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Credits appear on p. 153.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Fullan, Michael.
The six secrets of change : what the best leaders do to help their organizations survive
and thrive / Michael Fullan. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7879-8882-1 (cloth); ISBN 978-1-1181-5260-7 (paper); ISBN 978-1-1181-1526-8 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-1181-1525-1 (ebk);
ISBN 978-1-1181-1524-4 (ebk)
1. Organizational change. 2. Communication in organizations. 3. Interpersonal communication. 4. Employee empowerment. 5. Employee motivation. I. Title.
HD58.8.F84 2008
658.406—dc22
2008000879
I HAVE WRITTEN ONE OTHER BOOK IN WHICH I DELIBERATELY examined an equal number of cases in the business and in the education literature to see what could be learned. What I found in 2001 was five powerful interrelated themes related to organizational success: moral purpose, understanding change, relationships, knowledge use, and coherence (Fullan, 2001).
Seven years and a million change stories later, I address this same question: What do we know about successful organizational change under complex conditions? Now we more urgently need answers to “the change question,” and there is a lot to sort through. Just to name a few of the books on my desk: The Eight Skills That Separate People Who Perform from Those Who Don’t; The Three Tensions; The Five Minds of the Future; The Four Secrets of Long-Term Business Success and Failure; Seven Self-Destructive Habits; The Eight Essentials to Emotionally Connect Your Employees to Your Business; Twelve Elements of Great Managing. Holy numerology!
My own six secrets have been gleaned from my work in understanding and bringing about large-scale, substantial change through education reform in England and Ontario (in both the public school system and in universities), as well as in engaging in major change initiatives around the world. The secrets have been tested in relation to the business literature, especially those studies that furnish data and name companies. The secrets enable us to view the lessons in the literature with a critical eye; they equip us with the capacity to discern what advice is likely to be on the right track and what advice is downright dangerous.
The six secrets are not secret in the sense that there is a conspiracy to hide them from public view; they are secrets because they are hard to grasp in their deep meaning and are extremely difficult to appreciate and act on in combination. The purpose of this book is to make the secrets accessible. I always strive in my writing to take critical change ideas of the day and make them (1) insightful, (2) actionable, and (3) concisely communicable. Moreover, the secrets travel well in both the private and the public sectors, as we will see in examples from a variety of businesses and from health and public education systems. Finally, they are especially apropos in the face of the complexities of the “flat world” characterized by Thomas Friedman (2005) and the even more complex “semiglobal” conditions detailed by Ghemawat (2007).
If you master the six secrets, you will approach change with newfound confidence reflecting Pfeffer and Sutton’s elegant definition of wisdom: “the ability to act with knowledge, while doubting what you know” (2006, p. 174).
I will reveal what it takes to increase the chances of bringing about deep and lasting change. I will also show, as a few recent writers have, how misleading and dangerous it is to take the advice arising from seemingly successful organizations. Above all, the secrets guide you through the endemic uncertainties of change situations. If there were an answer to how to handle change, we would have found it long ago, and there wouldn’t be a billion-dollar industry devoted to its pursuit. But there are approximations, and they are getting pretty damn good.
It is time to spread the secrets for everyone’s good. Nothing is more important in the twenty-first century than learning to manage change. This book will help you do just that.
THE IDEAS BEHIND THE SIX SECRETS ARISE FROM MY WORK around the world in Australia, Chile, England, Hong Kong, Ireland, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Scandinavia, Scotland, South Korea, Thailand, the United States, Wales, and, of course, Canada. And the strategies are engaging all key players—politicians, government bureaucrats, members of the business community, parents, community leaders, students, teachers, administrative staff, and administrators. The ideas apply to the public and private sectors alike. I want to thank the numerous colleagues and friends who are working with me on this global agenda that is critical to our survival in the twenty-first century. I learn so much from them and from our work together.
A very special thanks to Premier Dalton McGuinty in Ontario. I have the privilege to serve as his special policy adviser, and we have had the opportunity to apply the secrets and learn from them in action in the public school system in Ontario from 2003 to 2007. Further, we have just been handed an overwhelming mandate from the electorate to go deeper in the next four years. When leaders do the right things, society benefits, and the strategy employing the Six Secrets works politically!
At home, Wendy and Conor provide a wonderful environment for living the good life. Not many people are as fortunate as I am, and I feel privileged on all fronts.
My thanks to Claudia Cuttress, who supported and shaped all the projects that fed into the secrets, and who helped produce this book—she is always a source of great ideas and invaluable support. I cannot thank her enough.
Finally, Jossey-Bass is the perfect publisher. Leslie Iura had the idea for this book and spurred me to write it. Matt Hoover and other editors were superb through the editing process to make the book stronger and better.
I thank all for allowing me to share our secrets. I hope you relish them.
MICHAEL FULLAN IS PROFESSOR EMERITUS AT THE ONTARIO Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, and is special adviser on education to Dalton McGuinty, the premier of Ontario.
Fullan is a doer and thinker. He served as dean of the faculty of education at the University of Toronto from 1988 to 2003, leading two major organizational transformations, including a merger of two large schools of education. He is currently working as adviser and consultant on several major education reform initiatives around the world.
Fullan bases his work on research drawn from both the public and private sectors, finding an increasing convergence in the best of this literature. He has written several best-sellers that have been translated into many languages.
Visit his Web site at www.michaelfullan.ca.
Reactions to The Six Secrets of Change are welcome at changeforces@oise.utoronto.ca.