Implementing a

Self-Sustainable
Community
Project
SUNY 1 Credit Module
June 13-14, 2009
 Agenda
 Review Module 1 Definition of terms
 Theories
 Review Expectations and
Assignments
 Self-study course
 Reading for tonight

 Initiation of the project

 Implementing your project
 “Simple changes are the ones school
systems are least likely to adopt and
implement successfully”
 Why?
 Review terms: Primary
Definitions
 Self-Sustainable
 Community
 Project
 Limitations/Unintended Outcomes
 Budget
 Impact
 Short Term
 Long Term
 Secondary Definitions
 Benevolence
 Altruism
 Empathy
 Selfish
 Caring
 Ethics
 Morality
 Review Concepts:
Morality
 Humans are different from animals
because we have the capability of
asking ourselves, “What should I
do?”
 Moral relativism suggests that
customs and traditions that vary
from culture to culture determine
much of our morality.
 Morality
 In this theory, we look for
consistency-if it is wrong for Mike to
cheat on the test, then it is wrong for
Allen to cheat on the test.
 It is also important to consider the
facts and are the facts true: for
example, Marijuana should be
legalized.
 What is right and what is wrong?
 What is good and what is bad?
 Self-Interest Theory
 Human beings are always and everywhere
selfish. This is usually seen as the opposite
of moral behavior. Even if there are moral
principles, we are not capable of living up
to them.
 “You are being selfish when you do what
you want to do, and you always end up
doing what you most want to do otherwise
you wouldn’t do it at all.”
 Tennis vs. Visiting an old lady: one
afternoon you have some free time, what
 Review: Planning a
Project
 First identify the “why” then you look
for the “how.”
 Why are you doing this?
 Who will be effected?

 Cost: money (do you need money

upfront?) human resources, materials?
 Timeline?

 Evaluation: is it working?
 Implementation and
Sustainability

“Well the hard work is done.

We have the policy passed;
now all you have to do is
implement it.”
 Communicating your
Project Vision
 Clarity of purpose is essential
 A visions main function is to inspire
people and to concentrate their
efforts.
 Its not something you do by writing
memo’s; you have got to appeal to
people’s emotions.-IBM’s Louis Gerstner
 Clarity
 Leaders need to provide vision that is
clear, strong, and not dictatorial.
 Fosters trust-trust raises confidence and
then people cooperate better.
 Fosters commitment-people will want to
be involved
 Why Visions Fail
 Length-four or five pages of a vision
statement are hard to follow.
 Fragmentation-trying to do/state too
much.
 Impracticality-aims are unrealistic
 Clichés-a cascade of fancy slogans
and currently popular words.
 Vision Documents
 Too much: One covers both sides of
an eleven by seventeen inch page,
small font, lists vision, mission,
eighteen values, three sets of goals;
sixteen for students, eleven for staff
and admin, five for the community
and action plans for four years, with
up to eighteen items per year.
 Vision Building

 Practice Building a vision for your

school.
 Write it down, share it with the group.
 How to Build Support for
your Project
 Who to include
 How often
 Evaluation
 Timeline
Project Implementation
(Fullan 1991)

 Relevance
 Practicality + Need

This is the interaction of need, clarity of

the innovation and what does it really
offer the school.
-How are you going to improve things?
 Readiness
 Capacity + Need

This involves the schools conceptual

capacity to initiate, develop, or adopt a
given innovation.
Two groups: Individual and Organizational
 Individual
Individual
 Does it address a perceived need”

 Is it a reasonable change?

 Do they possess the requisite

knowledge and skills?
 Do they have the time?
 Organizations
 Is the change compatible with the
culture of the school?
 Are facilities, equipment, materials
and supplies available?
 Are there other crises or change
efforts in progress?
(the more No’s you have the more you
need to reassess the “readiness”
factor.)
 Resources
 Availability-just because you have a
good idea, are the resources there to
carry out the plan?
 Change is technically simple and
socially complex, (Fullan)

 Projects once past the initiation stage become

complex because they involve people.
 4 Main Insights to
Implementation
1. Active initiation and participation-
small groups of people
 Starting small, thinking big
 Learning by doing

 Building momentum

 There is refutable evidence that

widespread involvement at the early
stages is feasible or effective.
2. Pressure and Support
 Pressure is good, it can lead to action.

 Peer coaching provides both pressure

and support
 Pressure without support leads to
resistance
 Support without pressure leads to
waste of resources (Fullan)
3. Changes in behavior and beliefs
 Do changes in behavior precede
changes in belief?
 Ongoing and reciprocal

 Critical to identify and assess

4. The overriding problem of
ownership
 Who owns the change and project?

 True ownership does not come

immediately
 Think of good leadership skills
 Implementation and
Empowerment
 Implementation is doing-power
sharing is critical
 How will you develop a collaborative
work culture to implement your
program?
 Social process-nothing is more enticing
than the feeling of being needed.
 Monitoring/Problem
Solving
 Not evaluation but on-going process.
Successful project monitoring is done
by:
 Simplicity of presentation
 Visibility of measurements

 Everyone's involvement

 Undistorted collection of primary

information
 Measurement of what is important
 2 Functions of
Monitoring
 By providing information on
innovative practice it allows for
access to good ideas.
 Allows for checks and balances as
you scrutinize ideas.
 How will you gather data?
 Why do projects fail?
 Lack of interest
 Inability to fund
 Lack of support
 Homework

 Reading: The Logic of Failure

(Dorner)
 Introduction-Chapter 2 pp. 1-48
 Chapter 7: Planning