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Archive for March, 2010

Co-creating Deep Change

Sunday, March 28th, 2010

Deep change occurs when stakeholders are involved in the process, that is they have a chance to co-create the change. The process should include continuous conversation – both discussion and dialogue.

This co-creation occurs when leaders:

consider the needs of diverse groups;

involve stakeholders in the conversation from the beginning, rather when a draft plan has been written;

continuously communicate – where we are at, where we are going next, why we are going there?

use group processes to maintain transparency; and

allow all voices to be heard as a pathway to commitment.

Peter Senge describes commitment as being easily confused with compliance. People comply because they want to be part of team. While it is easy to tell if people are apathetic or non-compliant, it is less easy to identify true commitment. True commitment is not ‘buy-in’, which suggests a transaction, nor is it only enrolment (by choice). True commitment occurs when people want the change and are prepared to make it happen. Not all stakeholders will be at this level of commitment, however moving from mere participation to co-creation is likely to result in greater commitment.

Recently I came across the website of public engagement specialists Involve. They list nine principles of effective deliberative public engagement:

The process makes a difference
The process is transparent
The process has integrity
The process is tailored to circumstances
The process involves the right number and types of people
The process treats participants with respect
The process gives priority to participants’ discussions
The process is reviewed and evaluated to improve practice
Participants are kept informed

This resource can be downloaded from their website. They make the comment that you should not pretend to involve people if you have already decided on the outcome or if their input will not be used. This breaks trust and will negatively influence any further conversation. Deep, committed change will not occur.

Co-creation is not always easy nor does it always lead to consensus. Dialogue, conflict and respectful debate should be encouraged, rather than a group think mentality. If we are developing innovative organisations for the future we have to be up for a challenge. What do you think?

Tags: change management, co-creation, commitment, engagement
Posted in Change Management, Future Learning, Innovation | No Comments »

Pushing beyond 21st century rhetoric

Sunday, March 7th, 2010

I heard this from a student last year, following conference discussions about 21st century learners. His comment, “Don’t you realise that we are here now?” This reminded me that the changes needed in education are urgent, yet ongoing. We need to look to the future and get on with making changes.

This comment led to me facilitating two World Cafe events at the learning@school conference. The people who came to these sessions were ones who had been listening to the hype of 21st century learning, teaching and leading for some time and who wanted to challenge themselves and others to move forward. The World Cafe format allowed time to slow down, engage in dialogue and leave with some personal and professional ideas for the future.

Some of the overheard discussions during these sessions included:

Where is the expectation that things will change?
Just because we can’t do it doesn’t mean we should stop others from doing it.
I’m looking forward to being made redundant as a teacher.
If you believe in it you prioritize time.
I don’t think it’s written anywhere “Thou must do it alone.”
Schools should be laboratories for life.

Many of the comments focused around the need for changes in teacher practice and increasing the role of students in their own learning. If we really want to transform education we need to start with teacher change, otherwise students will not have a greater say. For teacher practcie to transform across an organisation school leaders must be committed to the transformation and lead by example.

One World Cafe participant jotted his thoughts clearly on a post-it, as shown below. I liked the quirky idea of a post-it on an iphone and also the call to personal action. I don’t think it is suggesting we will get change by riding over top of people. We know we need to build trust and gain commitment. We also know we can’t go at the pace of the slowest. The time for educational leaders to step up is now. We need to move beyond the rhetoric and start taking action. We could even involve students in the plan…