The Six Secrets of Change - Book Report/Review Example

In this book, Fullan describes simple but essential knowledge along with examples from the real-life of how these six secrets guide organizational leaders towards long-lasting and effective modifications that eventually help improve the culture and proficiency of an organization. With his experience as a Dean in the University of Toronto in the Faculty of Education and his current position as a Consultant in key education enterprises worldwide, Fullan has expressed his highly valuable views on the subject.

He has stressed the importance of creating a theory for the guidance of creating an organizational change instead of depending on a strict rule or plan. According to him the theory to be used should make complete sense and should be tested before applying. For him, a good theory should be such that it can be applied in private organizations and public sectors. Fullan emphasizes that the ideas he has proposed in the book should not be blindly implemented; they should first be studied properly and thought of as a base for a positive change before the development of a plan of action.

The ‘six secrets’ that Fullan has revealed in this book are referred to as a ‘theory of action’. . As believed by almost everyone ‘customer is king’ and he should be the primary centre of all the happenings in an organization. But the truth is that sometimes this becomes a hindrance to the happiness and satisfaction of the employees or the students in the organization. Fullan indicates that both these factors should be in a balanced relationship with one another and the employees’ contentment should not be ignored or sacrificed because of the customer.

The first secret helps the employer to identify various strategies for the motivation of the employees so they can work effectively and remain faithful to the goals of the company. This secret is a very useful one because if you manage to keep your employees happy and fulfilled they will work harder to achieve the kind of results that you desire. The second secret identified by Fullan is ‘Connect Peers with a Purpose’. In this Fullan talks about the need for peers to stay connected with each other with a sense of being part of one organization and all of them have the same goal of working for the betterment of the organization.

A positive and determined interaction between peers results in a fruitful, more productive working environment. Fullan mentions that peers are “more effective than random individuals at work and more effective than managerial groups at the top working in isolation to develop strategic plans”(Fullan, 2008). Secret three ‘Capacity Building Prevails’ says that in order for the employees to feel more valued the leader should increase their capacity to perform jobs instead of teaching them small sets of important skills.

Fullan warns the leaders to avoid criticism and deliver work in such a way that it does not stimulate negativity. This will make the leaders ‘facilitators’ or ‘mentors’ and make the employees feel trusted and committed to them. The employees should be permitted to take risks and in this way, the leaders of the organization can encourage capacity building in a more efficient way.