Establish an action-research network to overcome systemic and cultural problems
The world is changing faster than systems can keep up. This is seen in business, industry, education, healthcare, banking, etc. The basic problem facing managers is very similar in all of these ways of doing business: Owners and managers think they see where the business needs to move, but have a hard time explaining or motivating current staff to make the necessary changes. Sometimes management is faced with cultural issues, and while they fully understand it, since they also come from those cultures, it is even more difficult because the change goes to the very fiber of their countries or ideals and yet it is necessary for your organization to survive. An example of this is seen in education in the Arab world where spokespersons such as Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan and Crown Prince HH Shaikh Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa of Bahrain are actively seeking dramatic change in education. away from graduates. who want and expect the government to hire them and take care of them for the rest of their lives as has been the case for a long time. In much of the world, government has always been the best employer and now economic pressures are insisting on a shift to an entrepreneurial society, generating economic growth in the new knowledge-based economic environment. Using this example, we see several complex layers of issues that need to be addressed simultaneously to achieve systemic change. These layers include:
- produce a cultural mind shift from government-served to fast-paced entrepreneurial ventures
- encourage a shift from seeking only security to being willing to take risks
- need to incorporate the “soft” skills required in modern business into the standard curriculum
- Provide professional development for teachers so they can model these new skills, ones they currently do not have or understand.
- find the time to release all staff for this training and update while the work being done continues
- find a way to get the change to be accepted by people instead of generating resentment
As with most complex problems, tackling these problems head-on causes many experienced leaders and managers to cower in the face of potential failure. We’ve all seen reform efforts go awry. Every new idea that is not implemented correctly leaves a residue of resentment and skepticism, which eventually damages the entire culture of our working world. Many Western environments have already seen this, with employee morale plummeting and productivity halting following the announcement of mergers, reorganizations, etc.
The good news is that networked participatory action research (PAR) can overcome many, if not all, of these challenges. This article sets out the general format that leadership can use, along with good PAR facilitation, to develop teams of staff who study the problems and develop solutions, embracing the changes required by the complex situation rather than subtly opposing it. everything changes.
How do you start? The first step for management is to work out what personal incentives can be used to encourage people to take on the extra work that is being asked of them. This is a common problem for businesses, non-profit organizations, and public administrators, who generally expect this type of work to only be done under the normal auspices of an individual’s employment. We have found that incentives bring success, and without them, complex reforms of this nature are much more likely to experience a failure rate of around 50%. This is why. This PAR process will require these teams to work outside of their normal business day to collect data, hold meetings to discuss actions and measures, implement new steps, and measure their success. Consider them pilot projects in each of your main centers of activity. If you were paying consultants to put together a pilot for you, you would pay them. In this case, your own staff should be treated with the same respect that you would give those consultants. The change in your attitude will seem noticeable. When you ask them to become experts at what they do and help you redesign your own work environment to better meet the needs of outside pressures to change, to try new ideas, and you show them respect by paying them more for their extra work. work, they are much more likely to give you their full attention.
What are you asking them to do? Participate regularly in an action research project and write the results in a final report that will be available for publication. This involves a discovery cycle in which they look at what needs to change to make their vision a reality, brainstorm what steps can be taken and measure the results of those first steps, and then come back and reflect with you on what they they are finding. This will then kick off another round of discovery, measurable action, and reflection, a process that continues until you see real, sustainable change. In this way, they will take ownership of the changes you need them to make, feel transformed in their new roles, and over time, be amazed at all that can be done and the positive attitudes that will develop. The requirement for a final report is a necessary cornerstone for this type of change process. We have found that the two elements that create success are incentives and the requirement for a final report to be published. The former shows respect, the latter sets a high professional standard.
What is the structure and timing of this activity? Imagine a central axis, with smaller circles attached to it by lines, and more lines forming a network between the smaller circles. That is the general design of networked participatory action research for addressing complex change. First, small working groups are formed in each of the lines of activity that need to address the change. For example, in education, I would assemble task forces that include key principals and teachers from schools where reform needs to be implemented. In business, network decisions about where reform should be implemented. So if your strategic plan calls for a reorganization in any way into multiple working groups, ask the heads of those working groups to select two or three partners and form what we’ll call the local participatory action team.
Once these small teams are formed (which become smaller circles in our imaginary diagram), you bring them together on a regular basis, facilitating their understanding of action research, their understanding of the challenges facing your broader organization, and what is expected of its individual members. subgroups. Your team then returns to your area and procedures with an action research cycle. This includes finding out what is currently standing in the way of change and measuring it. Then they return to the hub for another day of work while you facilitate their next steps, including design and implementation planning that will begin to create the change you want. Because they are held to a standard that requires post-reporting, every step of the way is measured, and as the process continues, they grow in their professional understanding of the scientific approach to problem solving and change.
The timeline begins with management assigning work to their managers and the managers choosing their teams, then these teams or activity centers meet with the facilitator to learn about action research and plan the rest of the change effort. They will meet as a larger group for a full day about every two months for about a year after the first meeting. In total, and including the initial planning and final celebration, the facilitated group meets for 8-10 business days. Teams will push themselves approximately three times as hard in their local context. We have studied groups using this design and have found consistent transformation results, both for teams at activity centers and for the overall organization as a whole. Typically, a year of facilitated activity and another year in which the people involved in the initial teams spread what they have learned and create change in their local environments will show noticeable differences. The following quotes from participants at the end of this design demonstrate the results you might expect in your organization.
Participatory action research cycles have certainly given us exciting results. Motivation in our organization is a constant research topic and we realize that we have a duty to pass this information on to the entire community. We all have to raise our expectations in terms of our ability to achieve better results, but we have proven to ourselves that we measure up.
The action research process has pushed all of us to continue refining our practice of acquiring usable information. As we went through this cyclical process, we gained clarity on the data needed to be most useful to those we work with and our employers. Everyone helped by looking for information and we created an environment where everyone was successful. The process supported us and made us grow beyond our wildest dreams. While frustrating at times, it also creates an effective blueprint for successful change implementation.
Future articles will discuss facilitation issues and other design specifics.