Leading Change

1. Leading Change

2. Independent school leaders recognize the need for transformational school change. How can we equip ourselves to lead this change?

3. Themes of Change

4. Economic Factors • Factors driving the need for school change • Greater income disparity in the United States • Middle class disappearing from independent schools/changing profile of the financial-aid family • Huge college debt facing younger parents • Escalating costs for schools • Demographic Factors • Aging population/decreasing numbers of school-age children in some regions • More diverse population of school-age children

5. Technological Factors • Factors driving the need for school change (continued) • Artificial intelligence (AI) creating concerns about jobs as well as a need to educate students for different types of jobs • Increasingly digitized world having negative impact on wellness of teens/students • Opportunities for personalizing education • Opportunities for continuous learning for professionals • Education Market Factors • Emerging K–12 schools piloting new education and business models • Access to online resources fueling homeschooling market • Drastic change in perceptions about the value of higher education • Increasing worldwide interest in English-language education

6. Customer (Parent) Factors • Factors driving the need for school change (continued) • Growing parental anxiety • Consumers doing research/making “purchasing” decisions (including about schooling) online • Younger parents expecting diversity, seeking to raise culturally competent children, wanting customized experience • Workforce Factors • Teacher shortages and projected growth in demand • Changing perceptions about teaching as a career/fewer education degrees being conferred • Gig economy increasing the expectations for workplace flexibility • Millennials, with college debt and other opportunities in a strong economy, staying for shorter tenures at jobs • Expectations from younger professionals for continuous feedback and learning

7. The workplace of the future: How we will work, lead, and structure (to attract and keep talent) • Principles of aFuture Organization: • “Focuses on ‘want’ instead of ‘need’: In order to attract top talent organizations must create an environment where employees actually WANT to be there instead of assuming that they NEED to be there… • “Tells stories: Employees want to work for organizations that they believe in and whose values align with their own [and] there is no better way to do this than through telling stories about how the company started, why it exists, and where it’s going… • “Shifts from profits to prosperity: [looking] at things such as employee health and wellness, community involvement, sustainability, and making a positive impact on the world.” • Jacob Morgan, “The 14 Principles of the Future Organization,” Forbes (January 14, 2015)

8. Principles of a future organization (continued) • “Intrapreneurial” with “innovation everywhere” enabling “anyone to come forward with an idea and then give them the opportunity to turn that idea into something” • “Adapts to change faster” and operates like a small company • “More women in senior management roles: … Recognize[s] the value of having more women in senior level roles and [takes] actions to … support this…. • “Flatter structure: … Communication and collaboration flows up, down, and side to side…. • “Democratizes learning… any employee is able to act as a teacher or student [who] can learn from colleagues anytime and anywhere.” • Jacob Morgan, “The 14 Principles of the Future Organization,” Forbes (January 14, 2015)

9. Types of organizational change Organization-wide Versus Subsystem Change “Examples of organization-wide change might be a major restructuring, collaboration or ‘right-sizing.’ … Successful organizational change requires a change in culture…. Examples of a change in a subsystem might include addition or removal of a product or service, reorganization of a certain department, or implementation of a new process to deliver products or service.” Transformational Versus Incremental Change “An example of transformational (or radical, fundamental) change might be changing an organization’s structure and culture….Incremental change might include continuous improvement as a quality management process or implementation of new computer system to increase efficiencies.”

10. Types of organizational change (continued) “Remedial Versus Developmental Change “Change can be intended to remedy current situations, for example, to improve the poor performance of a product or the entire organization…. Change can also be developmental—to make a successful situation even more successful….” Unplanned Versus Planned Change “Unplanned change usually occurs because of a major, sudden surprise to the organization, which causes its members to respond in a highly reactive and disorganized fashion…. Planned change occurs when leaders in the organization recognize the need for a major change and proactively organize a plan to accomplish the change.” Carter McNamara, Field Guide to Consulting and Organizational Development: A Collaborative and Systems Approach to Performance Change and Learning (2005), adapted by Authenticity Consulting, LLC

11. Change in Independent Schools

12. Why change is hard • “Behavioral economics—the study of how human thought and behavior affect financial decisions—provides us with clues for why creating lasting organizational change is so difficult. • “Factors such as status quo bias (a preference for keeping things the same) and loss aversion (the tendency to prefer avoiding losses more strongly than acquiring gains) interact to stack the odds against employees acting very differently for very long. • “Organizational politics, silos, and market dynamics exert additional drag on effective change implementation. • “Poorly defined objectives, milestones that seem impossible, and metrics that are unclear or not objective can further complicate a change process.” • Leong Chee Tung, “Why Creating Organizational Change Is So Hard,” Gallup (May 22, 2014)

13. Why change is hard Change fatigue: “The key task of the leader is to prioritize. If you get caught up in the cycle of the change-a-year club… that’s going to breed resistance to change.” Emotional reaction to change: “When you share a new direction with your team, the people in the room may appreciate your logic for change [and] agree with you intellectually. And yet there is a more emotional side of them that has grown comfortable with the old way of doing things. They’ve been practicing routine A for years. They are very good at routine A. Now, you’re trying to get them to change to routine B. Even if they agree that B is better than A, that doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy the next day.” Dan Heath (coauthor of Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard), interview with Michael Brosnan, “Changing When Change Is Hard,”Independent School magazine (Winter 2011)

14. Why change is hard in independent schools “1. Data and knowledge are not the same. Facts and figures are information, not knowledge. Where do knowledge, insight, and understanding come from? They come from dialogue among knowledgeable professionals, making meaning possible…. “2. We start with solutions. …There is enormous pressure to adopt best practice solutions simply because they are considered hallmarks of effective schools…. Quick adoption can leave teachers wondering: What problem are we solving by doing this new program? “3. We address symptoms of problems. Mix the pressure for answers and actions with an abundance of data identifying gaps between the real and ideal, and you have a recipe for implementing solutions that eliminate the symptoms of problems rather than addressing their underlying causes.”

15. Why change is hard in independent schools (continued) “4. Best practices aren’t. … No practice can be best for all kids, in all schools, taught by all teachers, on any given day…. We need to be able to differentiate change options and give professional educators the chance to apply their decision expertise in real time, to find better ways to meet students’ learning needs. “5. Structural change is easy; cultural change is not. … While it is relatively easy to change structure, establish a new program, or alter a rule, it is far harder to change people’s beliefs and assumptions—and their behaviors. When we face ambiguity in change, we revert back to what we know.” Scott Bauer and Anne-Marie Balzano, “Five Reasons Change Is So Hard for Schools— And What Can Make It Easier,” Independent Ideas blog (March 1, 2016)

16. The imperative for change in independent schools • More than 35% of heads of NAIS schools who responded to a 2018 survey were very concerned about independent schools in general, and 25% were very concerned about their own school. • Almost half did not believe that the current business model of their school was sustainable. NAIS/Entangled Solutions, Head of School Survey 2018

17. Barriers to change in independent schools • Financial resources were by far the top barrier in preventing schools from addressing their most pressing concerns.The barriers—and the number of heads who identified each barrier—are shown below. NAIS/Entangled Solutions, Head of School Survey 2018

18. Barriers to change in independent schools • Which constituents understand schools’ most pressing needs? According to the survey, insiders such as board members and staff seem to best understand. School leaders appear hesitant to share their most pressing issues with parents and students. • Which constituencies will embrace change? Most heads who responded to the survey believe that their various constituencies are willing to embrace change. However, this is a more optimistic view than is generally expressed by heads of schools in personal interviews. NAIS/Entangled Solutions, Head of School Survey 2018

19. Attitudes toward change in independent schools Most heads of school responding to the survey expressed confidence about managing change, but nearly 50% said that they lacked the financial resources needed to change. NAIS/Entangled Solutions, Head of School Survey 2018

20. Parallels with higher ed: Innovating at small colleges “Small [colleges’] size makes it difficult to spread the impact of fixed costs, their tuition dependency can be a disadvantage, and having fewer resources means financial missteps can’t be easily absorbed. Yet smaller institutions also have a number of strengths their larger counterparts don’t; they are more nimble and are able to react quicker to changes in their markets. And faculty and administrators often have closer personal relationships, which can enable trust and faster decision making.” Amit Mrig, Daniel Fusch, and Patrick Cain, “Small but Mighty: 4 Small Colleges Thriving in a Disruptive Environment,” Academic Impressions (June 2015) The need not to just survive but to create a path forward: “Six years after the recession ended, most leaders have made the easy decisions to trim and cut their budgets. Many institutions have frozen hiring, forgone raises, deferred building maintenance, and sold off easily disposable assets. While these budget cuts have allowed these institutions to limp along, they have not created a path forward.”

21. Innovating at small colleges (continued) • Case studies of four colleges focused on 4 themes of successful innovation: • “Theme 1: Securing the Resources for Growth” • Setting aside a percent of operational budget to fund strategic initiatives • Inviting donors to contribute to a special president’s fund for innovation • “Theme 2: Developing an Outward Focus” • Learning about new market opportunities from experts in other industries • Visiting organizations outside higher ed to learn how they innovate • Developing a discipline for identifying and assessing new markets • “Theme 3: Overcoming Resistance to Change and Taking Risks” • Involving the campus in defining core values • Defining a vision worthy of people’s commitment • “Theme 4: Pursuing Smart Experimentation” • Prototyping and iterating new programs and projects • Knowing when not to go forward • Amit Mrig, Daniel Fusch, and Patrick Cain, “Small but Mighty: 4 Small Colleges Thriving in a Disruptive Environment,” Academic Impressions (June 2015)

22. Key ingredients in preparing for change at independent schools • “How might the head mobilize the entire school community to participate in an organizational assessment aimed at building creative, generative schools? How might this vision be translated into concrete, measurable behavioral goals? What steps might be taken to implement these shared behavioral goals? There are several critical ingredients in preparing for change: • Establishing an atmosphere of safety and trust • Generating an atmosphere of innovation by establishing a professional development program or strengthening an existing one • Building links to the broader community • Seeking consultative support to gain perspective.” Lynn Friedman, “Organizational Change in the Independent School: Promise or Peril,”nais.org(2005)

23. Training ourselves to embrace change “Just as leaders must consider the community’s culture and values in leading change initiatives, community members must open themselves up to change…. “Best-selling author and theorist Daniel Goleman… [explains] that people develop many routines to get things accomplished, that these routines become ingrained over time, and that they keep us from seeing or choosing alternatives. We need to train our brains to become more adaptable.” Donna Orem, “Change is a Two-way Street,” Independent Ideas blog(February18, 2019)

24. NAIS Strategy Lab helps schools solve pressing challenges and seize the right opportunities. • NAIS’s Strategy Lab is working to arm independent school leaders with resources, experiences, and networks that • enhance their innovation cultures; • develop their skills for Project Level Innovation Designs (PLID); • connect innovation designs to their current realities and strategic visions; • build their schools’ capacity for effective implementation of innovation designs; and, • expand their opportunities for cross-school collaboration. • Learn more at NAIS Strategy Lab, strategylab.nais.org

25. NAIS Strategy Lab (continued) Three elements of strategic innovation: DESIGNuses Jobs-to-Be-Done research and Systems Thinking to support schools with specific and targeted Project Level Innovation Designs (PLID). IMPLEMENTATION “is focused on project management strategies.” MOBILIZE“relates to enhancing innovation school cultures and connecting innovative solutions to a larger vision and strategic plan to garner the necessary buy-in.” Learn more at NAIS Strategy Lab, strategylab.nais.org

26. Leading Change

27. Leading change vs. managing change • Change Leaders • Believe that members [employees] are the organization’s greatest asset • Protect the organization’s culture while creating change • Implement change incrementally but present the complete plan for change up-front to the total organization • Assume responsibility for the organization’s plan of change and nurture and guide its implementation, delegating the details • Use change strategies appropriate to the organization’s stage in its life cycle • Keep their visions realistic and adaptable • Change Managers • Believe that people are the greatest source of problems • Focus on problem-solving; culture should be considered a given • View organizational problems as barrier to change; take on problems as they present themselves • Manage problems and change thorough the structure of the organizational chart; deal with change issues through managers • Manage problems within organizational units • Focus on short-term goals rather than on a vision John G. Bruhn, “Leaders Who Create Change, and Those Who Manage It: How Leaders Limit Success,” The Health Care Manager (April-June 2004)

28. What successful change leaders do well 1. “Recognize [and embrace] embedded tensions and paradoxes” Common paradoxes include the following: “Revitalization vs. Normalization. At the core of every change initiative is the desire …to revitalize ways of thinking, behaving and working. Butone change initiative often morphs into many, and before long employees become ‘change weary’… needing revitalization but desiring normalization…. “Digitization vs. Humanization. Advanced technology is at the core of virtually every company’s business model today…. Yet, the onset of ubiquitous digitization is occurring at the same time that individuals are yearning for a sense of meaning in their organizations…. “The leader’s bedrock commitment to helping to reconcile these tensions is paramount. That means above all committing to an on-going communications and listening campaign so people know what’s going on and know how they might contribute to the transformation effort.”

29. What successful change leaders do well (continued) 2. “Hold everyone accountable …. It is far easier to say this than to do this, so change leaders must be ready to back up their statements with real world initiatives that will strengthen engagement…. 3. “Invest in new organizational capabilities ….Change leaders must go beyond storytelling, motivation, and mobilization efforts―they need to provide resources [which] might include capital improvements, process improvements, and building new talent capabilities….” 4. “Emphasize continuous learning Douglas A. Ready, “4 Things Successful Change Leaders Do Well,” Harvard Business Review (January 28, 2016)

30. Three C’s of change leadership Key leadership competencies necessary for change: “1. Communicate.… the ‘what’ and the ‘why.’ Leaders who explained the purpose of the change and connected it to the organization’s values or explained the benefits created stronger buy-in and urgency for the change. “2. Collaborate.… Successful leaders worked across boundaries, encouraged employees to break out of their silos, and refused to tolerate unhealthy competition. They also included employees in decision-making early on, strengthening their commitment to change.… “3. Commit. Successful leaders made sure their own beliefs and behaviors supported change, too. Change is difficult, but leaders who negotiated it successfully were resilient and persistent, and willing to step outside their comfort zone. They also devoted more of their own time to the change effort and focused on the big picture.” Center for Creative Leadership, “How to Be a Successful Change Leader”

31. Frameworks for Change Leaders

32. Principles of frugal innovation: Doing better with less • Engage and iterate—observe your customers and understand how your product or service can be more relevant to their needs. • Flex your assets—explore how you can satisfy ever more demanding customer needs at less cost. • Create sustainable solutions—develop systems to make innovations more sustainable over time. • Shape customer behavior—explore how you can influence the way your customers think. • Co-create with “prosumers”—take advantage of the desire of millennials to be “prosumers” who collectively design, create, and share the products and services they want. • Make innovative friends. • Adapted from Navi Radjou and Jaideep Prabhu, Frugal Innovation: How to Do Better With Less (2015) • Thinking like a startup • Articulate hypothesis • Define metrics of success • Test • Collect data and customer feedback • Iterate • Eric Ries, The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses (2011)

33. The “consent model” of problem-solving strives for mutual understanding. • Problems with majority rule • Can eliminate important alternative viewpoints • Those with opposing views aren’t invested in the decision • People can feel that their voices were not heard • Problems with consensus • Takes longer than tolerable for some • Can lead to frustration • Empathy-driven consent model • Strives to achieve mutual understanding of one another, as well as the issues at hand • Marie R. Miyashiro, The Empathy Factor: Your Competitive Advantage for Personal, Team, and Business Success (2011)

34. The“consent model” (continued) • In the consent model, the question becomes “Can you live with this agreement and on what level?” • Promote dialogue from those who oppose in order to understand what needs are unmet that keep them from supporting. • Promote dialogue from those who support regarding what may be the cost of not supporting a proposal. • Decision-making process becomes structured around connecting to one another’s feelings and needs. • Marie R. Miyashiro, The Empathy Factor: Your Competitive Advantage for Personal, Team, and Business Success (2011)

35. “Catalytic questioning” is a problem-solving method based on reframing discussions. • Steps in catalytic questioning: • “Pick a problem that your team cares about intellectually and emotionally…. [and] one that you honestly don’t have an answer to. • “Engage in pure question talk, with one team member writing down each question verbatim. This gives everyone the chance (especially introverts) to see each question, reflect a bit, and then create even better ones. Don’t give preambles to the questions and don’t devote any time or energy to answering them. Just ask….Go for at least 50, perhaps 75.… • “Step back and decide which questions on your list seem most ‘catalytic,’ or which ones hold the most potential for disrupting the status quo.”

36. “Catalytic questioning” (continued) • “Get to work! Find some answers…. If you prefer observing the world to get answers, go out and make some systematic observations. If you love to network for new ideas, go talk to people who don’t think or act like you (those from a different industry or country-of-origin are prime candidates) to get diverse responses to the questions. If you get new ideas by experimenting, go to work with a series of rapid prototypes—fast, cheap, virtual experiments to get instant feedback about which potential solutions matter most…. • “Regroup and use the besttraditional brainstorming techniques to leverage all your new input into creating even better solutions to your problem.” • Hal Gregersen, “Use Catalytic Questioning to Solve Significant Problems,” Harvard Business Review (July 19, 2013)

37. “Polarity management” moves from seeking solutions to embracing the two “rights” in a dilemma. A polarity is a dilemma that is ongoing, unsolvable, and involves ideas that appear to be opposing. “Define the nature of the dilemmaand the two poles to be managed. “Describe the whole polarity—create a polarity map and list the upside and downside of both poles. “Diagnose the quadrant that the organization is in currently. “Identify who is ‘crusading’ and what they are critical of and who is ‘tradition-bearing’ and what they are afraid of losing. “Predict and/or do some scenario building: Identify from where will the greatest resistance come and what will be the result for the school if one force triumphs over the other. “Prescribe guidelines for action—bring the groups together to refine the polarity map, discuss the consequences of falling into the downside of either polarity, and agree on guidelines for how the two forces will discuss and address the challenge.”

38. “Polarity management” (continued) SAMPLE POLARITYBeing internally driven vs. externally driven in evolving a school program. “Does a leader approach it by looking at what internal education experts think would make the current program stronger or defer to what the market is seeking?... “The tradition-bearers will argue that the school’s program is strong and that school educators are the experts—thus it should continue to focus on what has worked well in the past…. The crusaders will say that the market is no longer looking for what the school has traditionally offered and leaders need to move in a totally new direction. How can a leader bring the two forces together for the benefit of the school and its community?” Donna Orem, “Polarity Management: A New Lens for Working Through Challenges,” Independent School magazine (Spring 2018)

39. Using emotional intelligence to embrace change “1. Identify the source of your resistance…. For example, if you’re resisting because you’re worried that the change will make you look incompetent, you can create a learning plan for the new skills you will need in order to be successful. “2. Question the basis of your emotional response.” The resulting new awareness can help you separate an emotional reaction and “story” from the actual events. “3. Own your part in the situation….By reflecting on how your initial reaction contributes to a negative chain of events, it’ll be easier to adjust your attitude to be more open to considering new perspectives. “4. Turn up your positive outlook….First, ask yourself Where are the opportunities with this change? And then, How will these opportunities help me and others?”  Kandi Wiens and Darin Rowell, “How to Embrace Change Using Emotional Intelligence,” Harvard Business Review (December 31, 2018)

40. Resources • Jacob Morgan, “The 14 Principles of the Future Organization,” Forbes • Carter McNamara, Field Guide to Consulting and Organizational Development: A Collaborative and Systems Approach to Performance Change and Learning • Leong Chee Tung, “Why Creating Organizational Change Is So Hard,” Gallup • Dan Heath, interview with Michael Brosnan, “Changing When Change Is Hard,” Independent School magazine • Scott Bauer and Anne-Marie Balzano, “Five Reasons Change Is So Hard for Schools—And What Can Make It Easier,” Independent Ideas blog • NAIS/Entangled Solutions, Head of School Survey 2018 • Amit Mrig, Daniel Fusch, and Patrick Cain, “Small but Mighty: 4 Small Colleges Thriving in a Disruptive Environment,” Academic Impressions • Lynn Friedman, “Organizational Change in the Independent School: Promise or Peril,”nais.org • Donna Orem, “Change is a Two-way Street,” Independent Ideas blog • NAIS Strategy Lab (online at strategylab.nais.org) • John G. Bruhn, “Leaders Who Create Change, and Those Who Manage It,” The Health Care Manager • Douglas A. Ready, “4 Things Successful Change Leaders Do Well,” Harvard Business Review • Center for Creative Leadership, “How to Be a Successful Change Leader” • Navi Radjou and Jaideep Prabhu, Frugal Innovation: How to Do Better With Less • Eric Ries, The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses • Marie R. Miyashiro, The Empathy Factor: Your Competitive Advantage for Personal, Team, and Business Success • Hal Gregersen, “Use Catalytic Questioning to Solve Significant Problems,”Harvard Business Review • Donna Orem, “Polarity Management: A New Lens for Working Through Challenges,” Independent School magazine • Kandi Wiensand Darin Rowell, “How to Embrace Change Using Emotional Intelligence,” Harvard Business Review