November 18, 2022

Secrets of Change

Nothing may be more important in this century than learning to manage change. In his book, “Change Agent” Michael Fullan draws from decades of experience in international education reform to reveal his own six secrets on managing change. These “secrets” are not so much great mysteries as deceptively simple truths, which, as Fullan says, are hard to grasp in-depth and extremely difficult to act on in combination. The challenge is to learn them and share them within your organization.

Secret One: Love Your Employees

Explore the importance of building the school by focusing on both the teachers and staff, and students and the community. The key is enabling staff to learn continuously. Evidence will be provided from successful business companies as well as from education. A report from McKinsey & Company focusing on the top-performing school systems in the world provides the central reason why we must value employees (in this case, teachers) as much as customers (children and parents): “The quality of the education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers” (Barber & Mourshed, 2007). Loving your employees means helping them all find meaning, develop their skills, and derive personal satisfaction from making contributions that simultaneously fulfill their own goals and the goals of the organization.

Secret Two: Connect Peers with Purpose

Purposeful peer interaction within the school is crucial. Student learning and achievement increase substantially when teachers work in learning communities supported by school leaders who focus on improvement. What is the optimal role of leadership in an organization? Focus an organization with sharp goals and tight accountability, and you get passive or alienated workers. Go for decentralized creativity, and you get drift and inertia. The key to achieving simultaneously tight-loose organization lies in purposeful peer interaction. In this model, leaders create the conditions for effective interaction and intervene when necessary but otherwise let the group find its own balance. Peer interaction is much more than mere collaboration; it is the social and intellectual glue of an organization.

Secret Three: Capacity Building Prevails

The most effective strategies involve helping teachers and principals develop the instructional and management of change skills necessary for school improvement. The role of assessment for learning is essential in order to link data on learning to instructional practices that achieve student results. Problems get solved when people believe that they will not get punished for taking risks. Bullying is not a good way to motivate people. When it comes to complex tasks, capacity building always trumps judgmentalism. Individuals and groups are high in capacity if they are developing knowledge and skills; if they attract and use resources wisely; and if they are committed to getting important things done collectively and continuously. How do you work  on capacity building? Start by attracting talented people and then help them develop, individually and collectively. In other words, leaders seek people who are not only individually talented but also system talented—that is, they can work within and keep developing cultures of purposeful collaboration.

Secret Four: Learning Is the Work

Professional development in workshops and courses is only an input to continuous learning and precision in teaching. Successful growth itself is accomplished when the culture of the school supports day-to-day learning of teachers engaged in improving what they do in the classroom and school. Organizations must consistently address their core tasks, while at the same time learning to improve what they do. Learning on the job, day after day, is the work. Workshops and courses won’t do the trick. In fact, there is no trick: You can achieve consistency and innovation only through deep and consistent learning in context.

Secret Five: Transparency Rules

The first reason that transparency rules is that it’s going to, whether we like it or not. Easy access to information means that the public’s appetite for accountability cannot be thwarted. The second reason it rules is that transparency is a good thing; in fact, it is essential to success. Yes, we all know that data can be misused. Public reporting of student results can lead to unfair or destructive actions. However, the alternatives—to keep information private or to refuse even to collect it—are neither acceptable nor useful. Effective organizations embrace transparency.

We know that people will cover up problems if the culture punishes them. So one thing we must do is develop cultures in which it is normal to experience problems and solve them as they occur. When data are precise, presented in a nonjudgmental way, considered by peers, and used for improvement as well as for external accountability, they serve to balance pressure and support. Knowing that transparency is both inevitable and desirable for successful organizations makes it far less threatening.

Secret Six: Systems Learn

So how do systems learn? First, they focus on developing many leaders working in concert. A key reason why organizations fail to sustain learning is that they focus on individual leaders. As these leaders come and go, the company engages in episodic ups and downs. Second, systems learn when they are led by people who approach complexity with both humility and faith that effectiveness can be maximized under any circumstances. Leaders must be confident that they have considered all possibilities and have made the right choice under the circumstances, even though something may go wrong. 

The best way to keep these secrets is to share them. If you practice these secrets, you are modeling them for others and developing more leaders who understand and use them. Implementing these strategies and developing new leaders become one and the same. Once you have a culture of leaders at all levels operating in this way, they reinforce each other as they go. By putting the secrets into action, you will inspire effective action from others.

Michael Fullan is a worldwide expert in Whole System Change in Education and the Global Leadership

Kristin Perkowski, Associate Superintendent of Curriculum & Instruction

PerkowskKr@tcaps.net