Remember I said that Richard Buery was one leader worth following? Well he has just come up with a bold and brave move -- closing a school that his organization the Children's Aid Society has in a now wealthy neighbhorhood. See:
Charity, Citing Village Wealth, May Close School
Richard R. Buery Jr., the president and chief executive of the Children’s Aid Society, said the group was no longer fulfilling its mission of helping the poor at the site.
“We can’t really justify,” Mr. Buery said, “the big disconnect between having so many resources focused on serving a population — while clearly a population that needs and deserves the service — that simply has access to more resources and opportunity than a place in the South Bronx, who are in our mission to serve.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/02/nyregion/02preschool.html
At's an interesting case to analyse from the perspective of our final topic, Leading Change. How would you ensure effective implementation using B+D's frames, or DD+A's Managing Change approach?
John
It seems that everyone is looking at the situation from their own perspective. Richard R. Buery Jr. is pursuing the mission of "Children's Aid Society," which is to help those in need and indeed Greenwich Village School, although in need of childhood education center, is no longer in an emergency situation as opposed to South Bronx area. Village parents are heartbroken as they are primarily concerned with the wellbeing of their children. Closing the school will certainly leave gaps in afterschool programs for many kids, will probably make such programs unaffordable for some parents (since the tuition in the school is relatively inexpensive for that area) and will create a havoc in many families. Teachers on the other hand are lamenting the loss of their jobs and whatever consequences that will bring.
ReplyDeleteSuch change requires step by step approach and a number of meetings so that each party can understand exactly what the situation is in order to come up with viable solution. To quote B & D “You know better what you are up against when you understand their perspective, even though you’re are sure they are wrong. Their mindset –not yours’ -determines how you act.
Zana