Change is NOT a four letter word: What can we do to actually see results! Lynda Pletcher MEd National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center Chapel Hill, NC

Sustaining Change #1- Remembering what change is all about  Can be anticipated and planned or,  Can be unexpected and unplanned  Motivated by positive circumstances or,  Motivated by negative circumstances as a reaction against something.

“ Our dilemma is that we hate change and love it at the same time; what we want is for things to remain the same but get better.” Sydney Harris

 Change is situational and external  Change itself is not stressful. It is the transition between what was and what will be that causes stress.  Transition is the internal process of coming to terms with what is new.  Transition starts with endings and letting go of what was.

“Before you can begin something new you have to end what used to be. Before you can learn new ways of doing things, you have to unlearn the old ways. So beginnings, real change, depends on endings. The problem is people don’t like endings!” William Bridges

 For every change, positive or negative, there will be gains and losses so we must: Name them up front, Spell out what will remain the same, and What will be different.

Three major types of change  Incremental  Re-orientation  Re-creation

Sustaining change #2- Deciding on type of change needed How can you choose the right kind of change that fits the situation you are attempting to solve, improve or do differently?

Incremental Change  Tuning up something  Improving something you already do  Adapting something in a different way  First order change- altering tasks or methods

Re-orientation  Creating something new within the existing paradigm or system  Pushes the boundaries of core competencies  Second order change- new tasks and methods, AND altering relationships and roles

Re-creation  Big jumps out of the realm of what exists currently  Second order change- new tasks, methods, and new roles, relationships created  New systems to support the new ideas are created  Old ways are completely gone

Re-orientation and Re- creation = “hard” change.  Complex and complicated  Takes more time and energy  Requires careful planning  Leadership skill are essential  Management of many smaller “innovations” all connected to the big picture

“The more change you are implementing at re-orientation and re-creation, the less likely your will be viewed as an effective leader by the persons the change directly affects” Gerald Smale

Common mistake –We don’t know what kind of change we need so we do incremental change  All the incremental change efforts in the whole world won’t work if the problem really needs re-orientation or re-creation to solve it.  Spend all our time and energy on tasks that are only a piece and don’t impact the “whole”  Avoid the complex or complicated and do “anything” just to “get something” done now.  May in fact make things worse… solving the wrong problem.

Sustaining Change #3- Planning with a systems orientation 1. How does this fit into a bigger picture of your current “reality” 2. What are you trying to solve and WHY ! 3. What will you need to do differently 4. What can stay the same 5. Who does this affect / how Managing change and innovations-handout

“Its misleading and unhelpful to constantly stress that everything changes all the time. Changing more than needs to be changed multiples loss and the probability of unintended consequences.” Gerald Smale

Strategic Plans, Logic Models, Action Plans, Change Plans, Transformation Plans…  A model will help you organize, focus and stick to your work  Various models appeal to different approaches and personal learning styles  All models seem to point to common elements of the planning process  Not really linear as multiple things should happen at the same time (handout on models)

Commonalities of planning models  Some reason to make the change  Vision of where to go; what will “it” look like, picture of the future  Assessment of the “now”  Assessment of what needs to happen  Steps, activities, innovations or tasks spelled out  Timelines  Evaluation of how will you know it’s achieved  Resources needed  Communication of the ideas (marketing or selling )

 “The goal is not to implement a particular set of innovations or activities. It is to solve a problem in the most effective way.”  “Hope is still not a method!” Changedrivers- Handout

Sustaining Change # 4- Leading with systemic skills  The ability to think in terms of systems and knowing how to lead a system  The ability to understand the variability of work in planning and problem solving  Understanding how people we lead behave, learn, develop and improve  Understanding the interdependence and interaction between systems, variation, learning and human behavior  Giving vision, meaning, direction and focus to the organization

Leaders also must:  Inspire and, motivate  Gain buy-in  Build agreements  Share ownership and empower others to “do”  “Walk –the-talk”  Listen  Communicate clearly  Find and allow time, energy and resources to be re-allocated  Create a climate to allow people to succeed

Organization climates which help people to succeed  None judgmental; non-punitive  Space to “try things out”  Interesting and motivating  Values individuals and their competences  Provides easy access to resources which assist in understanding the tasks or activities we are being asked to do  Rewards the use of learning opportunities and practicing new skills

“climate” continued  Spells out and celebrates small increments of progress  Communicates the starting points and ending points  Provides positive feedback loops with open input and communication  Encouraging, “Can do” mentality  We are ALL in this together !

Sustaining Change #5- Knowing the people and supporting their needs “Systems make it possible. People make it happen” Changedrivers … or not happen….

All kinds of people… all kinds of motives. The “changees”:  Innovators  Change Agents  Champions  Early Adopters  Later Adopters  Laggards  Opponents Handout

Stages in getting people to adopt a change  Awareness  Information  Personal  Management  Consequences  Collaboration  Refocusing (CBAM handout)

Sustain Change #6- Keeping it going The Transformation Cycle:  Initiation Phase Desire---fear of failure Vision--- illusion  Uncertainly Phase Experimentation---panic Insight---confusion  Transformational Phase Confirmation and synergy---exhaustion  Routinization Phase Mastery---stagnation Transformation cycle handout

So why do we engage in change efforts anyway?