The Six Secrets of Change

What the Best Leaders Do to Help Their Organizations Survive and Thrive

Michael Fullan

• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Year: 2011
• ISBN:
  9781118115268
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education Administration

From bestselling author Michael Fullan, wisdom for thriving in today's complex environment

Successful organizations adjust quickly and intelligently to shifts in consumer tastes, political climate, and economic opportunity. How do they do it? The Six Secrets of Change explores essential lessons for business and public sector leaders for thriving in today's complex environment. Fullan draws on his acclaimed work in bringing about large-scale and substantial change in education reform in both public school systems and universities, as well as engaging in major change initiatives internationally. This book is filled with lessons that are insightful, actionable, and concisely communicable.

"Fullan has an uncanny ability to produce what is needed at the time it is needed. The six secrets are based in theory, grounded in practice, powerful in their relationship to each other, and described in ways that enable deep understanding. It is a refreshing change from the surface lists of leadership and change ideas that all too often permeate education and business literature." —Vicki Phillips, director of education, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

• Includes so-called leadership "secrets" that are decoded to be accessible and useful
• Offers illustrative examples from a variety of businesses, health organizations, and public education systems
• Lays out the six factors to organizational success: collegiality, long-range plans allow for the unknown, nurture employees, learning, leadership at all levels, and positive pressure must be inescapable
• Michael Fullan is the author of the acclaimed best-seller Leading in a Culture of Change

Fullan convinces us that a leader who attends to all six key factors will have an organization that is constantly learning, growing, and thriving.

Table of Contents

1. Cover
2. Title
3. Copyright
4. Preface
5. Acknowledgements
6. About the Author
7. Introduction: Have Theory, Will Travel
   1. Neither Theory nor Action
   2. One Big Caution
   3. Theories That Travel
   4. Using a Good Theory
8. Secret One: Love Your Employees
   1. Secret One in Action
   2. Secret One in Perspective
9. Secret Two: Connect Peers with Purpose
   1. The Conditions and Value of Peer Interaction
   2. The We-We Solution
10. Secret Three: Capacity Building Prevails
    1. Capacity Building Trumps Judgmentalism
    2. Hire and Cultivate Talented People
11. Secret Four: Learning Is the Work
    1. What Consistency and Innovation Look Like
    2. Learn in Context or Learn Superficially
12. Secret Five: Transparency Rules
    1. What Transparency Is Not
    2. What Effective Transparency Is
    3. Why Transparency Ru...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Table of Contents
• Title
• Copyright
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• About the Author
• Introduction: Have Theory, Will Travel
• Secret One: Love Your Employees
• Secret Two: Connect Peers with Purpose
• Secret Three: Capacity Building Prevails
• Secret Four: Learning Is the Work
• Secret Five: Transparency Rules
• Secret Six: Systems Learn
• Conclusion: Keeping the Secrets
• References
• Index
• End User License Agreement