Michael Fullan

If you haven’t read a book by Michael Fullan, then you may as well begin with this one. No, this book will not help you manage the library/learning commons the minute you read the first chapter, but it will make you smarter when you sit at the table in conversations about school improvement. And, that is the table you need to sit at. It is so easy to see just our own problems in the learning commons. It is quite another to see a context and be able to articulate a larger vision. In this show more book, Fullan looks at system-wide change. What does it take for a school district to pull itself out of the quagmire and become relevant and move to a leadership position. Fullan has major recommendations with some simple idea that can make a difference. And, there is a chapter on what the individual can do in that larger consideration of change. A book like this may be like eating your broccoli or taking caster oil (that reference is for those of us who remember back many years), but it is good for your head, and it doesn’t take that long, and, it will give you an informed opinion about a number of local issues. So, try this one. Eat the rest of those peas on your plate. Smile. show less

A good resource for an educational leadership framework, but is clearly written as a primer for those already versed in Fullan & Quinn's "Coherence Framework" and Kirtman's "7 Competencies for Highly Effective Leaders," as it combines those two works. If you are not familiar with them (as I wasn't), it may take a bit to wrap your head around the jargon and how the two frameworks are relating to each other.

While the ideas are cogent, this book reads as something that may have been rushed show more (some missed editing, repetitive phrasing, and sections not fully explained). Some of the book sounds like the authors had been asked to explain just a bit more about a bulleted list they had put together; I imagine it's written this way because the bulk of the information is in the authors' previous works.

That said, there is good insight and information throughout the book. Recommended for those already reading in educational leadership (EL), but you'll want to consume as part of an EL book cocktail (probably combined with the authors' other books). show less

At the end of his book, Michael Fullan shares his concern that readers will miss the nuance in the leadership approach he outlines and misinterpret it as a simple three-step process. Nuanced thinking is required to understand nuance. Nonetheless, this is a valuable book for those having to grapple with the complexities of today’s world. This is a guide for leaders who are unwilling to settle for surface-level change. Fullan describes what is required to lead within complex environments. He show more illustrates his process with case studies of leaders who lead with nuance. Though Fullan focuses primarily on the education arena, nuanced leadership is applicable to any sector of society. show less

This is quite simply the best book on organizational / systemic change that I have read. By virtue of being fairly simple, yet heavily nuanced, Fullan's theory provokes you to assess your own experience and assumptions. I very much recommend this to anyone interested in how change happens in the business / education / social organizations.