Michelle Rhee, a Revolutionary Change Agent

The reading this week in Burke’s Organization Change focused on the difference between revolutionary and evolutionary change.  Revolutionary change is often seen through a punctuated equilibrium event that brings a drastic or “jolt” as Burke would say, to an organization.  Evolutionary change is making incremental change over time.  This continual process of making changes will eventually lead to substantial organizational change.

Goldsmith’s chapter on Open Sourcing Social Innovation provides an example for revolutionary change in the work of Michelle Rhee, who served as D.C. public schools’ chancellor for three years.  I became interested in Ms. Rhee’s work after seeing her highlighted in the documentary Waiting for Superman, which tells the story of how the American public schools are failing their students.  The documentary uses Ms. Rhee to illustrate how educational change agents are reforming public schools. 

Ms. Rhee attempted to transform D.C.’s public school system by putting her students first.  She was revolutionary because she came in believing the best way to fix the broken school system was to make drastic changes.  She had a “you are either for me or against me” approach.  The system in a sense had been in a period of equilibrium and she was the “jolt” that punctuated the equilibrium. 

Using Goldsmith’s construct for creating an open source for social innovation she attempted to change one of the largest school systems in the U.S.  Ms. Rhee broke down protectionist barriers, which reinforce the status quo; she promoted a space for innovation, and attempted to level the playing field for students that had struggle for years under a system that wasn’t working.  She invited the exception by using positive deviance, which looks for “success stories that stand out” and brought in The New Teacher Project, Teach for America, New Leaders for New Schools and City Year.  She had previous experience with each organization and trusted that they understood how to best handle D.C.’s public school needs.  Finally she attempted to force cultural change.  Although cultural change was necessary, one of the downfalls of Ms. Rhee was her lack of understanding of the D.C. school system culture.  She came to the table with only three years of teaching experience and a plan to eliminate the historical tenure system that many educators supported.

So was revolutionary change what D.C. really needed?  Or would it have been better to take a more evolutionary approach and make gradual, incremental changes that would be sustainable after a powerful leader was no longer in charge?  The adaptor in me says small changes would have been best because she was working in a cultural that is slow to adapt.  BUT… sometimes a system that isn’t working needs a leader to take the reins and “jolt” the system!  Perhaps the jolt will be what D.C. needs as an adaptor takes back over the reins and pushes hopefully brings forth KAIZEN!!