Some favorite quotes from Robert Evans’ The Human Side of School Change:

Many organizational experts are discarding what they see as an overreliance on “hyperrationality.” This means abandoning traditional long-range master plans – with their specific goals and time lines and their extensive use of statistical measurement – in favor of much more pragmatic, adaptable approaches that acknowledge the nonrational, unplannable aspects of organizational life and the importance of being ready to respond to external change. Strategic planning emphasizes, among other things, adapting to the organization’s environment, setting medium-range goals (two to three years), and conducting performance assessments that rely on the judgment of leaders instead of on statistical measurements. p. 14-15

The conviction of an advocate, even a powerful one, inspires resistance if it simply dismisses the inevitable dilemmas of implementation. … It is not that innovators should not have deep convictions but rather that they must be open to the realities of others, to the necessary modifications their ideas will undergo as others encounter them – and to the delays this will surely cause. p. 16-17

…threat occurs not only if a principal condemns a teacher’s methods as outmoded and inadequate, for example, but simply if he endorses and supports a new and different approach. This alone is enough to redefine proficiency. p. 33

We should anticipate that the enthusiastic embrace of change and the rapid transformation of norms and values will be rare, an exception to be wondered at. Not only should we see school culture as a force acting against change, we should also remember that this opposition is sensible, even when the necessity for change may seem compelling from an external perspective. No institution can readily abandon the deep structures on which its very coherence and significance depends. Thus, we find repeated at the collective level the same conservative impulse we saw among individuals – an impulse as vital as it is profound and which reform, if it is to succeed, must respect. p. 50

Disconfirmation can engender so much fear and loathing – so much that people often dismiss the information as irrelevant, which lets them repress any anxiety or guilt. This is why in many schools and organizations disconfirming data about performance exist for a long time but are denied or devalued: “If the change…threatens my whole self, I will deny the data and the need for change. Only if I feel that I will retain my identity or my integrity as I learn something new or make a change, will I be able to even contemplate it” (Schein, 1992, p. 300). What is also needed is to reduce the anxiety surrounding change, the fear of trying. p. 57

…reformers who press staff to innovate have already assimilated the reform and found their own meaning in it. They have already worked out a reformulation of purposes and practices that makes sense to them, which may have taken them months or years to accomplish and may have caused them real distress. Denying others the opportunity to make a similar journey, criticizing them for not responding to explanations about change, dismissing their resistance or hesitation as ignorance or prejudice expresses arrogance and contempt for the meaning of other people’s lives (Marris, p. 155). p. 63

While time does not permit me to write a full review, I greatly enjoyed Evans’ insights on the nature of organizational change, the reasons for and ways to address faculty resistance, and varying perspectives on school improvement.