Do you consider yourself a change agent?
Are you someone who promotes or enables change to happen within your classes, department, college, or institution?
If so, is there a particular “price you pay” for being one? And is there a “pay off” for being one?
I apologize for the banking analogies! I’m curious to know what you think and feel about this topic.
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I love change! It is challenging for sure. While I see the benefit, there are some that will not be so ready to implement. I work with those that are ready, and later on everyone else that wasnt, will catch up. Be patient. It could be bad timing for them not to be so ready, or they dont understand fully. Also, not everyone may see it the same way and that is ok too. At our institution, I am always trying to get course content from doc based, converted to web based HTML and its benefits. Or how to use simple communication tools to maximize collaboration within a team. When its always been that way, or the old school train of thought, can be a tough road to navigate.
Great question! Appreciate the post.
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I try to be a change agent by helping to teach new skills to faculty. For example, creating videos for students. Oftentimes, they don't want to do this and make all sorts of excuses. If you want to be a change agent, you have to keep moving forward and know what little by little you are making a difference!
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@Lora.P.672 Thank you for sharing your response. When I interviewed for my first teaching job, I was asked by a member of the hiring committee,”You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink. How do you intend to get your students to do tasks they may not want to do?”
I had practiced for this interview for many hours, but this was not a questions I had prepared for!
Clearly it was my job to find ways to get them “to drink,” so to speak. If one technique did not work, I needed to find another and give that a try. And if that didn’t work I need to try something else. Keep moving forward seems like some reasonable advice for a change agent, “to keep moving forward,” as you note
@Susan.W.104 I like how you note that some people are ready for change while others require a little extra time or may not fully comprehend why change is necessary or required. And indeed, status quo can be a real buzz kill for change agents too.
Based on research by Everett Rogers in his book Diffusion of Innovations, change agents can play an instrumental role in the decision to adopt a new idea or process if they concentrate on how-to knowledge.
As anyone responsible for getting others to adopt new ideas or new processes knows, people who like change are attracted to others who like change, whereas people who do not like change can find change agents frightening, to put it lightly.
Initially, people who are not as into change find there’s a high degree of uncertainty associated with making a change, therefore they become skeptical, play it safe, and revert back to status quo without thinking much about it.
Rogers notes that change agents need to determine the felt needs of others before making any recommendations, as you note Susan.
Change agents also need a high degree of empathy and rapport in order to assess needs accurately.
One of my favorite bits of advice that Rogers highlights in his book is that change agents can be served well by focusing their efforts on opinion leaders. Such leaders can help convince others to go adopt new ideas and processes much quicker than a change agent alone.
Rogers even dedicates an entire chapter to change agents that is definitely useful if you want to learn more about this role.
In world of information overload and limited cognitive surplus, change agents play a critical role in helping others make decisions about what ideas, tools, and process to adopt. There are no shortcuts, but as Lora notes, so you have to keep at it if you want to see folks change.
Thank you both again for sharing your thoughts!
Reference: Rogers, E. M. 1962. Diffusion of innovations, first edition. New York: Free Press.
