Great Power Comes Great Responsibilty

Empowerment is the word that I usually hear on beauty pageants because this is how women separate their ability against men, Women Empowerment and World Peace! Funny though but could it tickles my mind to search more about this. We can define empowerment as an act of transferring power, to delegate or authorize. Okay! Now we are talking something here. The term can be visualize through fantasy movies wherein a warlock transfers his powers to his successor which he trained for a long time and deserves the gift.

In the real world, this has nothing to do with magic or sorcery because none of those exist. The real power is the information that we hold within ourselves. I do conduct a class about Knowledge Management wherein we tackle about how do we organize and share our knowledge. Knowledge is acquired through experience and skills so it can’t be taken away from you. There are times that someone copies our work or plans but they are just getting our ideas. In my own point of view, ideas are merely the crumbs of bread because they nourish us when it comes to building our output. The knowledge that we have is the one that takes us to a journey that evolve through time but it needs to be organized.

How do we get power in the organization? The authority in the organization can be acquired or through our exemplary execution of our potentials. Aside from that we can also get the power through greed and total manipulation of the scenario. For some people, they do not need to work hard to be at the top management because the position is served on them in silver platter. These are the people are family members that takes over the management. This situation can be good or bad. If the heir or heiress is good enough with the position, well there is no doubt that the subordinates can easily adapt to the new management. The people in the organization are usually having a very short time span in relating and adjusting to any changes because of their work load. That is why the few months of the new manager is crucial because it is the moment of judgement. The dark side of it is that when the manager acts against the norms. If we are going to think about it the top management possesses great power over their subordinates but if we are going to see the other possibility, once the majority of the employees gather their thoughts and skills in creating one great plan surpasses the manipulation of the top management. http://www.empowermentillustrated.com/ was able to come up with two flavors of empowerment:

1. One with benefits to both an empowerer and those empowered.

This is what we call “empowerment” wherein we get a certain authorization from a powerful person. Personally, I never experienced this because I am a type of person that always sees success with my own effort. But on the lighter note if ever someone will give me power to govern the organization, I will think a million times before accepting it. Just like the quotation from one of my favorite movie which is the Spiderman, “great power comes great responsibility”. That person that delegates that power to me saw a potential that somehow contributes to the improvement of the organization. But as the receiver, I also need to level up my sense of consciousness to be able to assess myself if I really handle it. Most people would easily grab the once in a lifetime opportunity because of what is at stake in it. But always keep in mind that not all opportunities are destined for us, rush judgements can lead to a total shock that sadly bring down the expectations.

2. Another where power is created out of nothing by somebody who previously perceived themselves to be powerless and then woke up to their own power.

This is what we call self empowerment and this is my cup of tea. I may look loud but I am nobody at all. I may have the wildest ideas and out of this world thoughts that I usually share it with my close friends and colleagues. I gain the power when they reacted on it whether they agree or not. In that case can say to myself that I was able to transfer good vibes or empower positivity to my peers. Inside the classroom, I don’t consider myself as the boss but instead a source of positivity to help my students see the greater venue for learning. They need to seek alternative ways to identify their comfort zone and how to get out with it. My own experiences can be a learning tool for them.

It is also essential to discuss about the 5 bases of which acted as a source for Organizational power for an individual according to French and Raven. http://www.wciltd.com/pdfquark/powerorgv2.pdf

1. Position in the hierarchy – that is one’s place in the formal rank structure of the organization, indicated by one’s title.
In my current organization I belong to the academic department that is responsible in creating techniques in teaching new approaches for learning. The profit of the school is no longer my great concern because that is the job of the administrative department. As an instructor, my power is the ability to possess more experiences compared to my students. I don’t believe that teachers are always knowledgeable because most of the time our students possesses brilliant ideas. My way to empower the students is to let them bring out their potentials by giving them the authority to create an output base on my inputs in class.

2. Reference relationships – that is, the personal connection that an individual is perceived to have to others in the organization who are high in the formal hierarchy. Notice something very important that is at play here. It is the perception of relationship that generates power. That is, an individual who has personal relationships with others high in the hierarchy, but whose relationships are not obvious to others does not have access to this source of power. It is only when the individual can credibly reference the existence of these relationships that they act as a source of personal power.

The organization that I’m in right now is not our family business. With this bases I can relate this to our Student Supreme Council (SSC) wherein I play as there adviser. The SSC conducts an election annually but I remain as the adviser so I may handle different set of student officers. My power is to keep the balance within the organization because I have the knowledge of what happen in the previous administration. The past will lead the present to a better future because we learn from our mistakes and make some changes to improve ourselves.

3. Resource control acts in interesting kinds of ways. Because of the bureaucratic nature of many organizations, individuals relatively low in the formal hierarchy can often have a great deal of resource control. The classic example is the facilities manager who can override the requirements of a VP for the design of a personal office, because that facilities manager has been empowered by the organization to enforce a facilities policy. Another example is the IT service analyst who can override the decision of a manager to have a particular kind or configuration of a personal computer, because of standards created as part of an overall technology policy. Literally then, resource control means the ability to mobilize or deny the mobilization of organizational resources: dollars, people, assets, and external relationships.

So far, I haven’t encountered this overriding of tasks in the organization because I always give chances to everyone who wants perform whether within the faculty members or the class. For instances that my program head will suddenly give one of my assigned duty to another person, I will activate my power of understanding because it might be that he saw how fully loaded I am with prior tasks. With that attitude I can also empower my students with the ability of dividing the tasks to the members of the group to create faster and greater outputs.

4. Demonstrated expertise – An individual who is recognized as having the capability, and special knowledge, in an area of importance to others in the organization has expert power. Once again, passively having the expertise is not enough. The individual must behave in a way which leads others in the organization that has personal power to recognize and value the expertise.

As an instructor, this is our main tasks that we must excel with because we have to convey messages or information o our students for them to create their own ideas. Although we are the 21st century education that the teacher is just to facilitate the class and the students is the one who come up an output. During class discussions I need to make sure that I came to the class prepared so that at the end of the session at least all of them can absorb the topics. There are also times when an instructor is bounded with his emotions and resulted to a not so excellent data transmission in the class. Oh well it’s jut ok because it will show the vulnerable of me that will the student realize that they need to step up and be confident in checking my mishaps. The power of acceptance as a teacher must come out from me so that I will be challenged to give extra effort next time. Old school teachers consider committing mistake in front of the class is a mortal sin because it may degrade their credibility. But the new generate teachers must appreciate committing acceptable to ignite our level of consciousness to keep us grounded.

5. Personality power – the way a person expresses personality (how I behave, dress, and communicate) in an organization can grant them power. It’s been long recognized that senior executives who use their emotions in explicit ways to create drama, define stands on issues, communicate to large groups, provide leadership to task and problem solving teams, engage in and win battles around issues with organizational peers, and represent the organization visibly in the exterior world, all have personal power. These are all forms of expression of one’s personality. They represent who one is, and how one wants to be in the world.

As what I have mentioned regarding my level of existence in the academe, I’m just a nobody. I don’t have any intention o putting myself down because I am confident enough that with a right goal and mind setting i can at least touch one life that will later on build something new in the society. I am a type of a teacher that doesn’t allow monotony in the class that ends up to boredom. I always inject my bubbly and animated personally to kill this moment. My personality always creates free flowing relationship among peers and colleagues. They usually see me as a person with a lot comical skills with great sense on the side. The advantage of having this character is that I can easily think of ideas that could resolve a certain mishaps. They can hardly notice that I am deeply struggling within the situation. The disadvantage is that I am prone to people who might abuse my ability to make things lighter and never take me seriously.

Zir Zirdge’s Point of View
Organizing is a way of arranging data and putting them in correct perspective. The application is the same in all things maybe they come in different approach but the logic is the same which is to keep it proper. Empowerment is a very good thing for a long as it is done correctly. That is why organizing the empowerment values are needed for us to transfer the power to those people who deserves it. As the receiver of the power, we must also put into consideration on how valuable this opportunity and to assess whether we can stand with it or walk away.

CHANGE: The Only Constant Thing in this World

Let us talk about change on any areas first and hoping that at the end of this we will discover what is the importance of change and how to handle it. To be very honest about 10 years ago when I was still a student I consider change as a monster because it cuts off the consistency that I’ve experienced in a certain period. It forced me to go out from my comfort zone because I am a type of person before that stays on what is just best for me. As a normal student we may have some improvements and evolutions but we don’t really take it as serious as possible due to immaturity and the environment. The question is, when did I consider that change really exists and we need to face it? The transition from being a college student to an employee was the first encounter that I have with change. Literally the environment is different and the responsibilities are no longer easy. During my college days my attendance and performance is equivalent to grades while as an employee it is converted to money. That is how I realized that this is going to be a serious matter.

As years past by I observed that changes is not just all about me but it also comes from your circles that affects me either directly or indirectly. Discovering the importance of change makes me question more on it validity while the factors of change made me realized on how to be prepared for the worst and best things to happen. Just like other blog entry, it is very nice to get experiences from the industry where I’ve worked before and the academe that I am servicing right now to give a more exciting and balance point of view regarding the topic “Organizational Change Model”.

Change is defined as to alter; to make different; to cause to pass from one state to another; as, to change the position, character, or appearance of a thing; to change the countenance (http://ardictionary.com/Change/3901). Base on the definition we can see the greater possibilities of chaos, confusion and destabilization if change is not handled well. The initial reaction of people that is the direct recipient of change my feel honored, happy or obnoxious depending on how it was announced or the reason. Change according to Kunwar Ajeet Singh Baghel is necessary way of life in most organizations for their survival and growth. Man has to mould himself continuously to meet new demand and face new situations. No matter how stable our decisions we must always be equipped on the factors that contribute in reconstructing the plan. In an organization the change is very common especially those who are in the industry where the competition is very tough. Unlike in the academe, the competition is that abrupt but somehow life changing.

According to http://smallbusiness.chron.com/causes-structural-change-within-organization-436.html, they presented “What Causes Structural Change Within an Organization?”. It was stressed in this website that the ability to identify the signs of oncoming organizational change can help you better prepare for the change and implement policies that will keep your company on a growth path.

1. Acquisitions

In merging with another company there are rules and practices that has to be changed to create a peaceful new environment. In the industry, the minority or the smaller group in the merge is the most affected in the change because they are the one’s that needs to adjust. The academe normally feels greater impact because of the emotions built within a group but since educators are also leaders they can easily find the reasons for the merge. The merge in the academe is normally between a new and old school, branches of a school, classroom, faculty rooms and other offices.

2. Job Duplication

When employees encounter duplicate management positions, the structure of the organization needs to be altered to eliminate the excess positions and bring departments into line with the proper individual manager. If one department in the company or a school has more than 1 manager will confusion to its subordinates and followers because even though managers follow 1 rule but they do different management styles. That will give the idea of creating several factions depending on which management style they want. In the school, one must manage the administrative area and other one is for academic because the two areas have different concerns and responsibility.

3. Marketplace Changes

As the marketplace changes, so do the structural needs of your organization. For example, as fuel prices rise, customers may begin to demand more fuel-efficient vehicles. This is for me the most basic reason for change and affects the organization when it comes to implementing limitations. The people will adjust the activities, events and projects according to the allotted budget that will surely lead to arguments due to setting the priorities.

4. Process Changes

Changes to the way the company does business can cause structural changes. If your company was used to allowing departments to be autonomous, then a change to a centralized way of doing business will create changes in company structure. If a new department has been created to address a company demand, the company structure must change to accommodate the new group. We can’t really assume that standard set by the current management is going to be used by its successors. So if this will happen most reaction will depend on how favorable the manner or how different the approach is.

There are additional reasons on why a change in the organizational structure exists according to Kunwar Ajeet Singh Baghel.

5. Deficiency in existing organizational patterns

If the school or the company is still a baby the tendency is that they use the most common trend when it comes to management matters. But the success of the company really depends on finding the correct formula that smooth out everything. This is not overnight because even big companies also struggle with this.

6. Technological and psychological reasons

7. Government policies

8. Size of the organization

Models of Change

Aside from identifying the reasons of change it is also essential for us to learn and be aware of the model of change. Let me start with the Lewin’s Three Step Change Model.

The diagram shows a very simple process of changing and this can be explained well by letting a real world situation to visualize the theory. In the academe, I observe some glitches that caught my attention as a new educator and this matter needs to be addressed to get closer to a more manageable institution.

UNFREEZING

The focus of this stage is to create the motivation to change. In so doing, individuals are encouraged to replace old behaviors and attitudes with those desired by management. Managers can begin the unfreezing process by disconfirming the usefulness or appropriateness of employees' present behaviors or attitudes.

Act 1: The Meltdown

In an institution, it is better to have someone that acts as a vulture that keeps an eye on a possible target. The targets are the bad habits of the employees that have been rotting the office for such a long time. The vulture also alarms those who are also observing the acts that don’t have the courage to say their piece. Where the unfreezing happens? Once these bad habits are truly identified and recognized not just by their colleagues but also with the management, a certain deliberation will happen to iron out everything. In this stage the body will find ways on how these problems started? Too much leniency in the office gives a notion to other employees to abuse their freedom. An organization must have clearer and strict rules for the employees to follow. Once these bad attitude is already identified and clarified the next step is now ready to be performed.

CHANGING

Because change involves learning, this stage entails providing employees with new information, new behavioral models, or new ways of looking at things. The purpose is to help employees learn new concepts or points of view. Role models, mentors, experts, benchmarking the company against world-class organizations, and training are useful mechanisms to facilitate change.

Act 2: Bidding Goodbye to Bad Habits

Old bad habits are so hard to let go just like our favorite things that needs to be in a garage sale. After the unfreezing stage, it is not expected to have an abrupt resolution to the problem. Switching has to be done gradually to guarantee the authenticity and the commitment of both parties. If a vulture is the one who catches the target, an eagle must take a stand for change and take its followers to a higher ground. A leader is needed to set a very good example to all people. This is in preparation of the last step which is refreezing.

REFREEZING

Change is stabilized during refreezing by helping employees integrate the changed behavior or attitude into their normal way of doing things. This is accomplished by first giving employees the chance to exhibit the new behaviors or attitudes. Once exhibited, positive reinforcement is used to reinforce the desired. Additional coaching and modeling also are used at this point to reinforce the stability of the change.

Act 3: IN or OUT?

The second step is just an experiment of the possible solution of the problem because not all theories are correct. Theories are there for us people to research and prove a certain idea. This third step will help the managers to easily identify what are the effective moves and not. Refreezing is simply a collaboration of solutions that is moral and acceptable to everyone.

SUMMARY

I really love the topic regarding changing organization model because I am now part of the decision makers in an institutions. Old habits might be aged with so much experiences and moments but in considering new approaches might also be beneficial to all of us. Change is constant that is why we must always be on guard to switch from one phase to the other and be prepared to go out from out comfort zones.