"Change comes from small initiatives which work, initiatives which initiated become the fashion. We cannot wait for great visions from great people, for they are in short supply at the end of history. It is up to us to light our own small fires in the darkness."
Charles Handy 'The Empty Raincoat'

My colleague Pat sent me this message after reading something on the blog...
"You know I absolutely agree with this vision. Your passion and energy and drive are fantastic. But are we carrying people with us on this vision. I attended a funeral of a lovely man recently. He used to be a painter and decorator until poor health forced him into retirement @ 59 without a pension. His last few years were riddled will ill health but he loved his time with his grandchildren and his extended family. At the service his son explained to those gathered to pay our respects and say farewell that his father taught him to be kind, to love his children, and to value friendships. He explained that at times some people took advantage of his father's kindness and generousity. Without any anger but with conviction he said "shame on those people". Maybe we should be satisfied by ensuring powerful and appropriate values and beliefs are instilled in our own children. Maybe our time and energy and passion should be rationed for loved ones and friends. Maybe that should be our enduring legacy. Maybe system improvement and change will happen organically anyway, without us striving to make it happen a few days or weeks or months earlier.My salutation to my children every time I leave for work or leave them at school or university is "have fun and learn a lot". We try to instill in them respect and kindness for others. Maybe we should simply work harder at being better parents, and loving partners."

No Pat, we can never be satisfied by ensuring powerful and appropriate values and beliefs are instilled in our own children. Our time and energy and passion can't simply be rationed for loved ones and friends. Our enduring legacy must be to change and transform the learning landscape here in this wonderful city. I am sorry, but system improvement and change will not happen organically.... culture change is driven by leadership and managing change is about growth, focus and direction. You are right that we should work harder at being better parents, and loving partners but our challenge is to make our colleagues recognise that their efforts make a real difference for all our children... all 190,000 of them.

If we are going to develop a belief that 'my effort' makes a difference we must focus on:

• accountability... we must ALL take responsibility for getting the job done;
• initiative... we must ALL be self-motivated and self-managing;
• creativity and innovation... we must ALL be free to take risks and try things out;
• integrity... we must ALL be honest and open in everything we do;
• working effectively with others... we must ALL develop teamwork and partnerships.

Keep the faith...

Chris