Understanding Change, Pt 1
“People want change, people don’t want change”
Ed Catmull
President, Pixar, Disney Animation
That very short statement brings to life the perplexity and truth of change. I have to start by saying, I did not understand this fundamental concept around change until recently in my life when I covered a massive change progress for over 3 years in a place you would think people would embrace change… the lowest performing schools in Detroit, Michigan.
“People want change…”
My main reason why Donald Trump is winning in the polls currently. The reason any politician runs for office [on the outside]. Things need to change, and “I” am the one to do it.
“… people don’t want change.”
My main reason Donald Trump doesn’t stand a chance of winning the presidency. The idea of change always seems alluring to everyone… most people want to change something. Just not anything that shakes their personal stability. When they step into the booth and say… do I really want the president to make changes that will effect me? They go with what they know.
[January 2018 - Boy was I wrong about that! If you listen to the discussion since the election it has been very interesting to see the media try to understand why Trump won. As a former newsman, election night was a hoot watching Bill Shaffer [who I have no animus with] about lose his mind as the results came in. As I see it, the east coast folks who are the news police and "thinkers" - self proclaimed BTW - for the rest of us have no idea what life is really like in this country. Trump was and is controversial - I didn't vote for him or another mainstream candidate - and I totally am disgusted with his tactics and tweets, but as you think of it someone like him was the result of the inevitable slide of our country. Everyone of the pundits wrings their hands over the freeze on governing that has laid hold of our leaders. So it makes sense that the electorate turned to a DC outsider like Carter, Reagan, and Clinton.
So I was wrong... but you see the storm that been kicked up about every decision Trump has made... but not those who were tired of all talk. This isn't meant to be a political blog so I will end there... but I didn't believe people would really go through with change... I was wrong.]
“People want change…”
For over 30 years public education in Detroit public schools has been declining. There are also some top performing schools in Detroit… public schools… but the bottom 5% have been stuck there for decades.
I choose Detroit because of the time I have invested there, but Detroit is not unique. Urban centers all over the nation as well as a good number of rural schools are in the same situation. Our nation for that matter has been in a slow educational decline for the past 50 years… countless billions have been spent to study and understand the issues and it can be pretty complex… but there is also documented successes… urban places where it still isn’t safe to go out at night, but the children are learning successfully. So I believe it can be changed.
The education debate is political, cultural, and highly charged… and that is not the purpose here today. What makes it so tough, political, cultural, and highly charged is the fact that to fix it, there needs to be change. For the experts I followed for three years, it means major change.
“…People don’t want change.”
The fear of the unknown. It is natural. It is built into our brain stem… it triggers the fight or flight syndrome. So change… really any substantial change starts at a disadvantage. The idea usually is to educate to fight that fear… to try and explain the benefits change will bring… that’s the campaign part… but fear takes over many times in the voting booth.
The Detroit Public School System is run, and has been run by good people. It would be easy to say that there had been board members or superintendents who where victims of the system. The problem is the system was built by people… and it’s gonna take people to change it.
In the next blog, I’ll discuss how change happens.