edl 400 organizational leadership change management course notes

7/28/2019 Edl 400 Organizational Leadership Change Management Course Notes

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Organizational Theory and Change Management (June 25-July 2, 2013)

The Opposable Mind Roger Martin This is a recommended book of the course, and deals

with successful business people and how they use integrative thinking to solve problems by

looking at them from different perspectives and are OK with the tension, complexity of situations.

The first assignment is an Individual Adult Learner Profile.The Adult Learner Profile is due

before the start of the period tomorrow.

Individual Vision. The individual vision assignment is due Thursday morning before class

starts.

Dr. Fitzgerald showed many images, I liked the light bulbs and black sheep examples.

If you are too far ahead of the group, you become the enemy and not the leader.

Enlightenment versus Darkenment - Bambi Betts PTC

Research says... Educational research does not have all of the answers

Why study organizations?

too often they are flawed, dysfunctional families, policies that make things worse,

What is the Curse of Cluelessness?

Bolman and Deal argue that Its in how we think and make sense of the world around

us.

You will probably stick with all you have when problem solving.

It doesnt matter how smart you are, if you are not open to other ideas, leadership

Leadership is learning to see.

Why do individuals see different things?

Dr. Fitzgerald showed the controversial video of Cheerios and the interracial couple and the

discussion of The View.

We all have filters like language, memories, beliefs, values, attitudes, etc that impact how we

react or think about experiences.

Quotes about Leadership

Chinese proverb water wears down the rock so go softly but persistently.

Having a limited focus for a school and this is the most important characteristic for a

leader.

Individual Brainstorming Exercise

How would you define leadership if you were someone else in your organization?


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A student? A Teacher? Board Member? A Member of the general public? Your boss?

This is an interesting question because it makes me think about the question from different

viewpoints.

A student? On a surface level, teenagers would say they want a leader that lets them do whatthey want and would focus on things like off-campus privileges, dress code, personal electronic

devices, etc. I think however, inside and what they really want is a leader that understands them,

takes his job seriously, and tries to provide for them opportunities that would not be possible

without that person. They want interesting and valuable classes, hard-working, empathetic

teachers, and a place they can call their own and want to come to on a daily basis and feel that

belonging to that community will improve them.

I think everyone can agree to the second part of last paragraph, regardless of what part of the

community they belong to.

A teacher? I think teachers want a leader that will give them clear direction on some key issues

or procedures. In a general sense, they want a leader that sets a positive, serious tone for the

school so the students will excel. They also want leaders that will trust them and give them

freedom to teach how they best feel, but...

Dr. Fitzgeralds goal is to become more discriminating consumers of organizational theory and

advice. There is a lot of advice out there?

What are frames? They are lenses on how people look at organizations.

Reframing - looking at events from different perspectives

When reading do the four As

A - What Assumptions are the authors bringing to the book?

A- What do I Agree with?

A - What do I want to Argue with?

A - anything I can can Act on or inspire to Act on

The Structural Frame (FACTORIES) chapters 3-5

Think goals, tasks, roles,

Chapter 3 Getting Organized

These two are the fathers of organizational science

Frederick Taylor - scientific management and his work on efficiency, time, and motion

studies.


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Max Weber - German sociologist looked at heirarchies and sorting out roles, policies,

etc.

Structural Forms and Functions - How is the work organized? What are the rules? Who controls

the work? Policies and Handbooks define these.

Saturn Car Company - Rule 1 - Use your good judgment in all situations. There will be no

additional rules.

Think about your organization. How does structure both enhance and constrain?

It is the goldilocks and finding the right balance between too much control and direction and not

enough support.

Think long and hard about setting up the structure of a school as you become a leader. Social

Architecture is a good term for a structure of an organization.

The Basic Structural Tensions

differentiation versus integration (specialize per department and then trying to coordinate

their efforts)

The job of the leader is to resolve these tensions.

sub-optimization an employee becomes

Dr. Fitzgeralds favorite size for a K-12 school is 600. - The size provides students the

opportunity to hide and to shine as well. This size also allows a variety of programs.

There are two responses to this tension:

1) Vertical Coordination - Chart on who reports to whom policy manuals planning systems

(goals for students) Authority (boss makes the decision with input)

2) Lateral Coordination - Meetings, Task Forces, Coordinating Roles, Networks

The McDonalds versus Harvard example. McDonalds is very centralized and standardized

versus the diffuse goals,


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There are natural tensions in the structural frames of any organization, and it also occurs in

schools. The key is finding the balance between integration and differentiation, faculty workloads,

autonomy versus interdependence, goal bound versus goalless, etc. This is the goldilocks

dilemma.

Mintzberg Five (page 79 in the textbook - 1979) Mintzberg gives graphic organizers to show thestructural frames of different types of organizations.

Mintzberg 5 operating core / middle line / technostructure/ support staff / strategic apex)

Below is the Professional Bureaucracy model that I think fits our school well.

The large bottom part are the teachers, and within this, the departments or schools form

adhocracys within this large base. The top is the school director / BoT. The left side is

IT/Business Office, and to the right are the secretaries, maintenance, security. The principal, my

spot, is the narrow neck in the middle.

Another image to think about is Helgesens Web of Inclusion it is more of the leadership at the

center rather than at the top, with a network of interconnections of communication and support.

Six Distinguishing Characteristics of High-Performing Teams

Shape of team in response to the task

Specific measurable goals (small wins and end goals)

Manageable size

right mix of expertise (hard and soft skills)

common commitment to working relationships

collectively accountable

Katzenbach & Smith The Wisdom of Teams 1993

Human Resource Frame Familes Chapters 6-8

The major dilemma of service organizations is how much to invest in employees and the

financial constraints of the company. Some other notes from the section 6-7-8 are as follows:

McGregors Theory X (workers passive, lazy) and Theory Y (workers independent, manager sets


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the environment)

Maslow Hierarchy is not scientifically validated. Wow, weve been taught that for 30 years.

The Political Frame Jungle Chapters 9-11

Interview with Being the BossMany managers focus only on the operational and not the

outside their job description. You need to target individuals who will help you. We create

networks with people we work with and people we like, but we should create relationships with

people who are important for you to get your job done. It is important to look at yourself and ask

can I be trusted? Do people like to work with me? One sign is when people have a meeting

before the meeting that you were not invited to attend. How do people experience themselves

when they are with you? What happens when you are a competent jerk? We get our

competence from the people we work with. You need to have your allies and network when there

are political enemies, and just doing good work may not be enough.

Operational (your immediate team)

Strategic Network (future, environment)

Development (personal contacts, social/practical learning with your relationships)

Faculty

Scheduling is a very clear message of what a school values - time is the most precious

resource.

Finite resources and competing for these

Chapter 9 - Sources of Power (authority) How much power does one really have in a school, due

to their position? The people you work with are barriers to getting your way (p 202)

Tempered Radicals

Stanford Professor Debra Myerson discusses fitting in without selling your soul feel different

from the majority -

How tempered radicals make a difference?

Resisting very quietly (dress, office decor, what you choose to tackle or let go by, express an

opinion, take a traditional ritual of a school - change it a bit, language ex-someone made a racist

comment on the table but stood up)

turning personal threat into opportunity (choosing to respond interactions that run counter to

your personal values - speak up non-confrontational, silence, humor, delay a response) - when
http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fbeingtheboss.com%2F&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNG0wFjX2DCrHl45ILyAiQYB574gFQ


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something happens counter to your values, you have a range of responses

broadening the impact through negotiation (pick your battles, identify what is negotiable or

nonnegotiable, depersonalize situations - how will this impact others like me?, seek advice and

weigh it, use third parties to lend legitimacy, clout and connections)

Do you have the energy for that work/job?

leveraging small wins have a blurry vision so it can adapt to changing situations scour daily

details for opportunities, talk about the meaning of small wins,

organizing collective action sanctioned vs. non-sanctioned employee groups (grade level

group, department, non-sanctioned is groups meeting out of school

You can look at this as subversive and negative or vice versa and make it positive...

The Symbolic Frame Temples Chapters 12-14

Cultures Consequences: International Differences in Work-related Values (Geert

Hofstede 1984)

Power Distance - measure of power inequality between bosses and subordinates

high power-distance countries are Phillipines, Mexico, Venezuela) more autocratic the

better

low power-distance countries are Denmark, Israel, Austria

Uncertainty Avoidance - measure of level of comfort with uncertainty and ambiguity

high uncertainty avoidance countries are Greece, Portugal, Belgium, Japan tend to make

heavy use of structure, rules, specialists to maintain control

low uncertainty countries Hong Kong, Denmark, Sweden, Singapore put less emphasis

on structure and more tolerant of risk-taking

Individualism - the importance of the individual versus the collective

High Individual countries are USA, Australia, Canada, UK

Low individual countries are Peru, Pakistan, Colombia, Venezuela

Masculinity-femininity -

countries with men

It is important to have a ritual/ceremony of new teachers being inducted into the faculty.

Roger Martin - In Praise of Integrated Thinking


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He is the head of the business school at the U of Toronto. Integrated Thinkers when confronted

with a problem with two solutions that a leader doesnt totally like either. Instead of selecting one

or the other, or the least bad the integrative thinker will look at elements of both and come up

with a third or fourth solution.

The opposable mind is a play on words from the opposable thumb, and the mind can be usedlike the thumb with the tension between the two solutions (finger and thumb). Have both

solutions in the mind, and come up with a better solution.

Salience - To go back to the beginning and gather more information. The great leaders

Causality

Architecture

Resolution

The Four Frames Analysis

We watched the following movies:

Margaret Thatcher: The Iron Lady - The big frame here for me was the Symbolic, the

story of the harsh medicine for a patient on its death bed. The patient being Englands

economy and the medicine were the cuts to the budget. It was also test of power, and

what she could get done within an organization

Keegan and Lahey Immunity to Change

The theory is that leaders go through three plateaus in their career, moving up a ladder of

thinking complexity.

I. Socialized Mind - Reliant / Team Player / Aligning / Seeks Direction / Faithful Follower

II. Self Authoring Mind - Independent / Agenda Driving / Own Compass and Frame / Problem

Solving / Learns to Lead

puts a filter on info receiving, only taking in things that a leader seeks, missing out on info

that is not sought or appreciated

if you focus on PROBLEM SOLVING, you miss out on

III. Self-Transforming Mind - Interdependent / Leader Leads to Learn / Multi Frame / Problem

Finding / Meta Leader

they pay attention to more things around them (salience in Martins Integrative Thinking)

The leader not only leads, but is very flexible and leads to learn and can hold multiple

frames and dilemmas.


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knowing off-mission information can be important, both the sending and receiving of

information

The Change Game

We played this $900 simulation board game of implementing change in an organization.

Dr. Fitzgerald asked us to reflect on the decision making process. I saw that the groupmembers looked toward the older and more experienced people in the group to lead the

decision making. We all agreed that everyone should have input, and we verbally said

that if someone has expertise in a certain area, then they should take charge of that

aspect, but overall, one person would make decisions. When I moved groups I saw it

was different with one person making the calls in a decisive manner.

Sources of Power

Position Power comes with the the job title, but should not solely be relied on for success.(page

203 in Bolman and Deal)

edl 400 organizational leadership change management course notes

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