You Say You Want A Revolution...

Part One
It was not need-satisfying for me to become a Civil Engineer. That was my parents' desire for me - not my own. As a kid I wanted to be:

• trash collector (you get to ride on the back of the truck!)
• jet fighter pilot
• professional singer / entertainer
• cartoonist / graphic designer
• architect
  

As college loomed closer on the horizon, the pressure was on to pursue a career. I wanted to be an architect. Period. Frank Lloyd Wright was a hero to me and an inspiration (he had a song written about him by Simon and Garfunkel, and his buildings were beautiful works of art). What better job could there be than designing fancy buildings for rich clients? I could think of nothing better.

My parents wanted to capitalize on my skills as a science and math student. Yeah, I got good grades in those classes, but that's not where the fun was for me. In fact it was work to do well in the higher math / science classes. Parents pressured me for Engineering school - I wanted an Architecture school. Why did I agree to Engineering - I was paying for the loans - not them?!?

Needless to say, the science and math got to be more work than I wanted to put in. I was not having fun at this. This was not a need-satisfying college choice! I determined to change majors - even schools if necessary.

Part Two
It became necessary - my grade point average put me on academic probation during my 3rd semester. Yikes! I had never been a poor student! Always A's or B's. If I got a C as a kid on anything I would cry! The idea of getting good grades and doing quality work was need satisfying to me then. I needed to make a change so that I could go back to that happy place once again.

After much soul searching, I realized that my time as a teenage runaway living on the streets was a valuable milestone upon which I should build a new life. Who could help make life better for other kids in similar situations? Teachers and Counselors. I chose to become a Teacher so I could change the world; start a revolution; makes things better!

Part Three
I changed schools, changed my major and was on my way to starting a revolution! I learned of Dr. Glasser in 1992 (Junior year of college) as a pre-Teaching student at MSU. I met David Jackson that same year at a Teacher's convention, selling Glasser's books and promoting his work. Two years later, he was my trainer at Marshfield Public Schools. Two years later, in 1996 I became certificated by the William Glasser Institute in Choice Theory, Reality Therapy and Lead Management. The revolution (for me) had begun. My eyes had been opened. My brain enlightened.

I taught for a total of 10 years, then entered the Healthcare field as a technology educator. I was frustrated by the lack of real progress and significant, sustainable changes occurring in public education. I wanted to change the world now - this was too important to wait while bureaucracies debated. In the meantime, millions of students are being "cranked" through a dysfunctional public education system which is failing them and our democracy.

Plus they didn't pay very well! I was not appreciated and not paid well. A bad combination which means not need-satisfying.

Part Four
The local hospital needed a tech-savvy teacher to help them train the employees during the transition to an Electronic Medical Record / Health Information Management system. The Director of IT appreciated my skillsets. He offered me better pay. Done deal! So long to the revolution in Education that I wanted to be a part of.

My first few years of Glasser training really opened my eyes to organizational reform programs (there are so many in Education) and to the works of W. Edwards Deming. Today I still believe that with a foundation in Glasser's work, a person can study / analyze *any* organizational reform program and determine its probability of success; bottom line: is the outcome need satisfying for the stakeholders? Is the process need-satisfying for the stakeholders? Does the leadership fully grasp the "big picture" of what it will take from them to create the conditions necessary for the change to occur?

This is what I learned from my years in Educational reform movements. Organization reform movements come and go like fads. Some are very successful at one organization and fail miserable at another. The problem usually isn't the reform program - its the leadership. If the leadership had an understanding of Deming and Glasser's work, they could determine the likelihood of success of their endeavor; they could successfully "create the conditions for change."

That's what I hope to do now: "create the conditions for change."