Resources on Effectively Disrupting Underperforming Organizations

It is important for a leader to stay the course through highly disruptive times in an organization. Doing such is not easy work and generally unsustainable when public perception turns sour. However, the length of time a leader is allowed to sail against the wind can depend upon the quality of the leader’s strategic plan from the outset as well as the Board’s commitment to the strategies set forth in the plan. As the COO of my current urban school District, I, along with a team of talented and dedicated senior managers, have been committed to a strategic operating plan that since being implemented has highly disrupted the organization over the past four years.

Recent Connecticut Next Generation Accountability Results suggest the disruption has paid dividends. Our District was ranked first in our District Reference Group and Surpassed the State Accountability Index for the second consecutive year. In addition, we had four of our 20 schools named as Connecticut Schools of Distinction.

Through my research I have found these resources to be the most meaningful in helping me to understand and learn how one effectively disrupts an underperforming organization:

Bolman, L., & Deal, T. (1991). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Childress, S. (2007). Managing school districts for high performance: Cases in public education leadership. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.

Childress, S. (2010). Transforming public education: Cases in education entrepreneurship. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.

Childress, S., & Clayton, T. (2008). Public Education Leadership Project at Harvard University: Focusing on results at the New York City Department of Education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing.

Childress, S., & Marietta, G. (2010). Public Education Leadership Project at Harvard University: A problem-solving approach to designing and implementing a strategy to improve performance. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing.

Elmore, R., Grossman, A., & King, C. (2007). Public Education Leadership Project at Harvard University: Managing the Chicago Public Schools. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing.

Fullan, M. (2010). All systems so: The change imperative for whole system reform. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Heifetz, R. A. (1994). Leadership without easy answers. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

Kegan, R., & Lahey, L. L. (2009). Immunity to change: How to overcome it and unlock potential in yourself and your organization. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press.

Kotter, J. P. (1995). Why transformation efforts fail. Harvard Business Review.

McAdams, D. R. (2006). What school boards can do: Reform governance for urban schools. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Owens, R. G., & Valesky, T. C. (2006). Organizational behavior in education: Adaptive leadership and school reform. Boston, MA: Pearson.

Originally published at frankcostanzo.org on March 5, 2019.