transformative change

I will be focusing on Andy Warhol’s quote, “They say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.”  I think this quote says that if you want to see a change anywhere from your personal life to society as a whole then you need to initiate the change because no one is going to do it for you.  I see this quote as speaking directly to second order change.  Unlike single order change, transformative change actually alters the culture of the organization and causes changes in the way leaders and other members of the group think and behave.  Transformative change may be aided, or even expedited, by single order change as changing the procedures and rules of the group may be necessary to accompany the organization’s culture change.  For example, right now an issue in my chapter is accountability (second order); trying to get members to hold themselves accountable for their actions and hold one another accountable.  To accomplish this, the e-board has identified two single order changes that need to occur: establishment of an effective judicial committee and that the e-board lead by example.  We feel that these changes along with talking with the chapter about accountability, letting them know that each individual should take responsibility for their actions, and creating an environment where not doing so isn’t acceptable will help us to achieve the second order change.  Right now I would say the chapter is somewhere between preparation and action—we have a judicial committee now regularly holding meetings and the majority of the chapter expects members to hold themselves accountable, but not everyone has bought into the idea yet and even some of the people that have recognized the need for change are not fully invested in the idea.  It is especially difficult to generate support for this from some of the older members who have been in a culture without consequences for their entire college experience and they are quite content with the way things are.  It might not be possible to change the way they think, so I feel the best strategy is to focus on the younger members and show them what type of a culture we want to create and hope that if everyone else in the chapter buys-in to the idea that the select few that do not will feel enough external pressure to change their behavior.