Are you a change agent or a stabilizer?

Our district hosted a Google/Best Buy event last week which showcased our new high school, our 1:1 program, and career-tracked organization of courses. Thanks to the leadership, innovation, and courage of a number of administrators, coordinators, teachers (and students!), the district could proudly display amazing facilities, programs, and initiatives that will be of great benefit to our graduates and to our community. I was very proud to be a One91 employee.

But I found myself in a somewhat unfamiliar role - that of stabilizer rather than of change agent.

I once encountered a theory/observation, that the best organizational hierarchies sandwich stabilizers between the change agents*. Stabilizers help preserve the positive aspects of the organization's culture, create processes, manage resources, and provide the infrastructure on which innovation can be built. In other words, stabilizers are the managers who keep the electricity running and the paychecks accurate. A role which I have argued has long gone unrecognized in our adoration of leadership.

For much of my career, I worked for superintendents who were stabilizers. So I took the role of change agent and my techs and coordinators got to stabilize. In my current position, both my superintendent and my instructional tech coordinator are strong advocates and visionaries for change. So you know what my role has become - the plodding sort who writes technology plans, supervises the budget, worries about network reliability, insists on written curricula and teacher evaluation standards etc. Rather than celebrating the pockets-of-wow, I worry about the staff who just don't seem to be getting it with technology. It doesn't make me much fun or, I suppose, much fun to be around.

I must say though that I am happy to be making a contribution to improving the lives of small people and quite a few large people as well. If my being able to balance the ship so that the ship can move forward, so much the better. That is without being considered ballast.

* My undying gratitude to anyone who can point me to where this was published!

Comments

[Jen Hegna]

Doug,
I am very impressed with what you have been able to accomplish in just a short time. It's amazing. Your tech planning has truly paid off! Infrastructure is one of those things that most people ignore until it doesn't work. It's a mission critical component. The other thing that is commendable is going all in Google in just a few months with the size of your district. I am still surprised that so many districts in MN still have 2 email systems. I would love to learn what you are planning (or ideas you are considering) to improve the tech skills of ALL of your teachers. And finally, I'd still like to visit you. I want to shadow a few tech leaders this year for my own professional growth and you are at the top of my list.

Jen

[Doug Johnson]

Hi Jen,

I would be delighted to have you visit. You would be bored to tears actually shadowing me ;-) but I'd be happy to include you in tech team meetings and give tours of the district. Just let me know a good time and day.

Thanks for coming to the Google/BestBuy event as well!

Doug