Crosby B.C., Bryson J.M. - Leadership for the Common Good (2005)(en)

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•Adequate incentives to facilitate adoption of the changes by relevant individuals and organizations

•Time, space, and mechanisms for problem solving

•Formative evaluation to facilitate implementation, and summative evaluation to determine whether or not the change produces desired results

Additionally, try to build in enough resources to allow implementers to handle unexpected contingencies, even though this may be difficult if policy makers have established a restrictive budget for the new policy. The need to have adequate resources once again points toward adequate attention to earlier phases of the policy change cycle. To garner sufficient resources, policy entrepreneurs must convince an array of stakeholders and key policy makers that a public problem is worthy of attention and the proposed solution is highly likely to produce desirable results at reasonable cost.

Develop Monitoring and Evaluation Plans

Effective monitoring and evaluation depend first of all on understanding the logic of the proposed change, so developing a logic model is the place to begin. The model helps clarify the key indicators that should be monitored. The model also allows evaluators to design evaluations to test for achievement of desired outputs and outcomes, and to gauge the soundness of the logic behind the change.

Work Quickly to Avoid Competition with New Priorities

Changing economic and political conditions can alter the priorities of those who control needed resources or the policy-making agenda. If the overall economy worsens, anticipated tax revenues, philanthropic contributions, and markets for products and services may all diminish. If a new party takes over one or more branches of government, the new officials may hold up promised funding. Sometimes even the expectation that positional leaders will be replaced or departments will be downsized is enough to paralyze

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decisions can affect the implementation effort. You are likely to need their support for supplemental policies, regulations, rules, or funding needed to implement the adopted policies. For example, when new legislation mandates a rule-making process by administrative departments, policy entrepreneurs need to understand how the process works and help the implementing coalition make sure that the process brings about the desired change expeditiously.

Evaluate the Impact of Lingering Disagreement

Think carefully about how residual disputes will be resolved and underlying norms enforced. Pay attention to the design and use of courts, including norms, conflict resolution methods, jurisdictions, access rules, and deep sources of legitimacy. The adopted policies may require that new courts (a grievance board, an ethics review commission) be set up. When new laws are being implemented, you may also have to use existing formal courts or court-related offices to clarify implementing authority, fight off any challenge to implementation, and penalize conduct that violates the law.

Be sure that new courts operate according to basic judicial principles of due process and equal protection, so the courts’ decisions will not be overturned by a higher court. You may need to specify an appeal process. Rely on alternative dispute resolution techniques wherever possible, to keep conflict out of the formal courts and open up the possibility of an all-gain solution that increases the new regime’s legitimacy and public acceptance of the outcomes of conflict management efforts (Fisher and Ury, 1981; Gray, 1989; Susskind, McKearnan, and Thomas-Larmer, 1999). Remember, too, that the court of public opinion has importance in reinforcing the norms in the new regime. Finally, maintaining good relations with the police may be crucial, especially if opponents are willing to use violence and intimidation to prevent policy implementation.

Hang in There!

Successful implementation in a shared-power setting typically requires a lot of time, attention, resources, and effort (Kanter, 1983; Kingdon, 1995). Moreover, implementers may need considerable courage to fight the resisters of change. The rewards, however, can be great as the implementers begin to see the beneficial effects of what they are doing.

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Communication and Education

It is very easy to under estimate how much communication and education are likely to be needed for successful implementation. Similarly, it is very hard to over estimate how much will be needed.

Invest Heavily in Designing and Using Forums

Particularly when a major change is involved, stakeholders must be given the opportunity to develop, formally and informally, shared meanings and appreciations that further implementation of the policy goals (Trist, 1983; Sabatier and Jenkins-Smith, 1993; Chrislip, 2002). The stakeholders must hear about the new programs, projects, rules, and behaviors that are part of the developing new policy regime. Preferably, they hear the same message across multiple channels many times. Educational programs, information packets, newsletters, listservs, guidebooks, Web pages, and press releases can highlight key messages and establish a desirable frame of reference and common language for implementation efforts.

Stakeholders need to be able to talk about the change, fit it into their own interpretive schemes, adapt it to their own circumstances, and explore implications for action and the consequences of those actions (Weick, 1995; O’Toole, 1995; Bryson, Ackermann, Eden, and Finn, 2004). Ultimately, they must be convinced that the new way of doing things is better than the status quo.

Be sure to maintain contacts with the reporters, editors, and news directors who followed the earlier debate. They are unlikely to be interested in implementation details, but you can take advantage of an anniversary (a year after passage of a new law) or milestone (perhaps the first cohort to graduate from an educational program) to attract coverage.

The policy implementation coordinating group is an especially important forum. A group meeting can be the occasion for ongoing problem solving, noting milestones, taking the pulse of the project, and maintaining enthusiasm.

Deal with Resistance

Reduce any implementer resistance that is based on divergent attitudes and lack of participation. Organize orientation sessions, problem-solving teams, one-on-one coaching, and technical assistance (all supported by user-friendly written materials, Web pages,

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videotapes, and the like) to support enactment of the new policies. Schedule ceremonies and confer symbolic awards to reinforce desired behavior and bolster implementers’ spirits over the long haul.

Consider Developing a Guiding Vision of Success

The vision should include a mission statement, the basic regime philosophy, goals, basic strategies, performance criteria, important decision rules, and ethical standards expected of all regime participants. The vision can be expressed in a written document (no more than a few pages long) and through other media such as a videotape or Website.

To begin constructing a written vision, assemble a drafting committee composed of members of the implementation coalition. Ask each committee member to prepare a draft vision, which is then discussed by the committee as a whole. After the discussion, turn over the task of drafting a shared vision of success to a member who is also a skilled writer. Additional sessions may be needed to furnish information for particular parts of the vision; for example, the committee may need to engage in stakeholder analysis to develop performance criteria.

Once a draft is prepared, convene review sessions with key stakeholders to identify the vision’s strengths and modifications that will improve it. The meeting can be structured according to the agenda suggested in Chapter Nine. Remember that consensus on a vision of success is highly desirable but may not be necessary. Typically, deep-seated commitment to any vision statement emerges only over time (Senge, 1990).

If a vision of success is to help guide regime decisions and implementing actions, it must be widely disseminated and discussed. It probably should be published as a booklet and given to all key stakeholders, and it should be discussed at all orientation and training sessions aimed at implementing the new policy regime. (For additional guidance, see Angelica, 2001; Bryson and Crosby, 2003.)

Build in Regular Attention to Appropriate Indicators

The implementation plan should include regular reporting of progress in meeting regime goals. Thus the African American Men Commission must report periodically on the number of men who have made progress on (for example) specific employment, education, or health outcomes.

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Personnel

You can do just about anything when the right people have the right support.

Choose Committed People

Fill policy and staff positions with highly qualified people committed to the change. Creative, skilled, experienced, resilient, committed people are necessary to create the new regime culture, systems, and structures that will focus and channel implementation efforts. If you want to attract and retain such people, be sure to:

•Offer adequate financial and psychological compensation

•Help these people see how their career can be advanced by involvement in implementation

•Provide “escape” options, such as the choice of returning to a prior job, outplacement services, or a generous severance package

Continue the Entrepreneurial Team or Establish a Successor

The team in question might be a subset of the implementation coordinating committee. The coordinating committee broadly may act as a sponsor of the implementation process, but these people are the champions. The team should include at least some of the members of the original entrepreneurial team that successfully campaigned for the adopted change. At least some of the team members should have direct implementation responsibility; for example, one of the team members may be the project manager for the implementation project. Remember too that a project manager may become powerful—a situation that could cause a clash with others on the team who might feel their control over implementation is diminished.

Ensure Access to Top Administrators During Implementation

This task is easy if the top administrators have been part of the advocacy coalition. Even if they have not, they may be open to regular communication with change advocates in order to benefit from

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the latter’s knowledge about the new policies and to gain support for implementation plans.

Work Around or Remove Resistant People

Ease out, work around, or avoid people who are not likely to help the change effort. Policy makers often try to overcome resistance to implementation within an established organization by assigning implementation to a new unit or organization. Even so, implementers are likely to have to deal with resisters in the established organization, and sometimes within the new one as well. Options for dealing with these people include:

•Helping them get a job to which they are better suited

•Basing merit pay on achievement of implementation goals

•Buying off resisters with early retirement

•Giving them other assignments

Direct Versus Staged Implementation

Direct, full-fledged implementation of a new policy regime makes sense under some conditions, but staged implementation is often required to cope with political and technical difficulties.

Decide Whether Direct or Staged Implementation Is Better

Direct implementation is better under certain conditions: when (1) the technicalities of implementation are simple and the political atmosphere is favorable, (2) immediate action is necessary to deal with a crisis, or (3) the adopted solutions simply cannot be adopted piecemeal. In a technically and politically easy situation, direct implementation can work if enough resources are built in and implementer resistance is low. In this case, an important leadership task is to reduce resistance to change by helping implementers see how the change is in their interest. Although a crisis can have the effect of reducing resistance to change, eventually implementation leaders have to show that the implemented solution is actually beneficial. Finally, a “lumpy solution” may require direct implementation. When policy makers decided to build the Chunnel between Britain and France, they couldn’t start with a little practice tunnel first and

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then proceed to a bigger tunnel later. They had to carry out the full plan or do nothing.

Staged implementation allows implementation to proceed in waves, in which initial adopters are followed by later adopters, and finally most of the laggards embrace the changes (Rogers, 2003). This approach is best used when technical or political difficulties hamper direct implementation.

In the case of technical difficulty, consider starting implementation with a pilot project designed to reveal the connection between the adopted solution and outcomes. The more technically difficult the situation is, the more necessary a pilot project will be to figure out which techniques work. In the case of political difficulty, consider beginning with a demonstration project to prove that solutions known to work in a benign and controlled condition can work in other settings. The more organized opposition there is to the proposed change, the more necessary a demonstration project is. At the same time, if the opposition is both organized and implacable, then direct and massive implementation may actually be best in order to overwhelm opponents, rather than give them a number of smaller targets to attack (Bryson and Delbecq, 1979; Joyce, 1999).

In the case of both technical and political difficulty, consider beginning with a pilot project followed by a demonstration project, and then transfer to the entire implementation system. In general, the more difficult the situation, the more important is a combination of educational tactics, incentives for desired changes, and development of shared commitment to the change among all interested parties.

In staged implementation, give special attention to those who implement change in the early stages. Try to attract initial implementers who have enough experience, skill, and desire to make the change work. Such people are likely to have above-average ability, firsthand experience with the need for the change, and experience with prior change efforts. They should be persuasive role models who do not charge mindlessly into every fad that comes over the horizon. Further guidance for designing effective pilot and demonstration projects and for transferring tested changes to the entire implementation system is presented in Exhibit 11.1.

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Exhibit 11.1. Guidance for Pilot Projects, Demonstration Projects, and Transfer to Entire Implementation System.

Pilot Projects

•Test the scientific validity of the proposed changes, probably using experimental or quasi-experimental designs (Campbell and Stanley, 1966); that is, test whether the adopted solutions produce desired effects.

•Perform the test in a safe, controlled environment with access to a rich set of resources. Ideally, you should match a control group against an experimental group that differs from the control group only in experiencing the change being tested.

•Test several possible versions of the solutions and search for their strengths and weaknesses.

•Use technical specialists to evaluate cause-and-effect relations. Consider using outside experts, or an inside-outside team whose objectivity will not be questioned.

•Design tests to measure effectiveness, as well as efficiency.

Demonstration Projects

•Test for the generalizability of proposed changes for typical implementer settings, probably through use of quasi-experimental designs. True experiments are rarely possible in the field, but try to include a control group in order to determine what works under what circumstances and why.

•Test in easy, average, and difficult implementation settings to gauge the hardiness of the changes and possibilities for handling a range of implementation difficulties.

•Test several possible changes to compare their strengths and weaknesses.

•Use a two-cycle process, in which implementers learn how to work with the changes in the first cycle and the effects of changes are monitored in the second cycle.

•Include a qualitative evaluation (Patton, 1997), along with quantitative studies, to show solution strengths and weaknesses. Pay attention to outputs and outcomes.

•Remember that the demonstration stage tests the maintenance of solution design that is already known to work technically; that is, it can produce the desired effects.

•Assemble a special team, if necessary, to monitor implementation.

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Exhibit 11.1. Guidance for Pilot Projects, Demonstration Projects, and Transfer to Entire Implementation System, Cont’d.

•Create opportunities for future implementers to witness the demonstrations.

•Develop a media strategy to communicate the desirability of the changes and the best way to implement them.

Transfer to Implementation System

•Commit substantial resources to communication, including cycling in observers likely to spread information about the changes and influence subsequent implementer adoptions.

•Promote the visibility of the changes.

•Produce, emphasize, and disseminate educational materials and operational guides designed to make adoption and implementation easier.

•Develop credible and easily understood models that show how the desired changes work and how they can be implemented.

•Furnish additional resources for technical assistance and problem solving.

•Provide incentives for adoption of the changes.

•Be flexible.

Summary

Policy entrepreneurs consciously, deliberately, and strategically plan and manage implementation and evaluation of the adopted policy in order to create a new policy regime. Significant elements of the new regime are new or redesigned forums, arenas, and courts; implicit or explicit principles, norms, rules, and decision-making procedures; substantive and symbolic incentives promoting the new arrangement; institutionalization of altered patterns of behavior and attitude; and continuation or creation of a supportive coalition of implementers, advocates, and other groups. The new regime may also incorporate a widely shared vision of success.

Successful implementation introduces the desired change quickly and smoothly and overcomes the typical causes of implementation failure. A combination of forward and backward map-