Getting a Head Start on Strategic Change
Robin Reid

In the spring of 1997, Michele Moomaugh and I (along with two other local consultants, Ellen Montanari and Shirley Mills) had the opportunity to facilitate a Real Time Strategic Change process with the San Diego County Head Start Program.

The Client

Head Start of San Diego is a federally funded agency of over 500 employees who work with disadvantaged children and youths in this County. They are a major part of the larger Neighborhood House Association. NHA is an 80 year old San Diego social service agency that had recently completed a revised strategic vision, and was facing considerable change resulting from the shifting approach to welfare in this county.

The Need

We were contacted by the Head Start Director who had a strong need reorganize the way services were delivered to children and families in San Diego. The plan was to shift the Head Start culture to a flatter, more community-centered service focus. Revised performance standards, as directed from National Head Start, also had to be adopted by the end of the year. Their implementation had major impact on the quality and methods of work at all levels of Head Start.

The challenge was how to get all of the Head Start employees and stake holders involved and committed to the change in direction and culture. After exploring some more traditional options, we (the consultants and client) decided to create an event that would involve all employees, the NHA leadership, parents of children, and other stakeholders. This led to a three day large group intervention held at Plaza Hall in the City Concourse involving over 600 people.

Large Group Approaches

Large group work has been around for over 30 years. In recent years, as participative involvement and the need for faster cycle times on change has developed, there has been an increased emphasis on and development of large group intervention technologies. An excellent history and overview of these approaches is by Barbara Benedict Bunker and Billie T. Alban's, "Large Group Interventions: Engaging the Whole System for Rapid Change (Jossey-Bass -- 1997).

Our Design

We were guided by Robert W. Jacobs, "Real Time Strategic Change", (Berrett-Koehler -- 1994.) The six principles are outlined in Figure 1. His explanation of the concepts and the power of the RTSC model was shared with all the key leaders in Head Start. This common information base helped the planners (consultants and client alike) to maintain a collective sense of direction as we jointly developed our intervention. The meta model is based on Peter Drucker's classic strategic change model (see figure 2).

The magic and the art of the RTSC process is how one takes a mob of people and turns them into a cohesive, interactive, participative group. For those interested in the practical meeting tactics used, see "Real-Time Strategic Change: a consultant's guide to large-scale meetings" (Dannemiller Tyson Associates, Inc. (Ann Arbor, MI 1994) which we devoured.

Real Time

The consulting team and client felt that the large group process was the only way to achieve the needs of the client. The more traditional top down, waterfall approaches would not be fast enough nor could they get the real buy-in needed. Getting everybody working together in the same room could produce results that might take years otherwise.

Empowerment and Inclusion

Participants worked in mixed groups of 7-8 with as many different stakeholders and parts of the organization as possible represented at each table. Everyone was invited to dialogue the concepts and issues during the three days. The clear expectation was that the opinions of each table would be part of the deliberations and conclusions reached.

Common Database

All people heard the same environmental scan information from each stakeholder group. This information included formal input from County Welfare, NHA Leaders, Head Start Leaders, Parents, and a self-assessment of the organization by the group. This created a common frame of reference as a guide for their deliberations. Some of the biggest insights came from seeing how differently the parents saw the role of head start centers compared to the center employees, and from learning how different people within Head Start viewed their roles.

Preferred Future

During these three days all stakeholders had input into the Vision, Mission, Strategic Goals, and Objectives. They had the opportunity to react to and give feedback on the draft Vision and Mission, statements developed by the Head Start Leadership. The leadership group met overnight and revised the Vision and Mission based on these community discussions. Thus, a collective image of potential for the future motivated the actions of those in the room.

Values

A diagonal-slice steering committee had earlier created and revised statements of core principles to guide the organization. These values were discussed in detail, and the group gave their input which was adopted. There was a great deal of passion and support among all the participants for these tenets.

Reality as a Driver.

The greatest discussion and energy related to the goals and objectives. Because of the new structures and revised performance standards, there was tension and differences in the room. Dialogue on changes in service delivery, and how to organize to achieve them was intense. Some choices had to bee made on conflicting approaches. Tables made their recommendations and all had a chance to then indicate their preferred choices. The leadership group overnight considered this information and incorporated parts of it into the revised structure. Not all in the room agreed, yet they had their "say" and it was clear as to how the decisions were made

Create Community

The three days ended with a much better informed, inclusive, and committed group. All participating could honestly say they had a chance to give input and to impact the changes. They had the unique opportunity of being part of something larger than themselves. They had the unique experience of interacting with people they don't usually see, colleagues, clients, and stakeholders alike, and to be a part of a total event that involved all.

Our Summary

The consultants, much more used to facilitating change processes in more traditional top-down approaches where twenty or fewer leaders make most of the decisions, were both amazed and nonplused. It turns out RTSC stuff really does work!

Ellen Montanari did a fabulous job of leading the entire logistics effort. Michele Moomaugh was project leader, and graciously conjoled, inspired, and coordinated the consulting team as well as shepherding the client through the process. Dr. Shirley Mills contributed the unique ability of integrating all the parts of the design into a coherent whole that made sense to all of us.

We learned that

• •three months lead time really isn't enough
• •logistics are critical
• •collaboration and partnership with the client is the hallmark
• •the client needs team building at the top before the larger intervention
• •this stuff does work and
• •anything smaller than 600 now looks easy!

Summary of the six principles of Real Time Strategic Change

Real Time - Simultaneous discovery, planning and implementation of individual, group and organization-wide changes. Decisions and actions are taken as if the future were now, in effect, blurring the line between "here" and "there".

Empowerment and Inclusion - Engaging the entire organization in ways that lead to ownership of, commitment to, and alignment with a shared purpose and future direction.

Preferred Future - A collective "image of potential" for the future motivates action today.

Reality is a Key Driver - A continual focus on the simultaneous and sometimes conflicting realities which exist in the internal and external environments of an organization.

Build and Maintain a Common Database - A common understanding of strategic issues informs the discretion of people at all levels so that they can make wise decisions, individually and collectively.

Create Community - Fostering an environment where individuals come together with shared purpose and common direction, as part of something larger than themselves that they created and believe in.

Drucker's Strategic Planning Model Figure 1

Copyright © 1998 Reid Moomaugh & Associates| Permission is granted to reproduce this document for training and education. Comments or suggestions for additions or changes are encouraged.. Updated 11/04/02.