Change Management Basics

Change and taking on irrational beliefs or, Talking Out of School, Super Bowl edition

My mother is absolutely crazy about Tom Brady. She never misses a game. She thinks Giselle needs her head examined. The first time TB12 retired, I picked up a retrospective magazine at the checkout line in CVS that my mom carries around to this day in the basket of her walker.

The woman loves Tom Brady.

(I thought this was a singular quirk but I guess older ladies loving Tom Brady is a phenomenon given the recent 80 for Brady film…)

He could leave his pregnant girlfriend for a supermodel, leave Patriots Nation, be kind of weird about nightshades and it doesn’t matter - the sun still rises and sets on Tom Brady.

Because here is the thing: humans are irrational creatures, especially about the things we love.

I grew up in Boston in the midst of a high point of tension between Red Sox Nation and the Yankees. At the rally celebrating the Patriots’ first Super Bowl win in 2002, the crowd broke out in a chant of “Yankees Suck.”

Seriously? Just imagine this ever happening in New York. No one in a New York crowd would be giving a second thought to a Boston team. In fact, I don’t even think there is a New York corollary to “Yankees Suck” about the Red Sox.

And here is the thing that the vast majority of educational leadership writing misses.

There are many insightful observations out there about the major churn and change going on in the school landscape. Experienced and wise people are dispensing a large amount of sensible advice. But most of the time, it doesn’t take into account the irrationality and persistence of belief.

It is all around us and whether it is cynically calculated to manipulate groups of people sympathetic to the irrational belief (insert your own recent example here). Or, to get more specific,  it’s Bill Maher on Real Time recently ranting about being gaslit by physicians identifying obesity as a complicated metabolic medical condition rather than slobs stuffing their gut with Burger King. I sat there watching it and wondering, Why does this matter so much to you and why can you not accept a new paradigm?  Is it really worth the aneurysm? 

In an excellent article by Elizabeth Kolbert in The New Yorker from 2017, she explores why belief so often trumps rationality - the main argument being that we evolved to be social creatures whose well being depended on being able to collaborate with the group. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/02/27/why-facts-dont-change-our-minds So, you defy the group’s belief system at your peril.

And it is exactly this phenomenon that makes implementing change in organizations so complicated, and particularly complicated in cultures that pride themselves on being a “family.” A leader can talk themselves blue in the face and present all kinds of graphs, charts and numbers that demonstrate the problems facing an organization. If it goes against the beliefs underpinning the organizational culture, it can easily fall on deaf ears.

And I’m not just talking about whipping out the world’s smallest violin for a new head of school trying to make the case for change to a skeptical board and community. Grown ups take head of school jobs and unless they have been in a coma for the past few years, they know the road ahead is going to be bumpy for the vast majority of schools. Change is hard and complicated and frustrating, full of ups and downs. It is also exciting and rewarding.

I’ve also seen, not infrequently, schools where the entire community from head and board on down is absolutely certain the solution to their problems is a new building  - when their old ones are falling apart, or enrollment is way off, or their endowment draw is unsustainably high or they have no endowment. You can also add “ands” instead of “ors” in that last sentence. There can be glaring, tenacious, difficult-to-solve basic business problems but the hope is pinned on the new program or new building or new marketing to save the day.

(I couldn’t resist…)

And many boards think that if communications could “just get the word out,”  admissions would be flooded with applications. There are schools in Connecticut advertising on billboards. I know a school that seriously entertained being the setting for a teen reality show. These broad initiatives might feel like it’s getting the word out, but what are the chances it’s reaching the demographic your particular school needs?  And there is little interest to explore if the current, long time offerings of the school are meeting the needs of a shrinking demographic and a new post pandemic context. 

It’s standing in the crowd at a Super Bowl rally in 2002, surrounded by a “Yankees Suck” chant instead of savoring the Patriots victory. And maybe we should begin to wonder why we’re so married to this narrative when the Yankees are home counting their championship rings. 

Much ink by far more talented writers than I have reflected on the inexorable, emotional pull of belief in the Curse and all that goes with it. I have yet to walk into Fenway Park on a summer twilight and not get choked up for a minute seeing the field and the Green Monster and the Citgo sign.  But times and context change. Ownership left the Yawkey family after 70 years in 2002 and then four World Series championships followed.

We all love the romance of the past. I’m quite sure that’s a big part of the reason why I wax so nostalgic about my days at Walnut Hill as the academic dean. (And when you’re doing physical therapy for your sore back, being younger also seems like a much better deal.) And the challenges of the current moment are in many ways overwhelming, making the past seem even more appealing. But schools and their leaders can’t afford to get stuck in the sentimental cul-de-sac.

Leadership is a combo platter where communication of both empathy AND data is necessary.

Find ways to reflect back to the community the healthy and vibrant parts of the culture, and give away credit on wins whenever possible. Partner with the CFO to give the community the real facts about your financial position. Work with the board so that they understand the real challenges ahead and the unique opportunities the program and culture at your school presents. The head and the board need to be truly united on where the school is heading. If major change is needed, this is not work for the faint of heart because taking on a culture’s belief system is probably the hardest job there is.

Many people will talk to you about standards and rigor. Smile, engage and actively listen. Ask many questions about what worked so well in the past and what people miss. Some are doing this to process their grief about what is passed and are getting ready to board the change train. It will take time, but these conversations where people speak fondly of the past are signs of progress.

Other people won’t want to move through the grief process. And it’s not because they are intent on making your life more difficult. And the pull of belief can be extremely difficult to fight. You are guaranteed not to have a 100% success rate in your communications efforts. And a failure to grieve can come out in many surprising ways as you move forward with change.

It will also not help the school or the students you are currently serving to get stuck trying to mollify the people who don’t want to let go of the past. Unless you have a time machine, the job is impossible. You get locked in an unproductive and frustrating dynamic where you are shoving data at them and they are frowning at you - you are not speaking the same language. And be aware that even if you step away from this dynamic, they may still behave in ways to try and pull you back in because this stasis is preferable to change.

You need to nurture the folks who are excited for the potential of the current moment, the emerging leaders who want to pilot new initiatives and the new hires who have come to build the future. Put your energy there to fundamentally start to shift the cultural narrative because their positive energy will become infectious.

This piece is already rife with too many metaphors but my usual framing is: water the flowers that are blooming.

By the time the Patriots won the 2004 Super Bowl, there were no chants of “Yankees Suck” at the victory rally. Is there still extra security on when the Yankees come to Fenway? I am quite sure of it. But at least people could start to enjoy the moments of victory.

Change is always possible - it’s just a matter of how much and when.

Enjoy your weekend -

Julie

PS - Next Friday, an “off” Friday for the newsletter, I will be circulating a very short survey to get a little more info about the readership and what topics you might find helpful to explore. I am starting to compile a list of people who might be interesting to either interview or to engage as guest authors, as well as topics for me to write about into the spring. And I will soon have an update as to the official launch of Stony Creek Strategy services.

Social media thumbnail photo by Wei Zhang on Unsplash