Blog #3

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time.  We are the ones we've been waiting for.  We are the change that we seek." -Barack Obama

Individuals can contribute to group change in 3 main capacities:

1. Suggesting a change and helping form the strategic vision
2. Leading by example (be the guiding coalition)
3. Staying positive

You may notice I grabbed some of the same verbage from Kotter's Process of Creating Social Change because I think that this a very important model.

I recently experienced individuals contributing to change through recent chapter events.  As I mentioned in class, our chapter had the worst academic quarter in a few years.  It was not terrible by any means, but it was below our personal expectations of scholarship excellence.  We met as an Executive Board to discuss possible causes and concluded that our culture of excellence in scholarship was slowly diminishing.  We were tempted to institute some of the new policies that we discussed and announce "these are the rules" at the house meeting that night, but we knew that change is much better received when it is organic.  At the house meeting, we stated our concern for lack of scholarship and allowed for an open forum of potential positive changes.  The chapter responded well and came up with several first order changes including: quiet hours after 10 PM Sunday-Thursday, a study buddy system with prizes at the end of the quarter, and designated group vs. quiet study space.  It has only been 2 weeks, but I can already see these first order changes being embraced by individuals, which is what makes second order change possible.  There is always resistance to change, but in this case the guiding coalition was large and strong enough to outnumber the negative nancy's (for lack of a better term).

Since I began with a quote, I feel like it's only right to end with one as well.  This one's from my room mate, Jeremy Saham, who has incredible self-taught leadership skills.

"People don't like being managed.  They respond when they recognize a great idea and have the ability to choose whether or not to follow it.  That's leadership." -Jeremy Saham

Social Change in Action

As I reflect on experiences involving social change, one set of experiences regarding our New Scholar Program keeps coming to mind.  Here's a little background on the way our organization functions.  You are awarded the scholarship as a senior in high school and live-in the house all four years, while on scholarship.  However, you are not an "active" Evans Scholars until you complete the comprehensive New Scholar Program, which spans the length of Fall quarter.  The program can be compared to a pledging process that occurs at most fraternities and sororities.  We set high expectations for the New Scholars, but also provide immense support and structure to help ease their transition to college life.  The program includes names tests, national manual tests, paddle signatures, study tables, skits, team building activities, a white water rafting trip, and a retreat weekend.  We have all gone through the program and understand the rigor and amount of hard work that goes into it, but it provides a sense of achievement, bonding, and group unity that is indescribable and the foundation for your success throughout the next 3 and a half years.  So now we have a background, let's get to the good stuff.

My personal involvement with the New Scholar Program is unique because I have experienced the entire spectrum of perspectives; first as a new scholar myself, then as a member of the New Scholar Committee, next as a member of the Executive Board, then on internship completely removed from the program, and now as President with my best friend as the New Scholar Educator.  I also know a good deal of history about the New Scholar Program and how it got to be the successful program that it is today.

Before my time (from the days of Animal House and unfortunately many years after that), many undesirable activities took place that would be considered hazing.  Our past faculty adviser, Don Denny, worked with the leadership team to create second order change, which means "changing the organization's fundamental values and assumptions" (our book pg. 103).  Mr. Denny passed away last year, but I had the opportunity to work with him on my first stint on the Executive Board.  I didn't realize this at the time, but he had an incredible way of inspiring us to create sustainable change using all of the things that we're reading about now in the book.  He recognized that the best way to do this was through organic change.  He could do this because as an adviser, he had a much more broad and longer view of our program (wet sand), whereas students sometimes fall into the trap of trying to do too much first order change at once. 

Understanding and Laying the Foundation for Social Change

Last class we a pretty lengthy and thought provoking discussion about what exactly is social change.  Up until this point, I have never truly or deeply thought about the idea of social change and the resounding impact that it can have on people.  I have always brushed it off as lofty, academic, idealistic term that is used to conquer the impossible and solve all of the world's problems.  I continued this way of thinking throughout most of our discussion until one of my classmates, Cambell, used the words "building a culture" and used a real world smaller scale business example to describe social change.  As a realist and very analytical person, this really struck a cord with me and social change became a tangible idea.  This was just one of many "light bulb turning on in my head" moments that I had during last weeks discussion.  It is important to distinguish social change from charity and also to realize the possible pitfalls in applying social change.  I look forward to reading everyone else's blog and the many hours of future class dialogue.

Recently, we held our annual New Scholar Weekend, where 17 high school seniors who will be attending Ohio State next year as Evans Scholars come for an orientation weekend to our house.  This has always been a week that I look forward to and have always been actively involved in as a part of the New Scholar Committee, but this year as President with much more leadership experience, the weekend felt different.  I had the realization that I am now the upperclassman that they look up to.  In our society, having a title is not a pre-requisite for leadership, but it is definitely a catalyst.  This has the biggest impact when leading by example because when you hold a formal position, your actions are always noticed and scrutinized under a microscope.  It is imperative to have consistency between your ideals, words, and actions.  Doing this will demand respect and "buy in" from your peers.  In no means are you done here, but this lays the foundation for social change.