Cover design by Mark Harper

Guest Speaker/Facilitator – Dr. Gene Deszca
Gene is a professor of Business Administration, former MBA Director and currently associate MBA
Director in the school of Business and Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University. He has played a variety of leadership roles at Laurier including the development and launch of the full time, one year
MBA program, the executive MBA program and the undergraduate international concentration. He currently teaches fourth year undergraduate, MBA and executive courses in Organizational
Behaviour and Leading Organizational Change, Integrated Strategic Thinking and International
Business. Gene is the author or co-author of over 100 journal, conference publications/presentations, books, monographs, cases and technical papers including co-authoring the book, Organizational Change , An Action-Oriented Toolkit , that supports much of the thinking reflected in this Summer Institute. He is an active case writer and his current research focuses on organizational change and the development of high performance enterprises.

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#SUMMERINSTITUTE15
#CHANGELEADERSLEARN
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Theme: Change Leaders Learn
August 25, 2015 (Day 1)
9:00 Mary Jean Gallagher, Assistant Deputy Minister
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Why the focus on leadership and learning for change and why now?
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Summer Institute Goals
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Twitter
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Agenda
9:15 John Malloy, Assistant Deputy Minister
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Leadership for Learning
Gene Deszca, Associate MBA Director, Wilfred Laurier University
9:30 Evolving with the Changing Times
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Context of the Organization – political, economic, social, technological and ecological/environment influences
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Task #1 – On what change do you want to focus during this summer institute?
10:15 Change Leader Organizational Analysis
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Task #2 – Nadler and Tushman’s Congruence Model
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Task #3 – Rate your System’s Readiness to Change
12:00 George Zegarac, Deputy Minister
12:15 Lunch
1:00 Need for Change and Vision for Change
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Task # 4 – Create an Elevator Pitch and Tweet the key ideas
2:10 Navigating the Organization
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Task # 5 – Force Field Analysis
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Task # 6 – Stakeholder Analysis
Leo Buscaglia
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Theme: Change Leaders Learn
August 26, 2015 (Day 2 )
8:30 Day 1 Reflections
9:00 – 12:00 Breakouts
Participants
Supervisory Officers
Principals, Vice
Principals and
Program Staff
Facilitator
Steven Katz
Theme
Supervisory Officer school visits that make a difference on the instructional
Leadership capacity of
Principals
Gene Deszca Nurturing a Learning Culture in Your School
Location
Harbour A and B
Metropolitan
Grand Ballroom
Agenda for Principals, Vice Principals and Program Staff:
9:00 Building Trust and Influencing Change
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How Leaders Develop Relational Trust
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Influencing Strategies
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Task # 7 – Influence Tactics
10:00 Building Support for Change
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Identifying innovators, early majority, late majority, late adopters, nonadopters
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Using the change continuum
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How to manage/minimize cynicism about change
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Task # 8 – Based on stakeholder predisposition to change and where they are on the change continuum, what influence tactics might be used to move them along the continuum?
10:45 Communication and Engagement Plan
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Task # 9
– Communicating for Change
11:45
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Change Competencies
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Rules of Thumb for Change Agents
12:00 Lunch
12:45 Turning School and Board Plans to Action
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Action / Implementation Tools
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Task # 10 - Complete Action/Implementation Tool Chart
2:15 Consolidation
– Mary Jean Gallagher and John Malloy
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Breakout Rooms
HARBOUR
BALLROOM
C B A
METROPOLITIAN GRAND
BALLROOM (second level)
Breakout Rooms
BAY
QUEEN’S QUAY 2
QUEEN’S QUAY 1
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Examples of Changes:
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Reducing the within school variability on learning; the 2009 PISA results for reading across all
OECD countries shows that the variability between schools is 36% while the variance within schools is 64%. (For Canada, it is 20% and 80%.)
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Implementing and monitoring the key approach in our Math strategy
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Balancing the autonomy of schools with the need for consistency centrally
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Integrating well-being with the effort to improve achievement
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Improving instruction so that all students pass the OSSLT
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Scaling up pockets of success with inquiry/innovation
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Deepen leadership capacity throughout the organization
– building professional capital
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Changing structures in our board to better meet student needs
On what change do you want to focus during this summer institute? (30 Minutes)
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
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The following breakout rooms are available for these boards:
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Toronto District School Board
– Queens Quay 1
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Durham District School Board - Queens Quay 2
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York Region District School Board – Bay
Bryk et al.
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This working session is designed to give participants two different lenses with which to look at their school districts’ readiness for change. When an organization is open to change it is also ready to take difficult steps to deal with problems of practice and perceived problems.
Transforming culture and enabling the conditions that foster change require an understanding of the impact of cultural artifacts on the desired change.
Special Instructions: The following school boards may wish to use a breakout room:
School Board
York Region District School Board
Toronto District School Board
Harbour A
Harbour B
Breakout Room
Durham District School Board
Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic District School Board
Conseil scolaire catholique Franco-Nord
Harbour C
Queens Quay 1
Queens Quay 2
Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board Bay
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As a group apply your selected change initiative to Nadler and Tushman’s Organizational
Congruence Model (page 7). This model, among other purposes, allows for input from various perspectives
– valuing voice. It also frames thinking around the influence of environmental factors which tend to drive interest and can propel transformational processes. It highlights the o rganization’s need to find congruence among all elements.
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While working through the model, consider the following: o Where are the areas of alignment and/or misalignment? What are the implications? o What needs to happen to improve the alignment thereby increasing the prospects for the desired change? o Does your school district need to consider an organizational/structural change to shift systemic “silo” thinking? Is silo thinking a barrier to moving forward? o Has your organization undergone a recent re-structuring where knowledge and skills of new people filling jobs needs to be developed? What is the plan? o Has your district undergone recent downsizing where people have been re-assigned to new jobs? How might this affect the change process? How can this be addressed while moving the change initiative forward? o Culture acts as a control system in that it defines acceptable and unacceptable behaviours, attitudes and values and will vary in strength and impact depending upon how deeply held and clearly understood the culture is. Is there a deeply held and clearly understood culture in your board? What is it and how might it affect change processes? o Does the organization effectively use the influence of key individuals and groups to move change initiatives forward? o How is your organization differentiating professional development for all staff?
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Please allow enough time to review task three which can be found on page 9.
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Input
Environment
Resources
History/
Culture
Strategy
Work
Transformation
Process
Organization
(i.e. culture)
Informal
People
Formal
Organization
(structures/ systems)
Output
System
School
Individual
(Adapted from Organizational Change, by Tupper F. Cawsey, Gene Deszca and Cynthia Ingols, (2016))
A congruence model developed by Nadler and Tushman, is a framework to help change leaders analyse their organization and consider, at a high level, some factors that may not be accounted for in the BIPSA and which may have an influence on the ability to effectively implement change.
Nadler and Tushman’s Congruence Model framework helps practitioners in three ways:
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It provides a template to assist in an organizational analysis;
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It gives one way of thinking about the nature of the change process;
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It emphasizes that for organizations to be effective, a good fit among all elements in the process is required.
Components of the Congruence Model:
Input
For change leaders, an ability to analyze the organization’s external environment and see implications for action in the organization is a central change skill.
In thinking about what to change, all inputs may be sources of opportunity and constraint.
The inputs that are often not explicitly considered but which can influence the ability of an organization to bring about change include:
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History – the choices of an organization as to how they have positioned themselves, how they operate and what they want to do (contributes to the mission, culture, strategy and approaches).
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Resources
– the decisions about how they access, develop or deploy resources.
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External environment
– political, economic, social, technological and ecological factors that influence what and how a District School Board operates.
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Strategy
For change leaders, the change strategy is a critical focus of their analysis. What are the purposes and objectives of the planned change in the context of the organizational strategy? Is it of the finetuning variety, to better align resources with the strategy, remove an obstacle and more efficiently deliver desired results, or does the change involve something more substantial, including changes to the strategy itself?
Work of the Organization
In change situations, change leaders should think through the necessary shifts in key tasks in order to carry out the change initiative. This will assist in developing a specific gap analysis and change plan.
Formal Organization
Change leaders ne ed to understand how the formal systems and structures influence people’s behaviours and how structures can be used to facilitate change.
Informal Organization
Change leaders need to make explicit the oftentimes implicit norms and behaviours of individuals and groups. Identifying the currently useful and dysfunctional norms and dynamics is a critical change leader activity.
People
Change leaders need to understand the impact of proposed changes on the district’s staff. They also need to identify key leaders in the organization who can facilitate the needed changes.
Outputs
Change leaders need to recognize that
“what gets measured is what gets done.” They need to select key measures that will track the change process.
Other Considerations in the Congruence Model:
Fit
Understanding the influence and fit between and among the work, the people, the formal organization and the informal organization is crucial in bringing about coherence and effective change.
Effectiveness
Systems with good fit are more effective than those with poor fit. In a typical scenario, changes in the environment require leaders to rethink the organization’s strategy. This results in changes in key tasks and how leaders structure the district to do those tasks. In developing a strategy and refining systems and structures, leaders need to be aware of and understand the influence of key individuals and groups.
Board and School Improvement Plans
The Board Improvement Plan for Student Achievement serves as an action plan to bring about change in educator practice in order to improve learning and well-being for all students and support the ministry’s four key priorities (Achieving Excellence, Ensuring Equity, Promoting Well-Being, and
Enhancing Public Confidence). School Improvement Plans focus on specific, strategic needs and approaches to change practice at each school site.
Improvement Planning Assessment Tool (IPAT)
The K-12 Improvement Planning Assessment Tool is a tool to assist in developing board and school improvement plans. It provides questions to help guide a precise and focused approach to ongoing planning.
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Individually or as a group review the Rate Your Organization’s Readiness for Change chart that follows these instructions.
This chart contains a readiness-for-change questionnaire. It is an example of one tool that provides a method for helping change leaders assess their organization’s readiness for change. For the purpose of the summer institute, it is designed to be applied from a system perspective. The questions are designed to provoke consideration of what might be promoting and or inhibiting change readiness allowing change agents to enhance the readiness of their district or individual school – this is a change task in and of itself.
Judge and Douglas were interested in calibrating an organization’s readiness for change and utilized a rigorous approach to identify eight dimensions related to readiness:
1. Trustworthy leadership
2. Trusting followers
3. Capable champions
4. Involved mid-level leaders
5. Innovative culture supported
6. Accountable culture
7. Effective communications
8. Systems thinking
Instructions for scoring: Using the change initiative or process that your group selected earlier in the day, discuss the questions in the following chart. If your response is “yes”, apply the corresponding score (+1, -1, etc.). If your res ponse is “no”, apply a score of “0”.
Readiness Score: If a district scores below a rating of 10, it is not likely ready for sustained change and the change will be difficult. The higher the score, the more ready the organization is for change.
Use the scores to focus attention on areas that need strengthening in order to improve the readiness.
Previous Change Experiences
Readiness Dimensions
1. Has the district had generally positive experiences with change?
2. Has the district had recent experiences where the change initiative was not sustainable?
3. What is the mood of the district: negative and cynical?
4. What is the mood of the district: upbeat and positive?
Readiness Score
If yes, score +1
If yes, score -1
Score -2
Score +1
Score -1 5. Does the district appear to be resting on its laurels?
Senior Leadership Team Involvement/Support
Readiness Dimensions
6. Do all staff view the senior staff team as supporting/sponsoring the change?
7.
Is there a clear picture of the future?
8. Has the leadership team ever demonstrated a lack of support during prior change initiatives?
Readiness Score
Score +2
Score +1
Score -1
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Credible Leadership and Change Champions
Readiness Dimensions
9. Is there a level of trust between senior leadership teams and staff?
10. Are senior leadership teams able to credibly show others how to achieve their collective goals?
11. Are senior leadership teams able to credibly work with and learn with others to achieve the collective goals?
12. Is the district able to attract and retain capable and respected change champions?
13. Are senior leaders likely to view the proposed change as generally appropriate for the district?
Openness to Change
Readiness Dimensions
14. Does the district have scanning mechanisms to monitor the environment?
15. Is there a culture of scanning and paying attention to those scans?
16. Does the district have the ability to focus on root causes and recognize interdependencies both inside and outside the district?
17. Does “turf” protection exist in the district?
18. Are senior leaders locked into the use of past strategies, approaches and solutions?
19. Are employees able to constructively voice their concerns or support?
20. Is conflict dealt with openly with a focus on resolution?
21. Is conflict suppressed and smoothed over?
22. Does the district have a culture that is innovative and encourages innovative activities?
23. Does the district have communication channels that work effectively in all directions?
24. Will the proposed change be viewed as generally appropriate?
25. Do staff who will be affected believe they have the energy needed to undertake the change?
26. Do staff who will be affected believe there will be access to sufficient resources to support the change?
Rewards for Change
Readiness Dimensions
27. Is innovative thinking acknowledged and valued throughout all staff groups within the district?
Score +1
Score +1
Score +1
Score +2
Score +2
Score +1
Score +1
Score +1
Score -1
Score -1
Score +1
Score +1
Score -1
Score +1
Score +1
Score +2
Score +2
Score +2
Score +1
28. Do short term results become the primary focus more often than long term results?
29. Are people censured for attempting change and failing?
Measures for Change and Accountability
Score -1
Score -1
Readiness Dimensions
30. Are there valuable measures/processes available for assessing the need for change and tracking progress?
31. Does the district attend to all the data that it collects?
Score +1
Score +1
32. Does the district measure/analyze student, parent and community feedback?
33. Is the district able to carefully steward resources and successfully meet
Score +1
Score +1 predetermined deadlines?
Source: Adapted from Stewart “Rate Your Readiness to Change” scale, Fortune, Feb. 7, 1994, Holt, D. “Readiness for Change: The
Development of a Scale, Organization “Development Abstracts, Academy of Management Proceedings, 2002 and Judge, W. Douglas
T., “Organizational Change Capacity: The Systematic Development of a Scale,” Journal of Organizational Change Management, v22, #6, 20
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– Albert Einstein
(p. 97 Organizational Change)
Ratan Tata’s 2003 Vision to his engineering team:
Create a $2,000
“people’s car.”
It has to be safe, affordable, all weather transportation for a family. It should adhere to regulatory requirements, and achieve performance targets such as fuel efficiency and acceleration.
The result of this vision is the Tata Nano.
It gets 50 miles to the gallon, and seats up to five.
And at $2,500 before taxes it is the most inexpensive car in the world.
In March 2012, Mr. Tata stated that the original vision for the Nano had been achieved, and that the vision had now shifted to further upgrading and refinement of the product. (p.131, Organizational Change)
Good change visions are:
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Clear, concise, easily understandable
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Memorable
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Exciting and inspiring
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Challenging
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Excellence – centred
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Stable but flexible
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Implementable and tangible
Why do change visions fail?
 Senior leaders walk doesn’t match the talk
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Ignores needs of those putting it into practice
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Unrealistic expectations develop that can’t be met
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Lacks grounding in the reality of the present
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Either too abstract or too concrete
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Lack of creative input
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Poor management of participation
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Complacency – no sense of urgency
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Existing mental models and past success
Simons et al. 1998
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(35 min.)
(15 min.)
Three Benefits in having the “right”
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1. It forces you to achieve clarity on
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The force field analysis identifies the forces for and against change.
In situations that are stable or in equilibrium, the forces for change (driving forces) and the forces opposing change (restraining forces) are balanced. Examples of forces that may be either forces for or forces against change:
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Data which puts pressure on staff to improve performance
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Access to special incentives – funds to pilot an initiative
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Vision of a champion
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Work group norms
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Cultural norms
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Changes seen as threats to individuals
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Informal leadership patterns
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Employee morale
To create change, the balance must be upset by adding new pressures for change; increasing the strength of some or all of the pressures for change; reducing or eliminating the pressures against change; or converting a restraining force into a driving force.
-In relation to the change on which you are focusing complete a force field analysis. Use these questions as a guide. List the driving forces and the restraining forces for your change on the chart below.
• What are the forces for change? How strong and committed are these forces (Who will let it happen; who will help it happen; who will make it happen)?
• How could these forces be augmented or increased? What forces could be added to those that exist?
• What are the forces that oppose change?
• How could these forces be weakened or removed? What things might create major resentment in these forces?
• Can you identify any points of leverage you could employ to advance the change?
Driving Forces Restraining Forces
.
Byrk et al
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The purpose of stakeholder analysis is to develop a clear understanding of the key individuals/groups who can influence the outcome of a change and thus be in a better position to appreciate their positions and recognize how best to manage them and the context.
- As you review the following questions, consolidate your thinking on the following chart.
1.
Who are the key stakeholders in this change effort?
Which departments or groups will be impacted by the change?
How will they likely react, and who leads and has influence in those groups and departments?
Who has to change their behavior or act differently for the change to be successful?
2.
Is there a formal decision maker with the formal authority to authorize or deny the change project?
Who is that person (or persons)?
What are his/her attitudes to the change?
3.
What is the current commitment profile of the stakeholders?
Are they resistant (against the change), neutral (let it happen), supportive (help it happen), or committed champions of the change (make it happen)?
4.
Predisposition to change - Are they typically innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, or late adopters when it comes to change?
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Innovators or early adopters - Individuals who seek change and want variety
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Early majority - Individuals who are receptive to change but are not first adopters
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Late majority - Individuals who follow others once the change has been introduced and tried
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Late adopters - Individuals who are reluctant to change and do so only after many others have adopted
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Non-adopters - Individuals who will not change or adapt under most circumstances
5.
Why do stakeholders respond as they do?
What consequences does your change have on each stakeholder? Do the stakeholders perceive these as positive, neutral or negative?
6.
What would change the stakeholder’s views? Would information or education help?
7.
Who influences the stakeholders? Can you influence the influencers? How might this help?
8.
What coalitions might be formed among stakeholders? What alliances might you form?
What alliances might form to prevent the change you wish?
9.
By altering your position, can you keep the essentials of your change and yet satisfy some of the needs of those opposing the change?
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Current Predispositions Change Continuum Stakeholder’s
Names or commitment to Change Describes the four stages stakeholders may
Stakeholder
Groups profile (resistant, neutral, supportive or committed champions)
(innovator, early adopter, early majority, late majority, late adopters, nonprogress through during a change project.
Desiring Taking
Awareness Interest Change Action adopters)
Adapted from: Cawsey, Deszca & Ingols, Organizational Change, Sage Publications, California, 2016
Change Continuum:
Awareness – only just aware of the change initiative
Interest
– describes stakeholders’ move from general awareness to active interest
Desiring Change – describes stakeholder’s move from an interest to a desire to take action
Taking Action – describes stakeholders who are fully committed to the change and taking action for the change
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Robinson, Hohepa and Lloyd (2009) recently published one of the best syntheses to date of empirical research evidence that illuminates the complex relationship between educational leadership and student outcomes. Among the competencies involved in effective educational leadership, these researchers identify “building relational trust” as essential in schools and systems where the success of one person ’s efforts is dependent on the contribution of others.
What qualities or behaviours engender trust? According to these researchers, the critical components are: respect for others, personal regard for others, competence in role, and personal integrity. Of these, the most basic is respect. Practical steps educational leaders can take to build relational trust include:
• acknowledging the interdependence – and therefore vulnerability – of members of the school community, and the importance of trust in building commitment and cohesiveness
• modelling the four critical components of trust on a daily basis
• following through on expectations for school staff, including the difficult task of confronting issues involving both behaviour and performance
• demonstrating integrity by “walking the talk” and through actions that uphold the interests of students as paramount.
Involves
Integrating the needs of adults with advancing the best interests of students
Does Not Involve
Meeting the needs of adults
Putting the needs of students first when their needs and the needs of staff are in conflict
Putting the needs of staff before those of students
Making critical decisions collectively on the basis of a unifying focus on what is best for students
Giving transparent explanations of reasons for treating staff differently
Staff doing their own thing with mutual indifference or tolerance
Giving similar affirmation and voice to staff, regardless of their commitment or breaches of trust
Explaining respectfully what is and is not acceptable and why
Tolerance of and collusion with a negative status quo (for example, high rates of staff or student absenteeism)
Ideas Into Action: Promoting Collaborative Learning Cultures: Putting the Promise into Practice
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Effective leaders work collaboratively with stakeholders as they influence and foster the conditions needed to assist all with the change at hand. Engaged leadership is about the exercise of influence and not about using positional power.
When implementing change, there is a tendency to give insufficient attention to the constructive steps needed to foster support and alleviate resistance. When considering your communication plan and use of influence strategies, think about with whom you are communicating and never underestimate the importance of the reputation (including their competence and trustworthiness) of those who are the face and voice of the change initiative.
Following are seven change strategies for influencing individuals and groups in the district/school:
1. Education and communication
Use education and communication to help others develop an understanding of the change initiative, what is required of them and why it is important. This includes being prepared to differentiate both the nature of the research and data shared as well as the communication strategy. Individual strengths can be leveraged and individual needs of others can be addressed.
2. Participation and involvement
Get others involved by seeking out and valuing all voices and encouraging input and ideas regarding the change. This brings new energy and ideas and causes people to own the change. Create conditions for authentic sharing and co-learning.
3. Facilitation and support
Change agents provide guidance and other forms of support to aid in adaptation to change.
Works best when the issues are related to anxiety and fear of change, or where there are concerns over insufficient access to needed resources.
4. Negotiation and agreement
At times, change leaders can make explicit deals with individuals and groups affected by the change. This strategy can help deal with contexts where the resistance is organized, “what’s in it for me” is unclear and power is at play. The problem with this strategy is that it may lead to compliance rather than wholehearted support of the change.
5. Manipulation and co-optation
Engaging those who are neutral or opposed to the change in discussions and or engaging in ingratiating behavior rarely will alter perspectives and cause resistors to change their position.
Trust levels will drop and resistance will increase if people believe they are being manipulated in ways not consistent with their best interests.
6. Explicit and implicit coercion
This strategy tends to be used when compliant actions are not forthcoming and change agents believe other options have been exhausted. Change leaders need to recognize the potential for residual negative feelings and consider how to manage them.
7. Systemic or system adjustments (open systems analysis)
This strategy can involve adjustments made to formal structures, systems and processes that reduce resistance while advancing the desired changes
.
Adapted from Organizational Change
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Influence Tactics a. Inspirational appeals b. Consultation (seeking the participation of others) c. Relying on the informal system (existing norms and relationships) d. Personal appeals (appeals to friendship and loyalty) e. Ingratiation (praise, flattery, friendliness) f. Rational persuasion (use of facts, data, logic) g. Exchange or reciprocity (mutual transaction) h. Altruism (willingness to help) i. Coalition building (creation of subgroups or links with other groups to exert pressure) j. Using organizational rules or legitimating tactics (framing of the request as consistent with policy and/or your authority) k. Direct pressure (guilt, threats) l. Appeals to higher authority and dealing directly with decision makers m. Repetition, repetition, repetition
Adapted from Caswsey, Deszca & Ingols, Organizational Change, Sage Publications, California, 2016 (p. 338)
Thinking about the change on which you are focusing which of the following influence tactics will you use? How will each tactic help you develop relational?
Share with colleagues at your table.
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Innovators and Early Adopters
Early Majority
Late Majority
Late Adopters
Non-Adopters
Individuals or Groups
1.
2.
3.
4.
Other
Individual Predisposition to Change
Individuals who seek change and want variety
Individuals who are receptive to change but are not first adopters
Individuals who follow others once the change has been introduced and tried
Individuals who are reluctant to change and do so only after many others have adopted the change
Individuals who will not change or adapt under most circumstances
Innovators and
Early Adopters
Early
Majority
Late
Majority
Late
Adopters
Non-
Adopters
: Reflect on and identify the significant stakeholders (individuals or groups) involved in the change that you have identified. a.
In reference to the description in the chart titled Individual Predisposition to Change and recognizing that there may be individual variance within groups, identify the stakeholders in the chart and categorize them, generally, based on your initial perceptions of their predisposition to change. b.
Categorize (generally) the same stakeholders based on where you perceive them to be on the change continuum chart (below) related to the change you have identified. Reflecting on your perceptions of their predisposition to change and where they are located on the change continuum, what influence tactics (highlighted earlier) might be used and how might you refine the initial tactics you identified in Task 7 to move them along the continuum.
Awareness Interest Desire for Action Take Action
Individuals or Groups
1.
2.
3.
4.
Other
Aware
-ness
Change Continuum Chart
Interest Desire for
Action
Take
Action
Possible Influence Tactics
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How to Manage and Minimize Cynicism About Change
1. Keep people involved in making decisions that affect them.
2. Emphasize two-way communication and good working relationships and show consideration and respect for staff.
3. Keep people informed about ongoing change – when, why and how – and include honest assessments of benefits and challenges.
4. Keep surprises to a minimum through regular communication about changes, anticipating questions and concerns. Be transparent.
5. Ensure that other own the change
6. Enhance credibility by: a. Using credible spokespersons who are liked and trusted b. Using credible, positive messages c. Using multiple formats and repetition.
7. Acknowledge mistakes, accept responsibility, apologize and move forward.
8. Publicize and celebrate successful changes and progress including steps along the way.
9. Use two-way communication in order to see change from staff perspectives and use this awareness to help with planning and future communications related to change.
10. Provide opportunities for staff to express feelings and receive validation and reassurance.
11. Ensure existing structures, systems, and processes are not sending conflicting messages, obstructing the change, and creating cynicism in the process. If they are, recognize their impact, discuss them openly, and take steps to address the issue and either bring them into alignment with the change or minimize their negative impact.
Adapted from: Caswsey, Deszca & Ingols, Organizational Change , Sage Publications, 2016
Ontario Leadership Framework
The Ontario Leadership Framework includes a number of critical personal leadership resources (PLRs) that leaders draw on to enact leadership practices effectively. All of these PLRs come into play when managing cynicism.
Cognitive Resources, including: problem-solving expertise, knowledge of school and classroom conditions that directly affect student learning, and systems learning.
Social Resources, including the ability to: perceive emotions, manage emotions and act in emotionally appropriate ways.
Psychological resources, including: optimism, self-efficacy, resilience and proactivity
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1. Self-Awareness
2. Understanding of the Internal and External Environment
3. Sense Making and Visioning Skills – constant focus on the change vision, inspiring others and keeping others aligned with the change goal
4. Communication Skills That Advance the Conversation
5. Interpersonal Competence – emotional resilience, tolerance for ethical conflicts and ambiguities, and politically savvy
6. Implementation and Monitoring Skills – Closing the Knowing-Doing Gap
7. Committed to improvement – seek opportunities to bring about improvement
8. Openness to new ideas
9. Integrity and honesty
10. Willing to learn from others
11. Adaptability and flexibility
12. Empowering others
Bryk et al
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
Stay alive – “Dead” change agents are of no use to the board/school. The notion that you should sacrifice yourself at the altar of change is absurd unless you truly wish it. At the same time, the invocation to “stay alive” says you need to be in touch with those things that energize you and give you purpose.

Start where the system is
– Immature change agents start where they are. Experienced change agents diagnose the system/school, understand it, and begin with the system/school.

Work strategically – Work with people in a collaborative fashion. Confront and challenge resisters in useful ways. Don’t alienate people if at all possible. Work in promising areas and make progress.
 Organize, but don’t over-organize – Plans will change. If you are too organized you risk becoming committed to your plan in ways that don’t permit the inclusion and involvement of others.

Pick your battles carefully – Don’t argue if you can’t win. A win/lose strategy deepens conflict and should be avoided wherever possible.

Create conditions for success – If you can, set up the situation and position it as positively as possible.
Change is difficult at the best of times – if you can improve the odds, you should!

Light many fires – Create opportunities for change in many places.

Just enough is good enough – Don’t wait for perfection. Beta test your ideas. Get them out there to see how they work and how people react.
 You can’t make a difference without doing things differently – Remember the definition of insanity –
“doing things the same way but expecting different results”! You have to act and behave differently to have things change. Hope is not an action.

Reflect – As individuals, as change teams, and as organizations, a commitment to learning from each experience and creating space for reflection on both positive and challenging moments is essential to effective and productive change.

Want to change; focus on important results and get them – Improving results brings credibility.

Responsiveness and flexibility – Sensing the situation and responding in a flexible and timely manner will make a difference.

Create a coalition – Work undertaken in isolation is easy to dismiss.
Adapted from: Caswsey, Deszca & Ingols, Organizational Change, Sage Publications, California, 2016
(p. 284-285)
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Who?
When?
How?
To Whom?
Why?
Initiation Phase Developing the Need for
Change Phase
Midstream Change
Phase
Confirming the Change
Phase
Communication and
Engagement plans to initiate the change
(e.g., is there an approval process to initiate? how is the change identified and who is responsible? etc.)
Communication and engagement plans to explain the need for change, provide a rationale, reassure stakeholders and clarify steps in the change process
Communication and engagement plans to inform stakeholders of progress and to obtain feedback on attitudes and issues to challenge any misconceptions and clarify new organization roles, structure and systems
Communication and engagement plans to inform stakeholders of the success, to celebrate the change and to prepare the organization for the next change
Adapted from Klein, “A Management Communications Strategy for Change,” Journal of Organizational Change. Vol. 9, # 2, 1996 found on page 321 in Organizational Change: An Action Oriented Toolkit (2015) by T. Cawsey, G. Deszca and C. Ingols.
Using the chart below and based on the thinking shared on this topic, identify the communication and engagement strategies and/or plan (i.e., What will you communicate? Who will be responsible? When will this communication occur? With whom
will the communication be shared? How will it occur? Why?) you will utilize to assist in leading the change you have identified.
Strategic
Communications and
Details
What?
Initiation Phase
Phases in the Change Process
Developing the Midstream Change
Need for Change
Phase
Phase
Confirming the Change
Phase
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(Adapted from Action Planning and Implementation, Chapter 9, pp 308 – 317 in Organizational Change, An Action Oriented Toolkit )
This summary briefly describes action planning tools that change leaders carefully consider and select from in supporting their efforts to facilitate change. The tools include:
1.
To Do Lists
Leaders, engaging in action planning, often begin by detailing the sequence of steps they will take initially to achieve their goals. A “to do” checklist is an initial simple, common planning tool that will require replacement by another tool(s) as planning becomes more sophisticated.
2.
Responsibility Charting
Responsibility Charting is a tool that is more sophisticated and may replace a “to do” checklist as planning takes into consideration who should do what, when and how. A sample responsibility chart follows and provides the opportunity to list decisions or actions, responsibility for actions and when these actions should occur.
Decisions or
Actions to be
Taken
Action (1)
Action (2)
Action (3)
Additional
Actions
Responsibility Chart (Sample)
Responsibilities
Person 1 Person 2 Person 3
R
S
A
R
A
I
I
A
Relevant Dates
Meeting – Jan 14
May 24
Draft Plan – Feb 17
Implement –July 22
R
A
S
I
Coding
Responsibility (not necessarily authority)
Approval (right to veto)
Support (Contribute Resources)
Inform (to be consulted prior to action
Note: If there are a large number of As on a responsibility chart, implementation will be difficult. Care must be taken to assign As only when appropriate. Likewise if there are not enough Rs and Ss, careful consideration will be needed to determine the viability and need and support for change.
3.
Contingency Planning
Contingency planning is a tool that considers what should occur if events do not happen as planned. Two supplemental tools that aid in contingency planning are decision tree analysis and scenario planning.
Decision Tree Analysis – involves consideration of major choices and the possible consequences of each alternative. This helps model the possible consequences of change decisions and assesses the benefits and risks associated with each different pathway. Leaders are then asked to plan for the possible next actions and consider the consequences of each action, as far as is reasonable. It may also involve assigning probabilities involving the use of a simple scale (e.g., very likely, likely, possible, unlikely or very
unlikely) regarding the likelihood of each consequence.
Scenario Planning –involves the development of a limited number of scenarios, usually around an issue of strategic and tactical importance, about how the future may unfold and then assessing the implications of each. To identify blind spots and other possibilities, external parties may be brought into the process to offer insights, challenge assumptions, stimulate thinking and inform analysis. This is different than
forecasting which starts in the present and uses trends to make projections about the future. Scenario
Planning involves painting a picture of the future and works backward.
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4.
Surveys and Survey Feedback
Surveys may be helpful to capture internal and external stakeholder’s attitudes, opinions (e.g., assess the attitudes and beliefs of relevance to a change) and experiences and possibly track these over time.
Surveys can provide anonymity and make it possible to capture a large number of opinions than might otherwise be possible. Sometimes surveys are deployed to develop options and assess opinions on their viability. Later in the change process, surveys may sample understanding and knowledge levels, emerging attitudes and issues, and levels of acceptance and satisfaction with the change.
Surveys can prove very helpful to change leaders but need to be approached with care. The ability to frame good questions is a pre-requisite to getting useful information for analysis and interpretation.
A powerful use of surveys is an approach called survey feedback. This is an action research method used as a way to stimulate and advance conversation and insights about what is going on in the organization, how people are feeling and how things could be improved. It involves sharing the survey results with the individuals contributing to the survey and affected by the findings. This method utilizes facilitators to work groups through a discussion of the findings as an opportunity to enrich the interpretation of what the data means, where things are at and to explore the implications for actions. Appreciative inquiry
approaches can be married effectively with a survey feedback approach to engage and energize participants, learn from them and set the stage for future action. Appreciative Inquiry is the engagement of individuals in an organization in its renewal involving finding and understanding the best in people.
This approach is intended to embrace positive energy and commitment within the organization and move forward in the direction of change.
5.
Project Planning and Critical Path Methods
Project Planning and Critical Path methods can provide assistance to change leaders as they think about action steps. The critical path method requires leaders to identify when a project should be completed and to work backward from that point, scheduling all tasks that will require time, effort and resources.
These are often arranged in a time sequence such that tasks can occur simultaneously and are plotted on a timeline to identify the time to complete a project. Using the critical path method, leaders can assess bottlenecks, resource requirements, slack at particular points in the process and progression paths. The
critical path is the path with the least slack time (i.e., more time or resources than the minimum required). Identifying this critical path can allow the leader to add resources where necessary to speed up the process, revisit strategies and approaches, explore viable alternatives to the implementation path or increase the amount of time for implementation. The critical path method introduces the concept of parallel initiatives where different things may be implemented simultaneously if the work is properly organized.
6.
Tools to Assess Forces that Influence Outcomes and Stakeholders
Force Field Analysis requires change leaders to identify the forces for and against a change.
Stakeholder Analysis requires the leader to identify the key players/stakeholders and examine the relationships among the players and the change.
Commitment Analysis Charts can be used to analyse the engagement (e.g., weakly to strongly opposed - against the change, Neutral – let it happen, slightly positive – help it happen or strongly positive – make it
happen). Leaders also need to consider the level of understanding underpinning the stakeholder’s commitment level. Identifying the existing level of commitment is the first step in planning to address pre-existing thinking.
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Key
Players
Person 1
Person 2
Person 3
Additional
People
Strongly to
Weakly
Opposed
Commitment Chart (Sample)
Level of Commitment
Neutral Let it
Happen
Help it
Happen
X
X
O
X
O
Make it
Happen
O
Level of
Understanding
(high, med, low)
Med
High
Low
(Please note that in the sample chart X indicates the current level of commitment and O indicates where the change leader wants them to be to improve the likelihood of the change occurring)
Adoption or AIDA (Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action) Continuum
Stakeholder analysis identifies people critical to the change process. Based on this information, change leaders need to consider how they encourage individuals to move along the adoption or AIDA continuum in an effort to minimize opposition and align with the change. This process involves first creating awareness and then to move from awareness of the change, to interest in the change, to desiring action and finally to action or adopting the change. The use of an adoption or AIDA continuum helps to map and track change attitudes. Different tactics are required to address different individuals on different points of the adoption or AIDA continuum. For example, raising awareness may benefit from well-designed general communication vehicles (e.g., emails, newsletters, reports and videos) setting out the need for change, vision for the change and providing access to thought provoking information and images supporting the change. Moving people to the interest phase may require leaders to outline how the change will affect stakeholders personally and why this could be of interest to them. Discussion groups, benchmark data, simulations and test runs showing results are tactics used to stimulate interest.
Person or
Stakeholder
Group
Adoption Continuum Mapping (Sample)
Awareness Interest Desiring Action Moving to
Action or
Adopting the
Change
7.
Leverage Analysis
Moving individuals on the adoption continuum (i.e., innovator, early adopter, early majority, late majority
or late adopters) is aided by engaging in leverage analysis. Leverage analysis seeks to identify those actions that create the greatest change with the least effort. For example, if the opinion leaders of a key group of stakeholders can be identified and encouraged to support the proposed change, the job of the change leader is easier. Identifying high leverage methods will depend on the quality of the knowledge of the participants and the analysis of the organization and environment. This involves finding the critical few individuals that can connect with others in ways that change the context and tip things into a new reality. This requires building sufficient support to allow the acceptance of the change to cross the chasm between the early adopters and visionaries and the early majority. Once this gap is bridged the rate of progress accelerates. The use of the internet and social media has become mainstream in some sectors in playing significant roles in the change process. It is being used to communicate with and inform staff, seek feedback, engage, energize and enhance the sense of front line ownership in change initiatives.
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Conclusion
Planning the work to bring about change requires change leaders to translate the vision into specific actions by people. The plan outlines targets and dates, considers contingencies (what can go right and wrong), and how leaders can anticipate and respond to address contingencies. It also examines realistic chances for success and how actions by a leader increase the probability for success. The summary chart of tools for action planning follows.
Action/Implementation Tools
To Do List
Responsibility Charting
Description
A checklist of things to do to implement change
Who will do what, when, where, why and how
Contingency Planning
Surveys, Survey Feedback and
Appreciative Inquiry
Project Planning and Critical
Path Methods
Force Field and Stakeholder
Analysis
Commitment Charts
Consideration of what should be done when things do not work as planned on critical issues.
Capturing people’s opinions and tracking their responses, observations and insights over tie to assist in identifying what needs changing, nurturing engagement and support and in tracking progress
Operations research techniques for scheduling work. These provide timelines and insight as to which activities cannot be delayed to meet timelines.
Examination of the forces for and against change and the positions of the major players and why they behave as they do
An evaluation of the level of commitment of major players
(e.g., against, neutral, let it happen, help it happen, make it happen)
Adoption or Awareness,
Interest, Desire, Adoption
(AIDA) Continuum
Leverage Analysis
Examination of the major players and their position on the
AIDA continuum related to the proposed changes
Determination of methods of influencing major groups or players regarding proposed changes
Measuring/Monitoring Tools What gets measured is what gets done. Use quantitative and/or qualitative measures to determine impact.
a.
Identify the action/implementation tools, from the chart above that you have used or plan to use in implementing the change you have identified. Using the
Action/Implementation Tool Chart that follows, identify how each tool is being developed, by whom and when will each be initiated for those tools you plan to use but have not yet utilized. What other tool might you consider using to help you with your change effort? Why? How would you develop this new action/implementation tool, by whom and when would you initiate it? b.
Using the Summer Institute Reflection Questions that follow, and considering your learning during this summer institute, develop and/or further refine some aspect(s) of your planning, implementation and monitoring for the change you have identified.
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Current Action/Implementation
Tools
( Currently Used to Bring about the
Identified Change)
Action/Implementation Tool Chart
How
(is or will it be developed or implemented)
Who
(Responsibility)
Planned Action/Implementation
Tools ( Planned for use to bring about the Identified Change)
How
(is or will it be developed or implemented)
Who
(Responsibility)
Possible Action/Implementation
Tools (Might be helpful to bring about the identified change)
How
(is or will it be developed or implemented)
Who
(Responsibility)
When
When
When
Summer Institute Reflection Questions
1.
What are one or two areas of personal professional learning relating to my role as a change leader that are particularly interesting and relevant to me? Why?
2.
What are one or two areas of focus that were highlighted or emerged through the thinking generated at the Summer Institute that are of particular significance and relevant to our collective professional learning and the implementation and monitoring of the change we identified as a system team? Why?
3.
What are one or two areas for immediate effort and action to implement the change we have identified?
4.
What are the strategic next steps (Who, What, When, Where, How, and/or Why) to initiate the immediate areas for effort and action that will assist in the implementation/realization of the change we have identified?
5.
What else do we need to do as a team to build our capacity and improve as learners to lead change?
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1. It can be done!
2. Organized as a timed sequence of conditional moves
3. Responsibility charts: who does what, when, why, how?
4. Measures and Outcomes are specified
5. The plan is consistent with needs assessment, theories of action and goals
6. Resources are available: money and people
7.
Real “buy in” is there - involvement and public commitment, coalitions are considered
8. Early positives exist to help build momentum
9. Most importantly, you have the Vision and Goals needed to guide you in the right direction!
Cartoon created by Mark Harper
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