Our educational system and experience in the classroom has trained us to do many things, such as learn about processes, the scientific method, logic, and mathematical truths, as well as understand poetry, inferences, social commentary as displayed through artistic representation and gain understanding through empathetic sharing.

As people who want to make things easier, better and faster, we sometimes look to new processes, services, products and other innovations to improve productivity, produce a more effective return on investment, or provide us with more leisure time.  Combining our capacity for understanding with our desire for improvement, we can make the case for change.

But sometimes, there are situations and circumstances we have no control over, and simply can’t change.

When we realize that there are some things that we can’t change, however, an interesting thing takes place.  Change happens…except we are the ones that are changed.

Many times, we change our mindsets or our actions to offer accommodation for those unchangeable things or situations that impinge upon our lives, thereby further reinforcing the adage, “The only constant is change.”

But even though there’s something we believe that can’t be changed doesn’t mean we can’t continue to work for change.  Another way of looking at it is that if we don’t work for change, we become victims of circumstances (which are also changing…whether we perceive them or not).

Further, if you plan for change, it’s important to glean as much input as possible.  To omit a particular constituency because it’s known that they won’t like the potential changes on the horizon is not a valid reason to exclude them from the process.  The constituency needs to have its voice heard, and may even offer a viable alternative solution which meets the goals of the project, but modifies the objectives regarding how to attain the goal and allow for a more palatable transitional experience.  Constituencies who have their concerns validated are more likely to assist in the process, and not create roadblocks with the intention to maintain things as they are.  It’s possible that if members of the constituency are not involved in the process, and feel they can’t change, adjust nor modify the decision, they will change, but not in the way we hope for.  They might become a passionate activist, working against what has been decided, rather than a supportive and understanding advocate, helping to guide others to the vision leadership has set out to achieve.

For instance, if you’re looking to streamline processes and cut administrative costs, then be sure to gather input from all constituent groups, including donors, employees, and constituents, rather than simply analyzing demographic trends, potential availability of resources, and economic projections when formulating goals and targets to plan for the future sustainability of the organization.

If you’re a user of Facebook, LinkedIn, or other popular social media, you may have seen a quote by a fellow named Jack Dixon:

If you focus on results, you will never change. If you focus on change, you will get results.

The interesting thing is that while this quotation is posted in hundreds of blogs and Web sites that provide motivation, there are very few that say who Jack Dixon is.

According to the relatively few Web sites that connect the quote to the man, Jack Dixon is the author of the award-winning historical novel, “The Pict,” and historical novel, “Jerusalem Falls.” His fascination with history inspires him to write stories that bring historical characters and events to life. He lives in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

Coming from an author, it’s more than a creative turn of words; it’s at the core of any change experience.

You may have experienced this effect yourself.  Perhaps you have, or have known someone who has, tried to lose weight.  Diet, exercise, supplements and all those things aside, you step on a scale every day at the same time of day, and chart your results, hoping to see significant change.

And it doesn’t happen.

Why?  You may have not exercised as you should have; you may have attended a party, and overindulged a bit.  You may have forgotten to employ some type of practice for a couple of days during the week.  But yet, you’ve stuck to the schedule of weighing yourself every day, at the same time.

The tracking isn’t the issue; the practice is.  Deciding to begin a regimen is easy when results are since quickly; but many processes take time to produce significant effects.  Significant discipline is necessary to pay attention to and follow the process, and then, track the results less frequently than you think you should.  Perhaps every week…or every month…rather than every day.

Perhaps we should rephrase the quotation a bit.  Focusing on the change may produce the desired results; but focusing on the desired results may cause frustration with change.

But when we really think about it, do we really want change, when what we really want is transformation?  If so, then a focus on the desired results is like paying constant attention to the bottom line.  Think about all those folks that walk along sidewalk while looking down at the their mobile device.  If you’re always looking down at the bottom line, and not paying attention to the things around you and, especially, in front of you, there’s a really good chance you’re going to run into something – perhaps even into a wall.

 

If you do a search on “Change Dynamics,” and select “images,” chances are you’ll see lots of pictures of custom wheels for your car.  However, you search images for “Dynamics of Change,” you’ll find an array of books, memes and other pictures that convey how change can occur, can be implemented, can be made to stick, and what the ramifications of change can be, as well as their effect on various populations.  This proves that it’s important to speak about things correctly.  As the Chinese proverb states, “The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names.”

If you’re looking to make improvements to the processes in which your school, non-profit, workgroup, team, organization, business, even your church, and yes, even your family participates, then it’s important for all stakeholders to be involved in the process, since the effect of a small change in one element of your school, non-profit, workgroup, team, organization, business, church or family will be felt throughout its complete systemic structure.

Consultant and best-selling author Patrick Lencioni shares some great insights about what inhibits teams from making changes that will take them to the next level.  The video is entertaining as much as it informative, and the dysfunctions of a team are as applicable to a small church as they are to a multi-million dollar corporation.  Unfortunately, the original video that was posted is still available (you can search “Five Dysfunctions of a Team”), but since these are taken down as soon as they’re reposted, to offer a link is a waste of time (but you might be able to find it somewhere if you search for it (yes, people still need to do some search work and not have everything linked for your convenience).  There is, however, a 2-minute video explanation of the 5 dysfunctions at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCxct4CR-To.  The current video only covers the first dysfunction, the Absence of Trust, is VERY important concept to comprehend before progressing to examining the next levels of dysfunction.

I could say you NEED to watch Patrick Lencioni. But first, you have to WANT to watch. When I had first encouraged some of my colleagues to watch it, they said, “Oh, I don’t have time for that,” applying the #TLDR (too long, didn’t read) mindset to our society’s desire for just headlines and soundbites.  Unfortunately, that type of comment offers some great insight into the mindset necessary for effective change to occur and “stick.”

Change requires preparation, since a change usually means there will be more changes to help support the change.  That’s why the featured graphic for this article was chosen as a visual representation of this principle.  If a back-bending change leads to successes, then more changes will be necessary to help support those successes.  That’s why it may be helpful to think of change not as “change,” but as “transition.”  “Change” is an “event,” while “transition” is a “process.”

See if this dysfunction that Mr. Lencioni describes resonates with your experiences.

 

 

It’s been said that change is difficult.  It’s not because it’s going to take a long time to change; it’s not because we’re going to be doing something different; and it’s not because the situation has changed, and therefore, we must adapt.

It’s because there’s already been a change even before we either realize we need to change, or someone tells us we need to change.  And that means we need to leave our comfort zone.

Unfortunately, we don’t like feeling uncomfortable.  For many of us, we’ll only change when we realize we must change.  A speaker at a recent presentation I attended about wisdom had this to say: “What we can tolerate, we cannot change.”  What a powerful statement!

However, even if we’re told that unless we change (stop smoking, lose weight, exercise more, etc.) we will face dire if not catastrophic consequences, there is only a 1 in 9 chance that we’ll actually change.  Why?  Because we are creatures of habit, and are comfortable with habits that are, well, comfortable.

We get into the groove, so to speak, and, if you’re in the groove, eventually the groove will become deeper.  Then, it’s no longer a groove.  A deep groove is called a rut.  And it’s difficult to get out of a rut.

If you’re in a rut, you need to take corrective action to get out of the rut.  That means change what you’re doing.

If you don’t the rut will become deeper…and deeper…until it might be a deep rut.  And if it six feet deep, that rut turns into a grave.

Feeling uncomfortable is why people don’t take action to change or even advocate for change until they are personally affected by whatever changes they’ve heard about in the news or through their local community grapevines.

Even then, however, most people will just complain.

When one does decide to change, change is not just a “one-time” thing.  If it is, we eventually become comfortable again, and get into a different groove, and eventually into a different rut…perhaps this time, one that’s even deeper than the previous one we were in.  We could also realize that the new comfort zone is different from the previous comfort zone.  Even if it is, it’s still comfort.  Therefore, “different” really isn’t the issue either.

The real issue is comfort.

The speed of change today is more rapid than it has ever been in the history of humanity.  In the text, “Big Bang Disruption: Strategy in the Age of Devastating Innovation,” authors Larry Downes and Paul Nunes share how innovation used to come about, how that changed with the introduction of the Internet about 20 or so years ago, and how that has now changed again in the past few years with the introduction of a small mobile device and the applications (what we call “apps”) which have been and are constantly being created for it.  Industries that have had long histories of success have suddenly changed, and sometimes, disappeared, seemingly instantly.  Transportation, retail, and the recording industry are just a few that are undergoing huge transformations today.

Video was one of those things.  Remember video cameras?  How big they used to be, how expensive they were, and how editing video was something best left to professionals or to enthusiasts who owned some pretty nice equipment?  Then, a company came out with the Flip video camera.  It had a “flip” USB connector so it became very easy to transfer video files to a computer.  With the iPhone, however, the need for an inexpensive video camera disappeared.  Flip still lives, but as an HD recording device which costs over $300.  Once again, if you’re an enthusiast, this is a great piece of equipment.  But if you just want to record the moments of your life, chances are your mobile device already has that functionality built-in, and, since it’s connected to a data plan, they can be shared with friends or stored in the cloud immediately.

And now, we have AI – Artificial Intelligence.  The release of ChatGPT is nothing short of amazing, and it’s continued use will continue to put other products and services out of business.  While it’s not “perfected,” yet, the definition of “intelligence” requires that learning take place.  As more and more people use it, and parameters are more and more defined, be prepared for some mind-blowing results in the very near future.

And before you think it’s a passing fad, that’s what was thought about 3D printers…and television…when they first appeared in the marketplace.

Since change is happening faster and faster today, it may help us to adapt by adopting a change in attitude, creating a mindset of being comfortable with being uncomfortable.  Then we can be ready for and adapt to the next change that will happen even before we expect it.

For many businesses (and if you’re the leader of a school, know that your school is a business too), our pandemic reality has caused us to realize once and for all that “That’s the way we’ve always done it” can never be uttered again.  Everything changed during the pandemic – and everything is now different.

And we don’t like change, right?  We like everything to remain just the way it is.  Change means we have to move outside our comfort zone.  And if things were OK yesterday, then it’s OK for tomorrow.

Unfortunately, that’s not how it works.  Living things change.  Daily.  Hourly.  Actually, there are changes every microsecond of life.  If things don’t change, they stagnate.  And then, die.

The thing is that change really isn’t a logical thing.  It’s rooted in emotion.  Here’s a great video to illustrate why we think change is hard, and what we can do about it: Change – from the Heath Brothers.

Mahatma Gandhi has been quoted as saying, “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”  But, like all great quotations, that may not be true.  According to an op-ed piece from the New York Times in 2011:

It turns out there is no reliable documentary evidence for the quotation. The closest verifiable remark we have from Gandhi is this: “If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. We need not wait to see what others do.”  Here, Gandhi is telling us that personal and social transformation go hand in hand, but there is no suggestion in his words that personal transformation is enough. (Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/30/opinion/falser-words-were-never-spoken.html, Accessed 1.26.2019)

The words attributed to Gandhi certainly make sense, for instance, when talking about peace, honesty or some other type of philosophical or philanthropic quality.  In other words, if you want to see peace, be a peaceful person; if you want to see more honesty, then be honest; if you want to see less anger, then be less angry.

When it comes to change, however, we are change.  Our bodies change every day from the time we’re born to the day we die.  Our cells completely change every 7 years.  For instance, the skin cells you can now see on your body will be gone in a month and replaced by new cells…that will be gone in another month.

But if we seek peace, for example, we must first become a peaceful person.  Similarly, if we seek to manage change, then we must be open to change. This is especially important when planning for change since the routes leading to significant improvement or transformative innovation may not be clear-cut.  There will no doubt be “meta” change; that is, the process designed to create change will itself change as adjustments may need to be made.  This is precisely what’s meant by “metamorphosis.”

Sadly, there are some people who are so focused on attaining the goal, and who may craft an impeccable plan to implement the change in order to reach that goal, they may not be open to the possibility of the change that may need to happen along the way to achieving the goal.

And if we want to see significant improvement, can we instantly “significantly improve” through “significant change?”  Or does significant improvement start with small improvements, which will lead to other improvements?  Does transformative innovation start with huge innovations, or are small innovations necessary to prepare the way for the truly transformational result?

Whether big or small, it will serve us well to remember where to focus.  As Jack Dixon has been quoted as saying, “If we focus on the results, we will never change; if we focus on the change, we will see results.”

The Greek letter Delta is the symbol for “change” in mathematics.  For those of you who remember algebra, the way to calculate the slope of the a line was to divide the change in the “y” coordinates by the change in the “x” coordinates.  Delta y over Delta x.

Delta is basically a triangle.  If you look at the logo for Delta Air Lines, its primary shape is a triangle.  The airline took on its name when moved from its  beginnings as a crop dusting service in Macon, Georgia to a new headquarters in Monroe, Louisiana, and identified itself with the Louisiana Delta, an area of land that is always changing due to erosion from water of the Mississippi River and sedimentary deposits.

Interestingly, though, in another branch of mathematics, geometry, the triangle is the most stable of geometric shapes.  To continue the airline analogy, older airports had their runways designed in a triangular shape to help reduce crosswind difficulties in an aircraft’s takeoff and landing.  Airplanes have their wheels aligned in a triangular fashion, with a set of wheels under each of its wings, and a set under the nose of the plane to give balance and steering.

Isn’t it ironic that the symbol for change is also a shape that is associated with stability.  Perhaps the lesson we can learn is to remain stable, some type of change is still necessary.  No change, therefore, doesn’t necessarily mean stability; it can lead to stagnation, and stagnation leads to decay.  While decay can also be viewed as a change, it’s a change that usually isn’t a desired one.  If change is necessary to maintain stability, then it is certainly needed to enable opportunities for growth.

The graphic that’s featured with this article shows a cycle that is quite common when an enhancement is requested for an existing piece of software or a new functionality is suggested for an app.

But there are other types of changes that are prevalent within schools today which accompany new programs, new processes, and new assessments.  The Change Management Process to introduce something new to a school’s community of learners (which includes every life-long learner of the school’s community) also consists of five steps:

• Assess
• Prepare
• Plan
• Implement
• Sustain

In researching change management, there are several models one can find on the Internet, each of which have a different number of steps (from three to eight or more), and some of the steps can be rearranged (for instance, in some models, Prepare comes before Assess).   The five steps mentioned above create an interesting series since the previous one can be related to the next one.  Working backwards:

• Sustain the implementation
• Implement the plan
• Plan the preparation
• Prepare the assessment
• Assess the sustainability

Notice how the system then has no beginning and no end, supporting the assertion that the only constant is change.

Let’s take a quick dive into each of the five elements of the system, with a 6th one to move the cycle back to the start.

Assess

When you think about it, I think you’ll agree that something has to happen to indicate a change is necessary.  But when you think about it further, if the indication is there that a change is necessary, then whatever has been happening has been changing, once again supporting the claim that change is constant.  The difficulty is that you may see that change is necessary, but it will be difficult to convince others that change is necessary.  That’s where the preparation for change happens.

Prepare

You need to build the “case” – the “why” – change is necessary, and convince your stakeholders and audiences that continuing along the current path will lead to a situation with a significant negative impact.  Perhaps the organization is receiving fewer and fewer contributions every year; perhaps the school’s enrollment has been slowly eroding.

By the way, if you’re thinking your enrollment has stabilized because the number of students in your entry grade equals the number of students that graduated from your school, your thinking is leading to a catastrophic event.  Send an email to me at [email protected] with the words “Stabilize Enrollment” in the subject line if you’d like to know why.

You may see the need for change, and can even provide an analysis of what’s been happening, but the problem with most change preparation conversations is that stakeholders and audiences haven’t yet felt the effects of what’s been happening.  In the case of enrollment erosion, perhaps tuition has increased, resulting in the departure of a few families, but schools are diligent about holding the line on tuition and cutting expenses wherever they can.

Unfortunately, there may come a time when the announcement of merger or closure takes the community by surprise.  That’s because the school hasn’t shared what’s been happening with the school’s customers, and may have only had the difficult discussions with the board, finance council, or other advisory and/or administrative structures.  The fear is that sharing difficulties will lead to an exodus once customers (the members of your school’s parent community) are aware of what’s going on.

While many organizations can offer the analysis of why a change is necessary, many organizations don’t take the next step and show a projection of what may happen if what is currently happening continues to happen.  You’d think we’d have all learned the value of this exercise after being exposed to Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” seeing what the future could bring if things are allowed to continue along their current path.

This is why trust in your school’s parent community is essential, and why this step is incredibly important.  As Jim Collins’ “Good to Great” states, you must “Face the brutal facts, but never lose hope.”  You must prepare your organization for change – without necessarily knowing what will change.  Simply offering a plan for change skips this important step.  Once the projected path is shared, those concerned will want to have input regarding the plan, which then engenders buy-in to the planned change.

Plan

Now the planning begins, and the investigation of all the possibilities can take place.  Often, this step comes before the previous one, where the plan is created and only then are constituent groups prepared for the plan’s implementation.  When “Plan” comes before “Prepare,” resistance is usually the result.  With the necessary preparation, trust becomes the foundation, and allowing stakeholders to have their concerns be heard before any planning takes place means a plan can begin to take shape.  At that point, arguments can occur, and should occur, because everyone is working on creating a plan that provides the best result for the organization.  When “Plan” comes before “Prepare,” arguments are fueled by the desire to protect the status quo, resulting in politics rather than agreement.  The result of this step is the strategic plan, which then needs to be implemented.

Implement

A successful implementation is the result of a well-crafted and executed operational plan generated from the strategic plan.  The key to a successful implementation, however, is accountability.  There needs to be one person who is responsible for successful implementation, just as there needs to be someone responsible for enrollment growth, for development revenue increase, for retention success and for the financial health of your school.  The interesting dynamic that occurs when one person is accountable is that everyone then holds everyone else accountable.  When there is “shared responsibility,” then no one is accountable, and, unfortunately, blame can result.

Sustain

Once a change has been made, process must be monitored.  Building upon the fact that change is constant, more changes may need to happen, but let’s not call it change, since the process would have to repeat itself.  Instead, let’s use a phrase that high school marching bands use when rehearsing their field drills for competitive performances – “check and adjust.”  Constant attention to the situation, followed by small adjustments is a more prudent course of action than simply letting the new process get to the point that a complete overhaul is once again necessary.   Think of driving a car down the highway, and then encountering a stretch really rough road.  You may have to slow down a bit, then steer though potholes and bumps in order to keep moving along the path.  Failure to do so and simply “powering through” the obstacles could cause significant damage to your vehicle.

Similarly, if you’re accustomed to driving a 5-speed transmission, you can’t just shift from first to second gear, or from second to third.  You need to take your right foot off the accelerator, depress the clutch with your left foot, shift to the next gear, then release the clutch as you once again depress the accelerator with your right foot.  Practice is necessary to ensure this is a smooth process, or else one would need to alert your passengers be prepared for potential whiplash.

Move Forward

While change is an iterative process with each of the steps leading to the next one and the last one leading back to the first, it’s important to get buy-in before developing the plan.  Once the plan is in place and implemented, you may find that there is the need for change in another system to be able to take full advantage of the new change which was just implemented.  The change management process will then extend to other systems within the organization, which is the essence of “transition,” rather than simply “change.”  While it it may be easier to allow dysfunctional systems to continue, what’s easy isn’t always right…and what’s right isn’t always easy.

As we continue to think about this, that first step, Assess, probably isn’t necessary, since the consideration of changing means that you’ve already assessed that something isn’t working the way that it should, or the way that you want it to.  When we do that, the Move Forward step becomes the assessment stage of the next iteration, taking these six steps back down to five.  Further, I’m not a believer in “plan” (even though planning is essential).  Since I’m a systems thinker, I think in terms of “machine” rather than “plan,” and machines often need “retooling.”  So, if we call it that, an interesting and very appropriate acronym results:  PRISM: Prepare, Retool, Implement, Sustain, Move Forward.  Just as a prism breaks apart light into a spectrum of color, so do we need to break things down to analyze where the problems are within the machine, and then implement corrections, mindful of the fact that machine must continue to function, and function more efficiently.

 

 

“The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names” – Chinese Proverb

Words are interesting.

Actually, the meanings of words are interesting, especially since they change over time.

Consider the words used to describe something that evokes a personal positive emotional reaction.  If we look at the 1950’s, it was “cool.”  In the 1960’s, it was “hip,” and we didn’t “like” it, we “dug” it (which is interesting since “dig” also meant “understand”).

Then, other words came to be used. “Neat” or “neat-o” and “groovy” eventually became “bad,” which eventually became “sick,” “wicked,” “awesome,” or “sweet.”  There are a host of others too, even some which contain profanity.

My favorite change of the meaning of a word has been “swipe.”  What once meant taking something without paying for it is now, thanks to technology, a way to pay for something.

Because “change” has such a negative and frightening connotation, perhaps we shouldn’t use it as freely as we do.  Change is constant, and we don’t like to be reminded of the obvious.

When we look at the first four words offered as potential replacements for the word “change” in the title of this article, they all pertain to an instance.  An adjustment, revision, modification or shift are all, in today’s verbiage, a “tweak.”  It might be small, it might be large, but all five of those words (including “tweak”) speak to “change” events.  If change, however, is constant, there can be multiple “change” events which must occur to bring about desired results.  And no one likes lots of changes – even though everything around us, as well as our own selves, is constantly changing.

Transition, on the other hand, implies a process.  Transitions can have one, a few or many change events grouped together.  Transitions can also be viewed as having a beginning and an end, a starting point and a goal.  As for “change,” it’s constant, usually viewed as “big,” and, many times, may deal with unknowns.  For these three reasons, change is often feared.

A successful transition process is possible and not as feared when it can be planned for and communicated, and people are open to the potential which exists.

Visionary leadership is necessary to show what the goal of the process of the change will look like, or, at least, is planned to look like.  It involves taking the “dream,” and making it somewhat “concrete.”

Will the transition ever be completely concrete?  No, because change continues to happen.

Once a dream is achieved, another dream is necessary, engaging the elements of advancement, and the people involved in and engaged with an organization.  If something becomes completely concrete, and there is no ability to change, it can crumble when battered by the elements surrounding it.

As the Zen Proverb states, “The strength of a tree lies in its ability to bend,” adapting to the changes it experiences.