[Community_garden] Karen Pryor: On Being A Change Maker

[Alliums]

Hi, Folks!

 

Yes, the author is a dog trainer, but her "stages in the process of making
changes" is sound - even for those of us in community gardening and
politics!

 

Have to say, the "Openly Attack" stage really rots, but I'm getting through
it! ;-)

 

Dorene

 

Dorene Pasekoff, Coordinator

St. John's United Church of Christ Organic Community Garden and Labyrinth

 

A mission of 

St. John's United Church of Christ, 315 Gay Street, Phoenixville, PA  19460

****************************************************************************
**************************************8

 

http://www.clickertraining.com/node/157

 


On Being a Change Maker


 

By Karen <http://www.clickertraining.com/user/9>  Pryor on 11/01/1998 

Filed in - Karen's Articles <http://www.clickertraining.com/karens_articles>


So you've become a  <http://www.clickertraining.com/glossary#term205>
clicker trainer. Naturally you are very excited. You want other people
around you to stop using  <http://www.clickertraining.com/glossary#term244>
punishment-based methods and start clicking. So you introduce the clicker at
your dog club or high school or wherever you are using it. And guess what:
people not only don't change, they get mad at you.

What do you do now?

Here's a biologist's look at the process of making changes.

What people do when you start to institute a change (in chronological order)

1.      Ignore you 

2.      Pretend to agree but actually do nothing 

3.      Resist, delay, obstruct 

4.      Openly attack you (the dangerous phase, but also a sign that change
is starting) 

5.      Absorb 

6.      Utilize 

7.      Take credit 

8.      Proselytize 

What people say in the process of accepting the change

1.      "That might work for your population but not for mine." (absorbing) 

2.      "I can use it but not for anything important." (absorbing and
utilizing) 

3.      "Some of my people can use it if they feel they need to."
(utilizing) 

4.      "Oh yes, we've been doing that for years, it's quite good."
(utilizing and taking credit) 

5.      "We've come up with a really incredible program, you should try it."
(taking credit and proselytizing) 

How the change maker can react effectively

1.      When they ignore you, find allies and persist. 

2.      Don't be misled by lip service. Find allies and persist. 

3.      Meet resistance with persistence. Move around the resistance; try
other avenues. 

4.      The stage of open attack is a touchy time. People can get fired, for
example. Keep your head down, but persist. Don't take the attack personally,
even if it is a personal attack. Attack is information; it tells you:
a) You're getting somewhere: change IS happening, causing
<http://www.clickertraining.com/glossary#term222> extinction-induced
aggression.
b) Your attacker is frightened. Empathize.
c) Your attacker still believes in the efficacy of aversives. 

5.      Absorbing and utilizing: this stage can last a year or more.
Maintain generous schedules of
<http://www.clickertraining.com/glossary#term247> reinforcement. 

6.      They're taking credit for your idea? By all means, let them; your
goal is the change. Credit is a low-cost
<http://www.clickertraining.com/glossary#term248> reinforcer and people who
want it don't satiate. Give it away in buckets. 

7.      Are they pitching the change? Good. If you want to change something
else, you now have new allies. 

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://list.communitygarden.org/pipermail/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org/attachments/20071228/032b9714/attachment.html