Changing direction when other side has momentum..good article.

[madfloridian]

What a discouraging, sad day it has been. This article reminded me that we have options. That we can change things, even though mindsets have been one way for decades.

This is a very interesting article about a new book that is out called Leading Change. The writer of the article shows how Howard Dean might be actually applying those steps to rebuilding the party. Interesting and inspiring.

I think we are in for some major work to change our party after November.

Howard Dean’s Lessons in Leading Change

So how does one change direction when there is so much momentum on the other side? And I remind you, that side thinks nothing of exploiting any tragedy to grab more power while seeking every chance to viciously sabotage anyone who stands in their way. They are relentless in their pursuit of power and are always waiting for another chance to move the bar further to the right. We must find effective ways to make change happen before it is too late.

In the business world, when large organizations look at how to bring about major change of their culture and their direction, they often start with some advice from John P. Kotter, the author of the book, Leading Change, published by the Harvard Business School Press. John Kotter is the content expert for the Harvard Business School’s Change Management course and is a frequent speaker at top management meetings throughout the world.

In his book, he provides an eight step strategy for realizing lasting change in large organizations and I believe we can use this strategy to help reclaim our country. In fact, in my opinion, Howard Dean is following the strategy outlined to transform the Democratic Party though the Democratic National Committee.

The author lays out Kotters strategies:

Establish a sense of urgency.
• Create a guiding coalition.
• Developing a vision and a strategy
• Communicating the change vision.
• Empowering broad-based action.
• Generating short-term wins.
• Consolidating gains and producing more change.
• Anchoring new approaches in the culture.

Then she presents how Dean may possibly, even if unknowingly be applying these to changing the party.

Here are only two of them:

"Developing a vision and a strategy – check
Reviving the Democratic Party means making the party stand for more than simply a party that shows up at your door every two years to ask for your vote. And it means refusing to be confined to the blue states. The vision that Dean and his coalition have is a competitive party in every state and a party that works for Americans even when there are no national elections. And how are they going to achieve this? By enacting the “50 State Strategy.” As described in an article reviewing Dean’s first 100 days as head of the DNC:

His plan was to focus on all fifty states, cultivate candidates at all levels of government, and get paid grassroots organizers on the ground immediately."

Empowering broad-based action – check
Howard Dean has always been a Democrat, but after his run for President with the People-powered campaign, he now believes even more in democracy with a small "d." His goal is to empower all levels of the party to act.

"I’m not much of a Zen person," he remarked upon accepting chairmanship, "But I’ve found that the path to power, oddly enough, is to trust others with it. That means putting power where the voters are."

And this year, articles show how the changes are being spread deep into the party.

Over the past year, the DNC has hired and trained four staffers for virtually every state party in the nation--nearly 200 workers in all--to be field organizers, press secretaries, and technology specialists, even in places where the party hasn't been competitive for decades. "It's a huge shift," Dean tells U.S. News. "Since 1968, campaigns have been about TV and candidates, which works for 10 months out of the four-year cycle. With party structure on the ground, you campaign for four years."

I posted a new article by Matt Bai that will be in the New York Times Sunday Magazine. It is really long, but excellent. It is worth reading. He presented all sides of the arguments about the 50 State expenditures fairly.

The Inside Agitator...a look inside the DNC and Howard Dean's goals.