPORT IMPROVEMENT
--IT’S CHANGE THEY DON’T LIKE!
“THERE IS NOTHING PERMANENT
EXCEPT CHANGE”
Barriers to Change
Why do people resist change?
 The status quo provides a certain
comfort zone
 Need for stability

 Need for predictability

 Fear of the unknown

 Others???
Model of Employee Decision to Actively
Resist an Organizational Change Effort
Tools to Facilitate Change

• Managing Complex Change

• Force Field Analysis

• Consensus Building
Management of Complex
Change: Critical Components
 Vision
–Strategic Planning
 Skills
 Incentives
 Resources
 Action Plan
Management of COMPLEX CHANGE

ACTION
VISION + SKILLS + INCENTIVES + RESOURCES + PLAN =CHANGE

ACTION
+ SKILLS + INCENTIVES + RESOURCES + PLAN =CONFUSION

+ ACTION
VISION + + INCENTIVES + RESOURCES PLAN =ANXIETY

ACTION
VISION + SKILLS + + RESOURCES + PLAN =GRADUAL
CHANGE
ACTION
VISION + SKILLS + INCENTIVES + + PLAN =FRUSTRA-
TION
VISION SKILLS INCENTIVES RESOURCES =FALSE
+ + + STARTS
Management of Complex Change
Activity
With a person sitting next to you, go through
the complex change matrix with this
situation:
You are asking every staff member to
incorporate cooperative learning strategies
into their lessons.
Decide what must be done to make sure each
component of the matrix has been addressed.
Force Field Analysis:
Critical Components
 Desired Change
 Driving Forces –Favoring Change
 Restraining Forces –Resisting Change
 Equilibrium or Current Status
 FORCE FIELD ANALYSIS
State Desired Change Here

DRIVING FORCES RESTRAINING FORCES

Forces favoring the change Forces resisting the change

(EQUILIBRIUM OR CURRENT STATUS)
Force Field Analysis
Activity
With a person sitting next to you, work with
the force field analysis using this
situation:
You have decided to ask staff to help you
increase parent involvement at your school.
What are the driving and restraining forces
involved? How can you increase the driving
forces and decrease the restraining
forces?
 How Can Leaders Best
Support the Improvement
Effort?

(From McREL, 2000)

I. Recognize the Differences
Between Leadership &
Management
II. Give Up the Notion of
the “Hero-Leader”
III. Develop Broad-Based
Leadership
IV. Encourage Individual
Initiative
V. Develop a Learning
Organization
VI. Take a Balcony View
Effective School Leaders Must:

 Increase their own knowledge base

 Take risks, break new ground, and cultivate
a climate of experimentation
 Share leadership with competent staff --put
less competent staff “on a short leash”
 Help others to acquire reform-related
knowledge and skills
 Be persistent
 Appreciate incremental change (baby steps)
Overlapping Arenas of Management Expertise
Needed for Change to Take Root & Thrive

 Management of day
to day school issues
 Management of long
term school issues
 Maintenance of
relationships with the
governing body
 Maintenance of
relationships with the
community
Conclusions from a Body of Recent
Research:
 Effective school leaders are those
who are visionary and skillful learners,
as well as strong and competent
partners in facilitating and sustaining
reform
 Conclusion: One can become a notably
successful school leader given any of a
considerable array of gifts and
tendencies.
 It’s what you do with what you have
that really counts!
How Do These Puzzle Pieces Fit
Together to Make a Coherent Whole?
Effective School-wide Leadership
Requires Understanding of…
 The System- context in which you
operate, including school/agency/district
norms, local, state, and federal policies,
and standards of accrediting bodies for
public & private programs
 Yourself- leadership style, preferences
for change, facilitation skills, philosophy
of teaching and learning
 Others- those who serve as “levers” and
those who must make changes
Relational Leadership Model

SYSTEM

OTHERS

SELF
You as a Leader
 Your own orientation to change,
leadership and management styles, and
philosophy of teaching and learning
provide the pathways for determining
how you, as a unique individual, can be
successful
Relationship to Others
 Nearly all studies show that without
buy-in from teachers, change is
“doomed”.

 At the very least, you need a critical

mass of support.
Building Consensus:
What Is Consensus?
 Group decision-making process
 Everyone's opinion is encouraged and valued
 Differences are viewed as helpful rather than
hindering
 All voices are heard and understood before an
effort to finalize a decision is made
 After full discussion, those who continue to
disagree indicate willingness to experiment for
a prescribed period of time
 All members share in final decision-making 
Advantages of Decision-Making by
Consensus
 Can be informal or use formal procedures
 Members are more likely to support the
decision
 Provides for a win-win solution
 Facilitates open communication
 Requires members to listen and understand all
sides of the issue
 Sets the stage for action - who, what, where,
when, how & why
Disadvantages of Decision-Making by
Consensus
 Trust is needed among members of group to
encourage sharing
 Group leaders must use facilitation rather than
control
 Takes more time to reach consensus,
especially in larger groups
 7 magic number for reaching group consensus
 One or two people tend to dominate larger
groups
Steps in Facilitating Consensus
1.   Identify and define problem, situation, or
issue
2.   Brainstorm list of alternatives –suspend
judgment; do not discuss or reject any ideas
3.   Review, change, consolidate, rewrite and set
priorities as a group through discussion
4.   Make a decision and put in writing
5.   Later, review and evaluate results; revise as
needed
Consensus Building:
Activity
As a group, come to consensus in regard to the
following scenario:
Everyone in the group is a teacher at the same
school and each staff member must have 15
clock hours of professional development per
year. All have personal preferences for the
topics of upcoming professional development
workshops.
You must decide as a group what areas you want
further training in and reach consensus on
three topics.
Summary
 To be effective as a change agent,
consider and understand:
• The system or context in which you
work
• Yourself as a leader
• What it takes to motivate and
involve others