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The Six Secrets of Change: What the Best Leaders Do to Help Their Organizations Survive and Thrive
From bestselling author Michael Fullan, wisdom for thriving in today's complex environment Successful organizations adjust quickly and intelligently to shifts in consumer tastes, political climate, and economic opportunity. How do they do it? The Six Secrets of Change explores essential lessons for business and public sector leaders for thriving in today's complex environment. Fullan draws on his acclaimed work in bringing about large-scale and substantial change in education reform in both public school systems and universities, as well as engaging in major change initiatives internationally. This book is filled with lessons that are insightful, actionable, and concisely communicable.
"Fullan has an uncanny ability to produce what is needed at the time it is needed. The six secrets are based in theory, grounded in practice, powerful in their relationship to each other, and described in ways that enable deep understanding. It is a refreshing change from the surface lists of leadership and change ideas that all too often permeate education and business literature." —Vicki Phillips, director of education, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Includes so-called leadership "secrets" that are decoded to be accessible and useful Offers illustrative examples from a variety of businesses, health organizations, and public education systems Lays out the six factors to organizational collegiality, long-range plans allow for the unknown, nurture employees, learning, leadership at all levels, and positive pressure must be inescapable Michael Fullan is the author of the acclaimed best-seller Leading in a Culture of Change Fullan convinces us that a leader who attends to all six key factors will have an organization that is constantly learning, growing, and thriving.
"Fullan has an uncanny ability to produce what is needed at the time it is needed. The six secrets are based in theory, grounded in practice, powerful in their relationship to each other, and described in ways that enable deep understanding. It is a refreshing change from the surface lists of leadership and change ideas that all too often permeate education and business literature." —Vicki Phillips, director of education, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Includes so-called leadership "secrets" that are decoded to be accessible and useful Offers illustrative examples from a variety of businesses, health organizations, and public education systems Lays out the six factors to organizational collegiality, long-range plans allow for the unknown, nurture employees, learning, leadership at all levels, and positive pressure must be inescapable Michael Fullan is the author of the acclaimed best-seller Leading in a Culture of Change Fullan convinces us that a leader who attends to all six key factors will have an organization that is constantly learning, growing, and thriving.
177 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 29, 2011
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February 18, 2018
The Six Secrets of Change
By: Michael Fullan
There can be little doubt that we are currently living in a rapidly changing society. Advanced technology and integrated communication systems have made the world seem smaller than ever before. For leaders and organizations to thrive, they need to embrace change and respond to the evolving needs of a dynamic society. Be that as it may, it is actually quite ironic that change in itself is one of the hardest things to effectively implement. Whether you are in a public service such as education, or run a multimillion dollar corporation…people will resist change because it is inherently seen as uncomfortable and threatening. So, considering this paradox, what are leaders to do in order for their organizations to truly succeed? Indeed, as Michael Fullan puts it in his book The Six Secrets of Change, how can leaders help their organizations survive and thrive?
In his work, Fullan identifies the six secrets of change as:
1. Love your employees
2. Connect peers with purpose
3. Capacity building prevails
4. Learning is the work
5. Transparency rules
6. Systems learn
Essentially, the six secrets which are outlined are pretty much interrelated and dependent upon one another. For instance, loving your employees means more than just caring for and taking an interest in them. In actuality, it is about making sure they have goals which will enhance their own satisfaction and quality of life, as well as the success of the organization. However, that “secret” is also very closely interconnected with each of the other five which are outlined in the book. It is indubitably about how to build people up in order to run a successful organization. It is all about how great organizations are fair, transparent, collaborative systems which are always building up others in a cycle of continual learning. As Fullan clearly outlines- great systems are always learning!
The ideas which are presented are undoubtedly sound. As a school Principal myself I understand the importance of building capacity and sharing leadership within the school. Building and maintaining relationships with staff is critically important. As Fullan aptly points out, for the children to benefit you must build up the staff who supports them. There can be little argument that his six “secrets” are effective ways to develop people which will in turn benefit the whole organization.
In truth, I have read many of Michael Fullan’s books in my role as a school principal. His ideas and theories are typically quite well thought out, but can be difficult to fully implement at times. Perhaps the greatest reason that they can be hard to bring into play is that age old pesky problem of resistance to change. I believe this is where the book lets the reader down. There really are not any solid strategies suggested for change management. It is essentially all about developing an organization by building up the people. Precious little is devoted to change resistance and the many obstacles which this can bring. As such it is certainly not one of my favorite Michael Fullan books…and I do have many!
3 mediocre stars for “The Six Secrets of Change.”
By: Michael Fullan
There can be little doubt that we are currently living in a rapidly changing society. Advanced technology and integrated communication systems have made the world seem smaller than ever before. For leaders and organizations to thrive, they need to embrace change and respond to the evolving needs of a dynamic society. Be that as it may, it is actually quite ironic that change in itself is one of the hardest things to effectively implement. Whether you are in a public service such as education, or run a multimillion dollar corporation…people will resist change because it is inherently seen as uncomfortable and threatening. So, considering this paradox, what are leaders to do in order for their organizations to truly succeed? Indeed, as Michael Fullan puts it in his book The Six Secrets of Change, how can leaders help their organizations survive and thrive?
In his work, Fullan identifies the six secrets of change as:
1. Love your employees
2. Connect peers with purpose
3. Capacity building prevails
4. Learning is the work
5. Transparency rules
6. Systems learn
Essentially, the six secrets which are outlined are pretty much interrelated and dependent upon one another. For instance, loving your employees means more than just caring for and taking an interest in them. In actuality, it is about making sure they have goals which will enhance their own satisfaction and quality of life, as well as the success of the organization. However, that “secret” is also very closely interconnected with each of the other five which are outlined in the book. It is indubitably about how to build people up in order to run a successful organization. It is all about how great organizations are fair, transparent, collaborative systems which are always building up others in a cycle of continual learning. As Fullan clearly outlines- great systems are always learning!
The ideas which are presented are undoubtedly sound. As a school Principal myself I understand the importance of building capacity and sharing leadership within the school. Building and maintaining relationships with staff is critically important. As Fullan aptly points out, for the children to benefit you must build up the staff who supports them. There can be little argument that his six “secrets” are effective ways to develop people which will in turn benefit the whole organization.
In truth, I have read many of Michael Fullan’s books in my role as a school principal. His ideas and theories are typically quite well thought out, but can be difficult to fully implement at times. Perhaps the greatest reason that they can be hard to bring into play is that age old pesky problem of resistance to change. I believe this is where the book lets the reader down. There really are not any solid strategies suggested for change management. It is essentially all about developing an organization by building up the people. Precious little is devoted to change resistance and the many obstacles which this can bring. As such it is certainly not one of my favorite Michael Fullan books…and I do have many!
3 mediocre stars for “The Six Secrets of Change.”
November 2, 2009
I like Michael Fullan--I really do. He cuts through all the managerial blah-blah and asserts that it's really moral purpose that guides positive change in schools and other organizations. In the introduction (one of the better parts of the book), he says "give me a good theory over a plan of action any day," a phrase designed to strike terror in the hearts of any number of superintendents. His six secrets are the right stuff, although they don't move his body of work or thinking much beyond his best book, "Change Forces."
However--
Philosophical ideas: B+
Writing: D
Fullan's books are all poorly written. The prose is turgid and full of cliches. The ideas meander. This book has about 125 undersized pages that would amount to perhaps 80 pages in a larger, paper-bound book. And in those 80 pages, there are perhaps three chapters' worth of new thinking.
Reading a Fullan book is like having a conversation with a wise and trusted professor, thinking out loud about his latest projects and ideas. He does things like introduce a concept, then say "I'll talk about that in a later chapter." Or you'll read an entire chapter which is nothing more than a rather random series of disconnected thought, larded with little, semi-related puns or jokes. He has probably passed the fame threshold wherein he's forced to use a good and ruthless editor--but it really would help.
I get a lot from Fullan's books, but it's a tough slog.
However--
Philosophical ideas: B+
Writing: D
Fullan's books are all poorly written. The prose is turgid and full of cliches. The ideas meander. This book has about 125 undersized pages that would amount to perhaps 80 pages in a larger, paper-bound book. And in those 80 pages, there are perhaps three chapters' worth of new thinking.
Reading a Fullan book is like having a conversation with a wise and trusted professor, thinking out loud about his latest projects and ideas. He does things like introduce a concept, then say "I'll talk about that in a later chapter." Or you'll read an entire chapter which is nothing more than a rather random series of disconnected thought, larded with little, semi-related puns or jokes. He has probably passed the fame threshold wherein he's forced to use a good and ruthless editor--but it really would help.
I get a lot from Fullan's books, but it's a tough slog.
February 22, 2014
The Six Secrets of Change was very helpful to me as a foundation to think about how to contribute to changing the culture of the organization I am with to an organization that values continuous learning. Each of the secrets makes since and the combination of the six together create a cohesive theory. I am looking forward to exploring and practicing these six secrets and contributing to secret four with our organization, to create and environment of learning.
January 30, 2016
Secret One: "Love Your Employees"
Child-first stances in education are misleading and incomplete. The principal should value teachers as much as children. (in a way that everyone benefits)
Loving and investing in your employees in relation to a high-quality purpose is the bedrock of success.
Secret Two: "Connect Peers with Purpose"
The solution to the too tight-too loose dilemma in management of a system is purposeful peer interaction.
Just collaborating is not enough to ensure learning and growth in the workplace because of the possibility of groupthink. Three factors must be present to ensure collaboration is purposeful:
- Organizational and individual values must align;
- Information and knowledge about effective practices must be openly shared; and,
- Monitoring mechanisms must be in place
In education, the Ontario Focused Intervention Partnership is a good example of successful lateral capacity building.
When peers interact with purpose, they provide their own built-in accountability.
Secret Three: "Capacity Building Prevails"
Advice for a new leader: Don’t roll your eyes on day one when you see practice that is less than effective by your standards. Instead, invest in capacity building while suspending short-term judgment.
Secret Four: "Learning Is The Work"
Organizations face a consistency-innovation dilemma: How to stay consistently focused on core goals while at the same time learning continuously how to get better.
Consistency and innovation can both be achieved through organized learning in context. (that is, reflective practice – learning while working)
Consistency is achieved by precisely identifying (and adhering to) the key practices that are crucial to success.
Professional development programs and courses, even when they are good, often fail to bring about positive change because they are removed from the setting in which teachers work.
Secret Five: "Transparency Rules"
Transparency involves being open about results and practices and is an exercise in pursuing and nailing down problems that recur and identifying evidence-informed responses to them.
Effective data comparisons for schools:
- Compare a school with itself – the progress it is making when compared to previous years;
- Compare a school with its statistical neighbours; and,
- Examine school results to an external or absolute standard
Secret Six: "Systems Learn"
A key reason why organizations do not sustain learning is that they focus on individual leaders. As individual leaders come and go, the company engages in episodic ups and downs.
In schools, rotating principals creates a perpetual carousel where schools move up and down with depressing regularity.
Systems learn by:
1. Developing many leaders working in concert
2. Having leaders approach complexity with a combination of humility and confidence
Humility results from a healthy respect for uncertainty and awareness that no matter how smart you are, no matter how much you crunch the data, you can never be certain of a positive outcome.
Four guidelines for leaders:
- Act and talk as if you were in control and project confidence
- Take credit and some blame
- Talk about the future
- Be specific about the few things that matter and keep repeating them
Use integrative thinking: face constructively the opposing ideas and, instead of choosing one at the expense of the other, generate a creative resolution of the tension in the form of a new (and better) idea.
Child-first stances in education are misleading and incomplete. The principal should value teachers as much as children. (in a way that everyone benefits)
Loving and investing in your employees in relation to a high-quality purpose is the bedrock of success.
Secret Two: "Connect Peers with Purpose"
The solution to the too tight-too loose dilemma in management of a system is purposeful peer interaction.
Just collaborating is not enough to ensure learning and growth in the workplace because of the possibility of groupthink. Three factors must be present to ensure collaboration is purposeful:
- Organizational and individual values must align;
- Information and knowledge about effective practices must be openly shared; and,
- Monitoring mechanisms must be in place
In education, the Ontario Focused Intervention Partnership is a good example of successful lateral capacity building.
When peers interact with purpose, they provide their own built-in accountability.
Secret Three: "Capacity Building Prevails"
Advice for a new leader: Don’t roll your eyes on day one when you see practice that is less than effective by your standards. Instead, invest in capacity building while suspending short-term judgment.
Secret Four: "Learning Is The Work"
Organizations face a consistency-innovation dilemma: How to stay consistently focused on core goals while at the same time learning continuously how to get better.
Consistency and innovation can both be achieved through organized learning in context. (that is, reflective practice – learning while working)
Consistency is achieved by precisely identifying (and adhering to) the key practices that are crucial to success.
Professional development programs and courses, even when they are good, often fail to bring about positive change because they are removed from the setting in which teachers work.
Secret Five: "Transparency Rules"
Transparency involves being open about results and practices and is an exercise in pursuing and nailing down problems that recur and identifying evidence-informed responses to them.
Effective data comparisons for schools:
- Compare a school with itself – the progress it is making when compared to previous years;
- Compare a school with its statistical neighbours; and,
- Examine school results to an external or absolute standard
Secret Six: "Systems Learn"
A key reason why organizations do not sustain learning is that they focus on individual leaders. As individual leaders come and go, the company engages in episodic ups and downs.
In schools, rotating principals creates a perpetual carousel where schools move up and down with depressing regularity.
Systems learn by:
1. Developing many leaders working in concert
2. Having leaders approach complexity with a combination of humility and confidence
Humility results from a healthy respect for uncertainty and awareness that no matter how smart you are, no matter how much you crunch the data, you can never be certain of a positive outcome.
Four guidelines for leaders:
- Act and talk as if you were in control and project confidence
- Take credit and some blame
- Talk about the future
- Be specific about the few things that matter and keep repeating them
Use integrative thinking: face constructively the opposing ideas and, instead of choosing one at the expense of the other, generate a creative resolution of the tension in the form of a new (and better) idea.
March 29, 2016
Wow! This book is terrific for anyone who is part of an organization--civic, business, non-profit or part of a community that wants to succeed. While the whole book is good, I am going back to re-read chapter 6 and conclusion when I am not on a treadmill and can place post-it notes all over the place. This is relevant in your classroom, in your home, in your town/city/county, your workplace, your place of worship, and in light of the current conditions and events (election debating) in the world. REad this and then listen to what elected officials, or people who want to be elected, are saying whether on the local or national level. Powerful stuff and likely the chapters that jazzed me aren't necessarily the ones that will jazz you.
April 24, 2011
I don't normally read books like this--I had to read it as part of a class I am taking. However, I am SO glad that I did read it. I really think that any leader or aspiring leader should read this book. Every leader that I have found effective in my life has followed principals in this book (or vice versa). Some of the best principles taught were
Love your employees (making them feel comfortable and cared about)
Transparency rules (making what you do transparent as a leader; this includes being humble as a
leader)
It was such a great book and I definitely plan on reading it again.
Love your employees (making them feel comfortable and cared about)
Transparency rules (making what you do transparent as a leader; this includes being humble as a
leader)
It was such a great book and I definitely plan on reading it again.
August 18, 2013
I just finished reading this book for a grad class. If I'm being honest, I typically skim the books I have to read for grad class, however, I almost read this one from cover to cover! It is interesting, engaging, and applicable to all organizations. If you are in any type of leadership role...or want to be...I highly recommend this book!
October 28, 2014
Secret 2: Connect peers with purpose
October 23, 2023
I'm glad I stumbled upon this thin volume from Professor Michael Fullan that was first published in 2008. I enjoyed his perspective on driving organizational change from the perspective of an educator in Canada. In the years following publication he was recognized with the Order of Canada for his role as a Special Advisor on Education to the Premier of Ontario. He gets right into some of the tension between the academy and the private sector over the issue of the utility of theories with his citing the work of biologist David Sloan Wilson stating "a theory is merely a way of organizing ideas that seem to make sense of the world." In this thin volume he lays out a sound theory with his six secrets of change as he applies it to large-scale reform.
1. Love your employees. 2. Connect peers with purpose. 3. Capacity building prevails. 4. Learning is the work. 5. Transparency rules. 6. Systems learn.
While the time he was writing in was one of substantial change with the subprime mortgage crisis in the U.S. spread forcing major central banks to inject liquidity to respond to the contagion in 2007, if anything the pace of change and the agility needed by organizations has only increased. Overall I liked the emphasis on how these six areas fit together through such synergy that they feed each other. What stood out the most is that three of the six deal with learning and the urgent need to embrace continuous learning, especially that learning and growth which occurs while doing the actual work.
1. Love your employees. 2. Connect peers with purpose. 3. Capacity building prevails. 4. Learning is the work. 5. Transparency rules. 6. Systems learn.
While the time he was writing in was one of substantial change with the subprime mortgage crisis in the U.S. spread forcing major central banks to inject liquidity to respond to the contagion in 2007, if anything the pace of change and the agility needed by organizations has only increased. Overall I liked the emphasis on how these six areas fit together through such synergy that they feed each other. What stood out the most is that three of the six deal with learning and the urgent need to embrace continuous learning, especially that learning and growth which occurs while doing the actual work.
August 3, 2017
The title of this book should be renamed, "Why I would like to Marry the CEO of Toyota and Other Canadian Fantasies". Micheal Fullan has some interesting ideas of how to lead a group of people and claims that the ideas work the same way at schools. I have seen these same strategies at work in schools I have worked for, and I don't necessarily agree that they work as effectively as he would hope that they would. This does not mean that they are not a great place to start with and build upon. The real problem I have with the book is the fact that the whole concept seems to go back to one example that seems to show what every organization should do, Toyota. I do believe that this book was written before the engineering problems that vehicles experienced caused some problems within the company, so he might have a different take on it now. He does give other examples as he goes through his philosophies, but he has a tendency to return to this one as being the exemplar. It is interesting to read, but I don't know if it is the end all be all of good management, but he would also be the first to tell you to question his beliefs because that is the most important thing when looking at these ideas. Because of that take on his philosophy I give him credit, and allows me to question whether his ideas are good or not.
March 24, 2025
41 down, 259 to go.
Genre - Self Help
The Six Secrets of Change
It explores the right attitude to succeed while basing it on grounded and practical advice on how to bring change in any environment or business.
Lessons:
1. A plan is as only as good as the mindset using it.
2. Effectiveness is not about how smart you are. It is about how grounded and insightful your theorizing is.
3. Good leaders are thoughtful managers who use their theory of action to govern what they do, while being open to surprises that direct further action.
4. If you build your organization by focusing on your customers without making the same careful commitment to your employees, you won’t succeed for long.
5. When transparency is consistently evident, it creates an aura of positive pressure that ultimately is inescapable
6. Learning also means being humble in the face of complexity.
7. If you don’t learn from failure, you fail to learn.
8. For organizations to survive and thrive, the leaders need to embrace transparency.
Genre - Self Help
The Six Secrets of Change
It explores the right attitude to succeed while basing it on grounded and practical advice on how to bring change in any environment or business.
Lessons:
1. A plan is as only as good as the mindset using it.
2. Effectiveness is not about how smart you are. It is about how grounded and insightful your theorizing is.
3. Good leaders are thoughtful managers who use their theory of action to govern what they do, while being open to surprises that direct further action.
4. If you build your organization by focusing on your customers without making the same careful commitment to your employees, you won’t succeed for long.
5. When transparency is consistently evident, it creates an aura of positive pressure that ultimately is inescapable
6. Learning also means being humble in the face of complexity.
7. If you don’t learn from failure, you fail to learn.
8. For organizations to survive and thrive, the leaders need to embrace transparency.
July 14, 2023
Combines analysis of private companies and public entities (mostly schools) to provide advice on how to 'survive and thrive' into the 21st century. While a lot of the book is dated - and I'd love to hear Fullan's take on the 2008 derivatives collapse - much of the broader strokes seem broadly applicable today.
June 22, 2024
The 6 secrets of change are of course everything I agree with, but while the author refers to his Ontario educational setting, the examples he chooses are all from major companies such as Toyota, Walmart, etc. There are zero specific examples in the school setting. This reads like a summary with a summary to explain the summary.
September 16, 2024
Honestly the message was good but I feel like the whole thing could have been 5 pages and been more effective? I had a really hard time keeping focused on what I was reading and overall probably could have skipped it.
February 13, 2018
Inspiran vision
The six secrets presented in to book I imagine are valuable for any leader - but as an educator I found them particularly insightful.
The six secrets presented in to book I imagine are valuable for any leader - but as an educator I found them particularly insightful.
February 23, 2020
Just okay.. But not thr best. We can apply the secrets with different cases. And the book is too wordy and a bit flat stories
September 16, 2021
Meh - nothing special. Read for a leadership class otherwise never would have picked this up.
March 28, 2024
Great management book, but I could be 1/4 of the length.
August 18, 2025
I read a physical copy of this book.
I didn't get as much out of it as I hoped I would. There were a lot of fluffy, feel-good ideas.
I didn't get as much out of it as I hoped I would. There were a lot of fluffy, feel-good ideas.
February 19, 2021
This is an assigned book for a leadership course. It felt that it was synthesizing existing theories and books of leader ship will try to perpetuate its particular angle on it. Wasn’t anything super new and it seem common sense to me.
September 2, 2012
It's always wise to know what our policy makers, or alternatively their advisors, think. This is the perspective from which I looked for Michael Fullan's books and randomly picked this one although I should candidly say that the title eased making the decision.
At first, I was a little patient and I felt privileged to read a guru's book. Around page 50 or so, I decided to check some goodreads reviews on the piece I was holding. The first review I came across, which is too the most recently published, confirmed my thoughts. The book is too simple and too plain for what is expected from an academic.
However, as I can't bring myself to accept the plain style, I can think of some excuses for the shallow level of sophistication. It seems that the piece is aimed at an audience of educators not necessarily versed in pedagogy or (effective) educational administration. In other words, it's meant for an audience that gets most of their knowledge from reading and/or workshops (conference). Therefore, Fullan may have made the choice of addressing them in a simple way.*
I would have preferred that the examples mentioned be both directly and indirectly related to educational settings. The author's name in itself is a selling point and I think we, (potential) educators, would pick his book to learn from his expertise specifically in education. I expect that Fullan has travelled often enough to have many stories strictly educational. If I am buying/reading his book, that's surely for those stories. I don't want to hear about Toyota because, guess what?, the CEO there can tell me about it in his own books. We do have enough drama in the classrooms to fill in books, even if they are trade ones. Besides, the "how" in almost all the stories is not well-elaborated. I would have appreciated reading details on what happened and HOW it came to happen when bringing about real-life examples.
What I think? Is this what you want to know? You won't miss anything if you do not read this book.
*I; in no way, shape, or form; mean that the audience's cognitive capacities are modest. Don't get me wrong please.
At first, I was a little patient and I felt privileged to read a guru's book. Around page 50 or so, I decided to check some goodreads reviews on the piece I was holding. The first review I came across, which is too the most recently published, confirmed my thoughts. The book is too simple and too plain for what is expected from an academic.
However, as I can't bring myself to accept the plain style, I can think of some excuses for the shallow level of sophistication. It seems that the piece is aimed at an audience of educators not necessarily versed in pedagogy or (effective) educational administration. In other words, it's meant for an audience that gets most of their knowledge from reading and/or workshops (conference). Therefore, Fullan may have made the choice of addressing them in a simple way.*
I would have preferred that the examples mentioned be both directly and indirectly related to educational settings. The author's name in itself is a selling point and I think we, (potential) educators, would pick his book to learn from his expertise specifically in education. I expect that Fullan has travelled often enough to have many stories strictly educational. If I am buying/reading his book, that's surely for those stories. I don't want to hear about Toyota because, guess what?, the CEO there can tell me about it in his own books. We do have enough drama in the classrooms to fill in books, even if they are trade ones. Besides, the "how" in almost all the stories is not well-elaborated. I would have appreciated reading details on what happened and HOW it came to happen when bringing about real-life examples.
What I think? Is this what you want to know? You won't miss anything if you do not read this book.
*I; in no way, shape, or form; mean that the audience's cognitive capacities are modest. Don't get me wrong please.
October 29, 2014
One of the colleges in my town has offered a degree in change (for many years and long before it was popular to talk about change), and because I know the librarian in the program, I have had the opportunity to hear about the dissertations and practicums. They have all been interesting. Working in a high school, I have (sadly) seen firsthand how difficult it is to make changes to anything. Even when the majority of the staff knows that change is needed and will afford great improvements, we struggle to make the change.
The six secrets in this book appear to be quite simple: 1. love your employees, 2. connect peers with purpose, 3. capacity building prevails, 4. learning is the work, 5. transparency rules, and 6. systems learn. However, we need to fully understand the concept in order to use the "secret." This book provides a deep understanding of each secret. The book is really written for leaders who want to make change, but I think that all members of a community could benefit from reading the book.
I appreciate all of Fullan's research references from studies for the past 20+ years. They help to illuminate the secret and add credence to what Fullan claims we should do. I'm one of the early adopters of change, and I struggle to understand why we drag our feet, so this book showed me how I can work within the community to make change happen. The comparison between Scott and Shackleton (two famous explorers) was a perfect analogy of how to lead and how not to lead. I like to think of myself as a leader/coach for others, but i recognized myself in some of the mistakes Fullan cautions leaders to refrain from making.
The six secrets in this book appear to be quite simple: 1. love your employees, 2. connect peers with purpose, 3. capacity building prevails, 4. learning is the work, 5. transparency rules, and 6. systems learn. However, we need to fully understand the concept in order to use the "secret." This book provides a deep understanding of each secret. The book is really written for leaders who want to make change, but I think that all members of a community could benefit from reading the book.
I appreciate all of Fullan's research references from studies for the past 20+ years. They help to illuminate the secret and add credence to what Fullan claims we should do. I'm one of the early adopters of change, and I struggle to understand why we drag our feet, so this book showed me how I can work within the community to make change happen. The comparison between Scott and Shackleton (two famous explorers) was a perfect analogy of how to lead and how not to lead. I like to think of myself as a leader/coach for others, but i recognized myself in some of the mistakes Fullan cautions leaders to refrain from making.
Read
October 24, 2011Michael Fullan brings a global perspective to the issues of system transformation and change management. He has studied these fields in education and other sectors and in countries and cultures around the world. He knows what works, what doesn't and why. For Canadians, it should be a point of pride that one of our own has such a deep impact on education policy and practice at the individual, system and national levels. Fullan identifies the specific elements associated with successful change leadership and shares stories about how those are implemented. As with many of his recent books, the text is fairly brief, the style is engaging and accessible and the "six secrets" are useful reference points for leadership development and leadership action.
August 18, 2008
This was required reading for our next Leadership Team meeting at the school district. The district leadership were discussing the book, unfortunately, while I was at a conference in Spokane, WA.
The books has 6 basics tenants to successful change, from the author's experience in education and business. The concepts are good and sound. I would be excited to implement his strategies in my school district. As for all organizational change, it must come from the top on down. If the leadership believe it and support it, it could happen. It could create a very collaborative, open work environment where everyone is valued for their strengths, and helped to develop beyond their weaknesses.
The books has 6 basics tenants to successful change, from the author's experience in education and business. The concepts are good and sound. I would be excited to implement his strategies in my school district. As for all organizational change, it must come from the top on down. If the leadership believe it and support it, it could happen. It could create a very collaborative, open work environment where everyone is valued for their strengths, and helped to develop beyond their weaknesses.
April 3, 2013
I thought this book was about change management but really it's about how to run a successful organization. I'm not a fan of how business books are organized and this one was no different. Why do they always have to be lists? But there are some good tips here starting with Love Your Employees. Not sure why more managers don't heed this advice.
I also liked that the book was written by a professor who does a look of work with school districts. He's read a lot of management books so in some ways this is just a synthesis of their findings rather than original ideas.
Worth a read if you are a fan of management books.
I also liked that the book was written by a professor who does a look of work with school districts. He's read a lot of management books so in some ways this is just a synthesis of their findings rather than original ideas.
Worth a read if you are a fan of management books.
June 14, 2009
There's a lot of poor writing in this. There's also a great deal of "I'll explain this idea precisely and with lots of examples." And then I'd get to the end of the chapter and still be waiting for the precise explanation and lots of examples.
There are a few interesting ideas in this book. The idea of balancing the feelings of utmost confidence in what we're doing with the humbleness of being open-minded about ideas that might be better than those we're using is probably my favorite.
There are a few interesting ideas in this book. The idea of balancing the feelings of utmost confidence in what we're doing with the humbleness of being open-minded about ideas that might be better than those we're using is probably my favorite.
December 23, 2011
Listening to this on CD... My first "read" on this general topic, and it's great. Interesting examples and great insights, certainly for someone new to the area. I have to hit rewind all the time. Are these kinds of books addictive, I wonder? I wasn't sure about the reader at first, but I'm hooked. I also wonder if it is more compelling because I am listening to someone talk about leadership and change, instead of reading it.
January 2, 2013
This book is not an "easy read". It definitely caused me to do some deep thinking and I often had to re-read sections of the book in order to grasp the essence of what the author shares. If I can sum up this book in two words it would be: systems and synergy. Applying the six secrets of change is about creating and using appropriate systems in organizations that work in synergy in order to create and sustain change. I actually enjoyed this book and plan on re-reading it.
June 23, 2009
Not Fullan's best, though it is quite readable in the big-margin, big-font, business book kind of way. This book summarizes lots and lots of research on organizational theory and distills it into six principles. They all seem pretty simple. What would be difficult would be to *apply* them, but this book doesn't explain how to do that.
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