Before we begin

Please switch seats

The only person who likes change is a wet baby!!!

Targets Identify the phases for systems change Identify some strategies for creating effective change

A scholar’s thoughts on change

Three Phases Needed for Systems Change

CONSENSUS

Don’t Commit Assume-i-cide Don’t “assume” we can SKIP this phase Don’t “assume” we have enough commitment to go forward Don’t “assume” the staff will just be compliant Heartland Education Agency

Consensus Is… derived from Latin roots meaning “shared thought” a process for group decision-making a gathering and synthesis of ideas arriving at a final decision acceptable to all achieving better solutions

Consensus does NOT mean: A unanimous vote A majority vote Result is everyone’s first choice Everyone agrees Conflict or resistance will be overcome immediately Heartland Education Agency

Effective Consensus Process All group members contribute - everyone’s opinions are voiced, heard and encouraged Differences are viewed as helpful Everyone agrees not to sabotage the action or decision made by the group Members agree to take responsibility for implementation Heartland Education Agency

Building Consensus in your District/School What have you done to build consensus? What do you still need to do to build consensus? Consider: Who does the work?When will it be done? How will it be done?What resources are needed? Who are the stakeholders that need to be addressed? How will we define success & readiness to move to the next stage?

Moving from Consensus to Infrastructure and Implementation How do you know when you are ready? – Do 80% of staff agree on the vision? – Have you developed a communication plan with all stakeholders? – Has your staff moved from asking why questions to asking how and what questions?

Ready-Fire-Aim You will never be as “ready” as you would like to be Belief Behavior

Managing Complex Change CHANGE Vision Skills IncentivesResources Action Plans

Creating Effective Change

Creating Real Change Direct the Rider: The rational side Motivate the Elephant: The emotional side Shape the Path: Show them the way Taken from Switch: How to change things when change is hard by Chip Heath & Stan Heath, 2010

Directing the Rider: The Rational Side

Find the bright spots Script the critical moves Point to the destination

Find the Bright Spots Much of the knowledge and skills you will need already exists within your district Your job is to locate it and cultivate it

Script the Critical Moves

Avoid Analysis Paralysis The more choices we have, the less likely we are to act Continuing with current practice is easier because there are no decisions to be made

Script the Critical Moves Universal screener Core Curriculum with strong instruction Decision rules and protocol Progress Monitoring Interventions

Managing Complex Change Vision Skills IncentivesResources Action Plans FALSE STARTS

Script the Critical Moves Universal screener Core Curriculum with strong instruction Decision rules and reading protocol Progress Monitoring Interventions

Point to the Destination What is the final goal? Where are you heading? Create a destination postcard:

Managing Complex Change Vision Skills IncentivesResources Action Plans CONFUSION

What happens when we don’t direct the rider

Motivating the Elephant: The Emotional Side

Changing people’s actions is all about affecting people’s emotions

Motivate the Elephant Find the feeling Shrink the change – Don’t spook the elephant Grow your people

Find the feeling “Trying to fight inertia and indifference with analytical arguments is like tossing a fire extinguisher to someone who’s drowning. The solution doesn’t match the problem.” - Switch

Find the feeling Acknowledge that change is hard – Expect some difficult times – People want to hear the music

Find the feeling School Culture can stop change in it’s tracks – People can be perceived as irrational – Decisions can be made poorly – Personalities can get in the way – Initiative fatigue

Incentives Our professional work is our personal work

Incentives Show change will make their job more effective and efficient Work smarter not harder Show staff the pay off for the students – Staff will not be “compliant” unless they believe it good for them and their students.

Managing Complex Change Vision Skills IncentivesResources Action Plans RESISTANCE

Climate = Relationship People will work harder for people who they like and trust People will perceive you as an object until you get to know them. Real change does not happen on the macro level, it happens over and over at the personal, micro, level.

Shrink the change Break down the change into manageable steps. We do not want to spook the elephant.

Shrink the change People choose to adopt on things that they perceive as easy and powerful.

Shrink the change Connect the initiative to what you have already done. – When people realize that this is not new, but rather a framework for what has been done, the task is not so mighty.

THE BUDGET Not another thing! PLC Core Program ELL Title I Grade level meeting Assessment Instruction Professional development Behavior Special Education Interventions TAG

Grow your people Professional development should always be in place. – There is a difference between won’t and don’t know how.

If top down management worked we could mandate people into change. Grow your people

Agree or Disagree? 1.You are a certain kind of person, and there is not much that can be done to really change that 2.No matter what kind of person you are, you can always change substantially 3.You can do things differently, but the important parts of who you are can’t really be changed 4.You can always change basic things about the kind of person you are Taken from Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck, 2006 Growth Mindset Fixed Mindset

Grow your people Your task is not to create an RTI/PBIS system in your district Your task is to create people in your district who understand how to develop and implement an RTI/PBIS system Learning is the work!

It all comes down to people

Managing Complex Change Vision Skills IncentivesResources Action Plans ANXIETY

What happens when we don’t motivate the elephant

Shape the Path: Show them the way

Tweak the environment Build habits Rally the herd

Tweak the Environment What looks like a people problem, is often a situation problem

Tweak the Environment Do your staff have the resources they need? – Time to collaborate – Curricula – Staffing supports – Professional development and ongoing coaching support Put your staff in situations where they can be successful

Managing Complex Change Vision Skills IncentivesResources Action Plans FRUSTRATION

Build Habits “Almost everyone wants schools to be better, but almost no one wants them to be different” Raymond McNulty We have to build routines for teachers to make the different easier “First different, then better”

Building Habits in Schools Regular meetings with an agenda Consistent decision rules Daily schedules with instructional blocks Expectations for core instruction – Fidelity

Rally the Herd Behavior is contagious “Seed the tip jar”

Rally the Herd Change is like building a house... …It’s much easier to do with other people.

What happens when we don’t shape the path

Managing Complex Change CHANGE Vision Skills IncentivesResources Action Plans

CONSENSUS

Closing Thoughts

“Progress is built, in effect, upon the foundations of necessary failure” – Matthew Syed, Bounce

Thank you for the slides adapted/used for this presentation: Dave Tilly, Heartland AEA11 Wendy Robinson, Heartland AEA 11 IDM Development Team, Heartland AEA 11 George Bastche, Michael Curtis, & Clark Dorman, PS/RtI Project, DOE/University of South Florida Amelia Van Name Larson, Pasco County Florida Jim Knight, University of Kansas Ray McNulty, International Center for Leadership Education