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