Leading in a Culture of Change.
Fullan, Michael. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Inc., 2001.
Reviewed by Steve Schafer, WELD program.
Context:
In the opinion of this reviewer, this text was published at a very appropriate time - as education is in the midst of monumental change with regards to technology and its incorporation into the classroom, educational process, and educational institutions. Barone and Hagner relate that the "challenge for today's college or university is how to change its environment to accommodate and promote the use of these new technologies better" (2001, p. 1). Of course, regardless of whether it is an individual or an institution, coping with change is not easy. Therefore, the advice in this text may prove quite valuable for many individuals and many institutions.
Purpose:
Page 34 of this book states that, "change can be lead, and leadership does make a difference. So one purpose of this book is to understand change in order to lead it better. . .the goal is to develop a greater feel for leading complex change, and to develop a mind-set and action set that are constantly cultivated and refined."
Arguments and Evidence:
This writing states that two things have occurred in recent times that have aided the discovery and pursuit of effective leadership. The first is that the knowledge base of what it takes to be an effective leader is getting broader and deeper, and with more insight. The second thing that happened is that there are many more examples of transformation in both business and education.
In reading this text and then reviewing it for this critique, I concluded that there were three basic premises that were utilized to accomplish the purpose of the book. I think that the first premise was found within the verbiage of the preface, which related that "this book is about how leaders can focus on certain key change themes that will allow them to lead effectively under messy conditions. This book is also about how leaders foster leadership in others, thereby making themselves dispensable in the long run" (p. x)
The second premise is that "each and every leader, whether the CEO of a multinational corporation or a school principal, can become more effective - much more effective - by focusing on a small number of core aspects of leadership and by developing a new mind-set about the leader's responsibility to himself or herself and to those with whom he or she works" (p. 2).
The premise this book uses to achieve its purpose is that it "delves into the complexities of leadership . . .It provides insights, strategies, and, ultimately, better theories of knowledge and action suited to leadership in complex times" (p. 10).
The book lists five components of leadership that were discussed and reviewed (in detail in separate chapters) to support the three premises that were utilized to achieved its purpose. These five components were: moral purpose (which means acting with the intentions of making a positive difference in the lives of employees, customers, and society as a whole), understanding the change process (I think this is self-explanatory), relationships (which means consummating relationships with diverse people and groups; effective leaders constantly foster interaction and problem solving, and are wary of easy consensus), knowledge creation and sharing (which represents a merging of the previous three components to arrive at something new to help or facilitate the change or an understanding of it), and coherence (which is eliminating the ambiguity associated with new knowledge created and shared - connecting the new knowledge to existing knowledge).
The book argues that by utilizing these five components, we have the correct checks and balances for "simultaneously letting go and reining in. When leaders act in the ways recommended, they will disturb the future 'in a manner that approximates the desired outcomes,' to use Pascale et.al.'s felicitous phrase (2000)" (p. 137), because "after years of work on structural changes - standards and testing and ways of holding students and schools accountable - the education policy world has turned its attention to the people charged with making the system work. Nowhere is the focus on the human element more prevalent than in the recent recognition of the importance of strong and effective leadership" (p. 135).
Success:
Since the book is in its first few years of circulation, it is very difficult to determine the success or failure of a publication. However - in the opinion of this reviewer - this book outlined its purpose, accomplished this purpose via the methods described in the "Arguments and Evidence" section of this critique, and then summarized what had been stated within the book ---- therefore, based on achieving its stated purpose - the book is a success.
I enjoyed the book, understood how and why it was arranged the way that it was, and understood the principles discussed in it - therefore, based on my personal thoughts, it is also a success.
Personal Reaction:
I thought this writing was very informative and quite insightful. I also agreed with most of the thoughts and ideas expressed within the verbiage.
One of the thoughts expressed throughout the book was that schools and businesses are more alike then either cares to admit. I thought that this was a new insight and after finishing the book, I thought this was a valid concept. As an example, one of the passages in the book states "that corporations and school systems have much more in common than we thought. They are not identical, but they both would be better off (and hence so would society) if they strengthened their capacity to access and leverage hidden knowledge" (p. 105).
A second thing that I liked about the book was how it used simple examples to illustrate certain aspects and/or concepts. An example of this - is how it utilized Fontaine's Fable about the tortoise and the hare to illustrate a point. The book relates that "people, like tortoises, have to stick their necks out to get somewhere. The lessons for developing leaders in a culture of change are more tortoise-like than hare-like because they involve slow learning in context over time" (p. 121).
Given these thoughts and sentiments, it is the opinion of this reviewer that this book has a place in his personal library and most likely in the personal library of many other individuals.
Reference:
Barone, C. & Hagner P. (2001). Technology-Enhanced Teaching and Learning: Leading and Supporting the Transformation on Your Campus. San Francisco, VA: Jossey-Bass Inc.