Abstract
Anyone in academe can attest to the saying that change is constant. For all sectors within higher education, this reality often poses significant leadership challenges, even for community colleges that have been perceived to be the greatest agents of change in postsecondary education. The level and direction of change confronting community colleges might rival any experienced in their past, leaving many scrambling to stay ahead of the curve, to energize staff and faculty for what lies ahead, and to find ways to effectively communicate what is happening to constituents within and outside the institution. At a time when external patrons frequently question the economic value of postsecondary education, there is much to consider in Daniel Phelan’s commentary on the issues, challenges, and opportunities leaders face as they position the next generation of community colleges.
Written to appeal to current and future leaders and board of trustee members more than to researchers, Phelan weaves together his extensive leadership experience in different college settings with contemporary leadership and management literature to explore a set of key questions for today’s community colleges. What makes the text so compelling is the way that Phelan digs deeply into the issues and their consequences, and how he constantly examines these through the lenses of change, innovation, and risk. Rather than pose oppositional choices for leaders and their colleges, Phelan frames his discussion as a continuum of alternatives which may affect larger institutional goals. Again, this seems very straightforward for writing a leadership guide, but as Phelan indicates throughout the text, the complexity and murkiness of what leaders confront is often not straightforward or at least not something they can act upon in isolation.
Phelan uses the extant literature and several personal experiences to illustrate the complexities and what is required of leaders (and others in the college) to work through them. For example, he shares a multi-year experience of the decision to build campus residence halls to show the preparation, seed planting, data gathering, negotiation, and space for reflection required to get buy-in to a proposal he at first thought was straightforward. This and many other examples shared in the book help show that if the goal is real change and innovation, then a good idea is only the start. Leaders must draw upon skills that reflect multi-framing, effective listening, the right balance of challenging ideas and providing support for anxiety produced by new ways of thinking, building and retaining trust when taking risks, and helping others find their roles and authority as disruptive innovations emerge. Phelan does not often refer to second order and deep change found in the organizational change literature nor does he focus only on first-order changes that do not challenge the mission, role, and vision of the college. He clearly intends, rather, to raise the reader’s consciousness to the realities that lie ahead for community colleges as the world changes around them.
After laying out his basic arguments and context, Phelan uses the metaphor of sailing—Innovation and Change Strategy Archetype for Innovation and Leading (SAIL) (p. 53)—to set-up the latter chapters of the book which address four issues of innovation and change (or battens, in nautical terms) that include leadership and institutional preparation, assessment, planning, execution, and evaluation. When applied effectively, Phelan argues these approaches increase the likelihood of improved change outcomes. He juxtaposes these constructs against unpredicted factors, which is the reality for colleges today. As a non-sailor, the metaphor did not resonate much with me, but the points Phelan makes in these chapters certainly did. At the risk of not accounting for all the important ideas expressed, let me mention just a few.
Phelan highlights the idea of Janusian thinking as a key aspect of change leadership, where presidents and other leaders think in terms of beginnings and transitions, looking forward and back, being reactive and proactive, acting and reflecting, among others. He aptly cites the importance of focusing on culture and its power to “outmaneuver any organizational change that may be attempted” (p. 69). Too many leaders approach change and innovation without first understanding and taking account of their organization’s culture. The positive and negative consequences of culture are borne out in several examples presented.
Another idea Phelan champions is creating sandboxes for innovation, be they virtual, physical, cultural, or ideological, that provide space for experimentation, idea sharing, failure, messiness, and coalescing of direction—all without negative consequence. Although these may be seen as irrelevant or time-consuming, Phelan instead argues that the opportunities for engagement, risk taking, and thinking creatively can be fostered in the sandbox to create a college culture of innovation and change juxtaposed to one tied only to specific outcomes or outputs. Positing additional steps toward change, Phelan goes beyond traditional planning and implementation models. He argues for framing as a critical means of shaping expectations, using data, connecting approaches from other sectors to postsecondary education, developing effective assessment strategies, and cultivating the power of knowledge and information through effective communication.
In closing, Phelan pulls together a volume of great examples from colleges across the nation, including those at the forefront and those that struggle to go in new directions. He highlights key leadership and change authors and his own institutional and leadership experiences that will appeal to leaders and those who aspire to lead. Two points he leaves us with are that change and innovation are a way of institutional life; it is time to accept this reality and learn how to address it rather than fear or hide from it. And, as a consummate educator, Phelan challenges us to consider the questions being asked. Perhaps never more relevant than as we look toward the future is the importance of probing questions. This does not suggest abandoning previous experience and knowledge but rather recognizing the tight grip that the status quo holds on our ability to ask critical questions, and to think differently about what we need to know and do, how, and why. He ends with the thought that, “A smooth sea never made a skillful sailor” (p. 153). While again, this is not a phrase to which I can personally relate, it does easily parallel the idea that a smooth way forward rarely leads to innovation and change, or the leader that facilitates these necessary actions. In this respect, I could not agree with Dan Phelan more.