It can be hell to be behind a paradigm shift instead of creating one. Most people become paralyzed by the fear and uncertainty of seismic change. Others focus on predicting as much as possible before it happens in an attempt to react optimally. Very few learn to continually create the future they desire.
The parable of the boiled frog is a lesson of maladaptation to gradually building threats to survival. As Peter Senge describes in his classic book “The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of The Learning Organization“:
If you place a frog in a pot of boiling water, it will immediately try to scramble out. But if you place the frog in room temperature water, and don’t scare him, he’ll stay put. Now, if the pot sits on a heat source, and if you gradually turn up the temperature, something very interesting happens. As the temperature rises from 70 to 80 degrees F., the frog will do nothing. In fact, he will show every sign of enjoying himself. As the temperature gradually increases, the frog will become groggier and groggier, until he is unable to climb out of the pot. Though there is nothing restraining him, the frog will sit there and boil. Why? Because the frog’s internal apparatus for sensing threats to survival is geared to sudden changes in his environment, not to slow, gradual changes.” (p. 22).
Paradigms are shifting in almost every industry sector. In my industry, higher education, we are seeing change we never thought we would see. Last week, my university announced that because of massive state budge cuts, it would close it’s College of Agriculture and shut down several other degree programs. In the College of Business, we are being asked to eliminate a degree in Supply Chain Management and let go of three tenured professors.
In education, I think we face a simple choice. We can take the initiative and re-create the paradigm ourselves, or we can let others create the paradigm for us.
If we dig in our heals and resist, we will squander the greatest opportunity for generative change that most of us have ever seen. I’d rather lose a battle over the budget than the war for the next paradigm.
When the temperature of change rises in your industry – JUMP! Don’t sit there and boil with the rest of the stupid frogs. The only real restraints are between your ears.
Related Posts:
ACT Change: Model Paradoxical Behavior
The Sigmoid Curve And The Paradox Of Change
ACT Change: Changes Self And System
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Great example! The University is refusing to look for opportunity and mired in destructive thoughts. There is no University in the country that isn’t being affected by the economic situation. That should tell everyone that a major change in the basic truths of higher education are changing.
There is one question that must be answered: If we were to start a University today that provided the best possible educational experience at the most economical price point, how would we do it?
They have to stop trying to figure out how to cut the existing educational structure and start thinking about how to build a new one.
You really did a great job of ‘boiling’ down the issue!
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
March 8th, 2010 at 7:24 am
I think you nailed it, Paul. The only thing I see are people that want business as usual, when clearly that won’t work. We are digging in our heals or simply just waiting to see when we should be hard at work creating new and innovative approaches to education. We should not just be solving the current problem, but working to eliminate future ones. Thanks and welcome to my site! Bret
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The frog story is a great “story,” but it is not true. A frog will not sit there as it starts to boil. Anyone that believes it is not thinking critically, or has never seen frogs in action.
Does that make frogs smarter than people?
This is another consultant myth, not backed up by reality.
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
March 8th, 2010 at 10:56 am
Welcome, Sean! I wondered how long it would take for someone to point out the flaw in the parable. That’s why it is called a “parable” and not taken literally. But anyone that believes that people don’t are poor at adapting to gradual change has never seen people in action. I’m still a member of an organization – not a consultant – and I can tell you the reality is as true today as it was when I entered organizational life in 1977. Thanks for sharing! Bret
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Paul Kiser Reply:
March 8th, 2010 at 1:15 pm
Sean:
It’s too bad it’s not true. The reality is that it exactly describes what I have seen in over twenty years of involvement with hospitals and universities. Both entities are subject to the accreditation process, which is not about the best practices for the patient or student, but about the best practices for the administrator or healthcare provider. An interesting thing happens when your customer is not the focus of your best practices…they become a secondary factor that provides revenue, but are considered irrelevant in the decision-making process.
Don’t get me wrong. Every accreditation group and every administrator would scream at me “EVERYTHING WE DO IS FOR THE PATIENT/STUDENT! I know the process, minimally involve a student (who typically is the atypical student) and then boast about how it was a collaborative process.
I also know the counter argument that the student doesn’t know what they don’t know so they can’t be involved in deciding what’s best for them. Meanwhile the water boils and administrators become more and more comfortable in hotter and hotter water and suddenly they see more students paying more for degrees outside of the brick and mortar walls.
Maybe frogs are smarter than institutions.
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
March 8th, 2010 at 2:01 pm
Thanks for contributing your thoughts, Paul! Bret
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Brett,
We have been aware that the University system would be experiencing budget cuts for quite a while, unfortunately,it appears that most of us sat in the pot hoping someone else would turn down the temperature. Open discussion about how we can drive change in the new paradigm for education is valuable and necessary. But let’s not forget to also ask why. Why is our system for higher education so dependent on government spending? When I ask myself this question, my focus changes to what needs to be done, starting now, to ensure that the University and the integrity of the education in Nevada is determined by standards of quality, rather than political agendas and natural economic swings.
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
March 8th, 2010 at 12:53 pm
that is a great point, Marne. I’ve known about the budget stuff for almost 2 years. And the change in Education paradigm has been brewing even longer. The two just happened to come together at this point. You ask some GREAT questions. Do you think anyone will have the leadership or courage to provide real answers? Thanks! Bret
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I think the two conditions coming together at this point provides a rare window of opportunity for courageous leadership to emerge.
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
March 8th, 2010 at 2:00 pm
Agree 100%, but forgive me for thinking we won’t get what we need. Thanks! Bret
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Marne Stillwell Reply:
March 8th, 2010 at 2:24 pm
As long as the culture of the University is the maintenance of status-quo, we wont get what we need.
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
March 8th, 2010 at 4:47 pm
Exactly. I think we both know the answer to the question. Thanks! Bret
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One of my favorite, non-biblical parables. Thanks for sharing.
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
March 8th, 2010 at 11:12 pm
It might not be a true account of the behavior of frogs in pots of hot water, but it’s a great parable. Thanks, David! Bret
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Here is a brilliant case study of the ‘boiling frog’ metaphor – the newspaper industry…http://www.shirky.com/weblog/2009/03/newspapers-and-thinking-the-unthinkable.
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
March 24th, 2010 at 8:45 am
concur. great example – thanks, Bruce! Bret
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Paul Kiser Reply:
March 24th, 2010 at 2:42 pm
Bruce: Thank you for sharing that article! That is the best description of the newspaper collapse I’ve ever read!
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