This is the third and final installment in our three-part series on agency-driven leadership. In our first insight, we explored how leaders can serve as catalysts for change by modeling agency themselves. In our second, we introduced the 4Cs—Conceptual Understanding, Commitment, Competency, and Capacity—as a framework for turning that vision into action. Here, we focus on the process that helps leaders bring those conditions to life through the Friction Free Transformation Framework.
Underpinning the catalytic impact of the 4Cs is the need for a clear process to ensure change toward agentic learning environments actually happens, led by agency-driven leaders. This is where the Friction Free Transformation Framework comes in.
Think back to the Diet Coke and Mentos experiment. It took two key ingredients to make the geyser burst forth: carbonated soda and Mentos. The 4Cs act like the soda, providing essential conditions, but without a process for transformation, the catalyst will not fully ignite. The Friction Free Transformation Framework (see Figure 1) provides that process and is the second ingredient needed to make all those bubbles of change erupt in our schools and classrooms.
Figure 1: Friction Free Transformation Framework
This model highlights the following three elements:
Build Buy-in – No change can be achieved without buy-in from those who will be affected by it. It’s important to first define the challenge you want to address, then identify the stakeholders, and ensure you are engaging meaningfully with them about what this change means and how it will affect them. Once you have established buy-in, it becomes much easier to introduce the change.
Remove Roadblocks – No matter how effectively you build buy-in, problems occur if people are constantly challenged by things such as a lack of time, resources, or support to implement the change, or where existing structures and processes become barriers to the desired change. It is a leader’s responsibility to identify and remove these issues before they become problems.
Embrace Experimentation – Meaningful change occurs when there is an opportunity to learn from mistakes and to ‘test’ new ideas, rather than commit to a predetermined change plan with no room for deviation. Building a culture of experimentation in our schools and institutions embraces new ideas and approaches. Doing this well will more likely produce a change that is scalable and able to be sustained over time
Each of the 4Cs requires buy-in, identification of potential roadblocks, and need for experimentation when doing new things. Because the responses to managing change are so site-specific, this section is not the answer book – rather, it is built around model questions that link the 4Cs to the Framework elements. The intent of these questions is to put ourselves in a position to reflect on how the process of change may evolve. There will be a need for each reader to create their own set of questions based on their own reflection. The questions in Figure 2 are samples to stimulate your thinking
Figure 2: Sample Reflection Questions
The look on students’ faces when they first experience Diet Coke and Mentos is one of amazement! And the most curious of them want to take it to another level by asking questions, like: Does it work with all sodas or just Diet Coke? What if we put food coloring in the bottle—what happens to the bubbles then? What if we used other types of candy?
In schools where transformational shifts are taking place, that same type of energy bursts forth—the “What if we…” These questions come from adults and students alike.
What we need are catalysts willing to allow agency to burst forth in our classrooms! Download a copy of the Agency By Design Playbook and consider how to take the challenge of being an agency-driven leader.
Agency-driven leadership is a continuous journey of reflection and growth. The Friction Free Transformation Framework provides a structure for guiding that journey, but real progress depends on each leader’s willingness to examine their own beliefs, skills, and capacity for change. Use the Agency-Driven Leadership Self-Reflection Tool to assess where you are today and identify the next steps in your development as a catalyst for agency.
This concludes our three-part series on agency-driven leadership. Across these insights, we have explored what it means to lead with agency, how to strengthen the conditions that support it, and how to sustain it through a clear process for implementation. To learn more, download Agency By Design: An Educator’s Playbook from the Aurora Institute and visit The Learning Accelerator for additional tools and stories that bring agency-driven leadership to life.
Derek Wenmoth: Derek is acknowledged as one of New Zealand’s foremost future-focused thinkers and is the founder of FutureMakers. He is regularly asked to consult with schools and government agencies regarding the future directions of educational policy and practice in NZ and internationally.
Marsha Jones, Ed. D is a lifelong educator and passionate about promoting and developing the agency of students and teachers. Over the past 45 years, she has served as a classroom teacher, a district-level director of Special Education, and an Associate Superintendent and adjunct professor at the University of Arkansas. Currently, Marsha is enjoying freelance writing, promoting agency for students and educators.
