‘The Myth of the Hero-Innovator ...'

Trying to be 'the' person who, by going on some training and then cascading some new knowledge across a team, can push radical change forward is difficult ... and in larger organisations it can be nigh on impossible. An interesting piece* on such organisational level change states:

‘This then is the myth of the hero-innovator: the idea that you can produce, by training, a knight in shining armour who, loins girded with new technology and beliefs, will assault his organisational fortress and institute changes both in himself and others at a stroke.  Such a view is ingenuous. The fact of the matter is that organisations such as schools and hospitals will, like dragons, eat hero-innovators for breakfast.’ (Georgiades & Phillimorep 1975, p.315)

This 'hero-innovator' idea is based on the false belief that because organisations are made up of individuals, we can change them just by changing those individual members. What we should also do is look at developing the positive (or at least productive) relationships, and the host or working culture that we share with our colleagues, and do so in a way that is supportive of the underlying social network that enables us all to collectively be at our most productive.

Georgiades & Phillimore offer 6 guidelines that can give change (lets say the successful and sustainable adoption of Intensive Interaction) its best chance. These 6 guidelines are:

1: ‘The manager of the change effort should work with the forces within the organisation which are supportive of change and improvement rather than working against those which are defensive and resistant to change’ [remember the 'laggards' and 'antagonists' - initially try to work around them, at least for a while!]. 

2: ‘Try to develop what has been called a ‘critical mass’ in each change project. The manager of change should aim to produce a self-sustaining team of workers which is self-motivated and powered from within’. 

3: ‘Whenever possible, the manager of change should work with the organisationally ‘healthy’ parts of the system which have the will and the resources to improve… [and] avoid being seduced or pressured into working with or for parts of the system which might be regarded as lost causes‘. 

4: ‘The manager of the change team should try to work with individuals and groups who have as much freedom and discretion in managing their own operations and resources as possible’. 

5: ‘The manager should try to obtain appropriate and realistic levels of involvement by key personnel in the hospital or school system’ [i.e. upwardly delegating some work to senior staff] . 

6: ‘Arrangements should be made for most of the team to work in small groups or pairs for mutual learning and support. People should not be expected to work alone ... until they are quite experienced’. 

So if you are the person that is being given the role of the Intensive Interaction hero/change agent i.e. the person responsible for changing the care or educational practices of a team, a class, a service or even the whole organisation, perhaps these guidelines can be of some help in building a positive and supportive 'critical mass' of like-minded colleagues ... they certainly have been a help to me. 

*Georgiades, N. & Phillimore, L. (1975) ‘The Myth of the Hero-Innovator and Alternative Strategies for Organisational Change’, in Kiernan & Woodford (Eds.) Behaviour Modification with the Severely Retarded, Associate Scientific Publishers, Amsterdam.