TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGE

Path 1: Assessing the External Environment

Three Paths to the Future

■Path 1: Transform environmental relationships■Path 2: Transform core and support work■Path 3: Transform internal social infrastructure

Path1: Transform Environmental Relationships

■All systems exist inside broader environment■Environment has two parts: task environment

and general environment

Suppliers

Local communit

y

New Competit

ors

Customers

Existing Competito

rs

Federal Legislatio

nDemograph

ics World

Events

Econ

omic

Cond

ition

s

Social

Values

and

Lifestyles

Task Environment

General Environment

Assessing the External Environment■Tools

– Stakeholder Analysis– SWOT Analysis– Force Field Analysis– Political Assessment

Stakeholder Analysis

■Identify your system’s key external stakeholders—individuals and groups

■Identify their main issues or concerns? Estimate how important these issues or concerns are for your system?

■Estimate how much power they have. Power is the ability to influence your system’s behavior.

SWOT Analysis

■First, identify opportunities and threats– Data-based, not opinion-based– Real, not hypothetical

■Second, given the opportunities and threats identify your system’s strengths and weaknesses– Honest, not self-deceptive– Real, not imagined– Data-based, not opinion-based

SWOT Analysis MatrixOpportunities Threats

Strengths What strengths does our system

have that can help us seize these opportunities?

What strengths do we have that can

help us minimize or avoid these

threats?Weaknesses What weaknesses

doer our system have that might

prevent or hinder us from seizing

these opportunities?

What weaknesses do we have that make us more

vulnerable to these threats?

Force Field Analysis (use your stakeholder and SWOT analysis data to identify external forces for and against change)Forces Supporting

TransformationForces Opposing Transformation

Stakeholder pressure to transform—strong

Changing demographics of student population—moderate

Local business community—weak

Lack of financial resources—very strong

Dominant paradigm controlling Deaf

education—strong

Teacher education programs not adequately

preparing future teachers—moderate

Transformation Goals

Political Assessment (use the results of your stakeholder analysis to make these assessments)■Transformational change generates political

behavior– Political support—internal and external– Political opposition—internal and external

■Assess external political support and opposition by identifying– Allies– Bedfellows– Opponents– Adversaries– Fence-sitters

Political Groups Within the External Environment

High Agreement

Bedfellows

Fence-Sitters

Allies

Low Agreement Adversaries Opponents

Low Trust High Trust

Adapted from Block, P. (1991). The empowered manager: Positive political skills at work. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Political Analysis of Key Stakeholders

High influence, High

Importance

Low influence, High Importance

High influence, Low

ImportanceLow influence, Low

ImportanceAl

lies

Bedf

ello

ws

Opp

onen

ts Fenc

e-Si

tter

s

Adve

rsar

ies

Level of influence = amount of power

Level of importance = how important their concerns are

SWOT + Force Field Analysis + Political Assessment—Now What?■OT + SW + FFA+ PA tactics

plans■The plans for change must be aligned with the

grand vision and strategic direction of your system■The tactics and plans should be developed through

broad participation—people tend to support what they help create

Anticipating Objections to Change■Political opposition (adversaries and opponents)

will raise objections to proposed changes.■The objections often are expressed as “nice idea,

but….”

6 Common Objections

• Nice idea, but…who else is doing this?

• Nice idea, but…how do we pay for this?

6 Common Objections

• Nice idea, but…we can’t stop doing what we’re doing to participate in this kind of change process.

• Nice idea, but…there is nothing new about what you are proposing—we tried all this before.

6 Common Objections

• Nice idea, but…we don’t need to do this because we are already a good school system.

• Nice idea, but…we don’t have the right people working in the system.

The Strongest Objections—Paradigms, Mental Models, and Mind-Sets■Paradigm—a set of theories, philosophy, values,

principles, and so on that control a profession.■Mental Models—preferred ways of working,

thinking, behaving■Mind-Sets—attitudes toward the paradigm and

mental models

Deaf Education ExampleDominant Deaf Education Paradigm

Mental Models in Deaf Education

ASL-Only Signed English Language Planning

Oral Cued Speech

Mind-Sets About the Paradigm and Mental Models

Positive Neutral Negative

Behavioral Strategies to Support the Preferred Paradigm and Mental Models

Observable Behavior that Reinforces the Paradigm, Mental Model, and Mind-Sets

Group Activities■ Working in small groups…

1. Identify your system’s key stakeholdersa) Who are they?b) What are their key concerns or issues?c) How much power do they have to influence your

system’s behavior?2. Assess your system’s opportunities and threats, then its

strengths and weaknesses.a) What data do you have or need to back up your

assessment?b) How will you get those data?

Group Activities (continued)3. Review your list of key stakeholders to identify

who among them are:a) Alliesb) Bedfellowsc) Adversariesd) Opponentse) Fence-Sitters

4. Identify some possible objections to change that your adversaries, adversaries, opponents, and fence-sitters might raise.

Group Activities (continued)5. Construct a force field analysis matrix using

the results of the first four activities.a) Identify some strategies for minimizing or

removing the forces opposing your ideas for change.

6. Given the paradigm controlling Deaf education and its supporting mental models and mind-sets, discuss whether or not those phenomena need to change.

You have 60 minutes to work through as many of the activities as possible. When we reconvene as a large group I will ask randomly selected groups to report their results.If you have questions about assessing the external environment please present them when we reconvene.

“Poll Everywhere”questions■ Do you believe that assessing the external environment is a critical step in your system’s

transformation journey?1. Yes2. No3. Maybe

■ How would you rate your system’s level of readiness to engage in transformational change? 1. Not ready2. Ready3. Mastery

■ How would you estimate the probability of your system’s chances of succeeding with its transformation?

1. Very low probability2. Low probability3. Moderately good probability4. High probability5. Very high probability