Response Guidelines
Respond to at least one other learner. Share something about his or her explanation that triggered thoughts about your own experiences in changing trends in your organization or your work with constituents as a leader or future leader.
Your response must be substantive and contribute to the discussion. Compare your analysis to that of your peer and comment on the similarities and differences that you see. If there are aspects that you do not agree with, present an argument to support your position. If you need more information from your peer, be sure to ask questions for clarity.
Student post down below:
Bryson (2018) suggests that key to helping constituents gain an accurate view of an organization or program in a changing environment is to share a long view over the history of the organization and its place in the historical context of social, polictical, economic, technological, and ecological internal and external changes. The author asserts that by close examination of the past, it becomes easier to imagine distinct new futures. Also, by understanding the internal and external context in which an organization or program exists, it becomes easier for planners to develop strategies and tactics that are more likely to be adopted by the organization or program.
I think by illuminating the history of change, leaders can associate the slowly rising tide of change with progress and momentum, and even the inevitability of an organization or program’s need to evolve with the times and to meet the changing needs of the communities or individuals they serve. I suppose it is human nature to be swept away by a vision of change inspired by historical precedent. Sometimes those ideas of the inevitability of change are (I suspect) what really creates the change. For an example, I would look back to the idea of manifest destiny, which was quite literally, a “destiny” that was manifested by the strong cultural belief that American settlers were destined to expand across North America from the Atlantic to Pacific oceans. The better you do at convincing your constituents that they are part of a historical movement towards greater and greater progress and achievement, the easier it will be to implement change.
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