Reflections on ULearn13

One of the joys of participating in a Conference such as ULearn is the opportunity to make linkages between different viewpoints, surfacing common threads, trends and uncertainties and finding unexpected and useful resonances on the challenges before you in your own work. Beyond the keynotes, presentations and breakouts, ideas are challenged and nurtured through conversation and social media. Fuelled by passion, shared commitment, strong coffee and the odd glass of wine, seeds are planted that will grow into new understandings and new ways of working.

Over the past few months we have been working with the First Time Principals Programme to develop and deliver a series of workshop presentations exploring the need for transformative change in school libraries in New Zealand and the critical role that school principals have to lead that change in their schools. Central to the change are shifts in understanding, perception and culture.

ULearn13 with its challenge to ‘change, improve, innovate, adapt, engage, evolve’ was a perfect fit for reflecting on our work with the First Time Principals Programme.

Keynote speaker Mark Pesce tried to shock us from any sense of complacency in stating that “_education is at the biggest crisis that it’s been in for centuries” ._This crisis he argues is both challenge and opportunity. Hyper-connectivity changes everything. Pesce argues that if we resist the tide of change we will be swept away by it.

But change is not easy. It can be painful. It requires leadership. With this in mind I found Mark Osborne’s breakout session on leadership and adaptive change particularly relevant to our work transforming libraries. In his exploration of ‘adaptive change’ I recognised many of the challenges I see in the schools that I work with.

Adaptive change..." will disrupt cooperation, a sense of well being, and cohesion. [It] may confront group identities, change working relationships, challenge expertise and competencies, and throw people into stages of ‘conscious incompetence’ “(Heifetz)

Adaptive organisations:

• Preserve the ‘right’ behaviours

• Discard behaviour that no longer serves the current needs

• Create behaviours required to flourish in new ways

• Share responsibility for the organisation

• Expect independent judgment

• Develop leadership capacity

• Encourage reflection and continuous learning

Adaptive organisations name the elephants in the room (I particularly liked this!)

I recognised in Mark’s presentation the challenge he sees in crossing the chasm between the early adopters of change to the early majority. Moving from the visionaries to the pragmatists.

Mark’s tips for success included:

• aim for the early majority

• reframe loss into gain

• small steps, every day

• think of the thermostat (only apply as much heat as people can take)

• keep change moving forward without causing total resistance.

Mark’s analogy of turning down the thermostat when the heat and friction from change becomes counterproductive is a good one to remember.

Many of these ideas were echoed in Nat Torkington’s breakout session on innovation and start-ups. Nat underlined the importance of organisational culture and interpersonal trust in making change. He also shared some homespun wisdom gleaned from the business school of hard knocks:

• Make something that people want

• Big bang changes are guaranteed to fail

• Start small

• Remove the risk

Librarians have much to gain from participating in conferences such as ULearn and engaging in conversations with innovators such as Nat Torkington. Reflection and continuous learning is at the heart of meaningful and sustainable transformation.

References

The practice of adaptive leadership: tools and tactics for changing your organization and the world by Ronald A. Heifetz , Marty Linsky and Alexander Grashow

Further reading

Principal led transformation: libraries as learning centres

Image by Rennett Stowe