By William Daly, C1 Contributor
Over the course of any career, you’ll undoubtedly experience some type of transformation within your organization. I’ll also presume that an abundance of those changes may not have been perceived in your eyes to be satisfactory or optimistic improvements. We’ve all been there. Nevertheless, they occurred and you were either compelled to endure or face the repercussions.
Despite the massive growth and complexity of our nation, jails and prisons are considered homogenous; for the most part as the saying goes a “jail is jail is jail.”
However, the way each operates and the understanding of the work culture is not always unvarying; some maybe further along the bell curve then others. Ideally, the corrections profession hopes for universal consistency and to be adaptive, but the ideas of change both positive and negative is caused sometimes by the inability to foretell the necessity for change until it is too late.
“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” --John F. Kennedy
The adoption of new ideas and modus operandi is often faced by resistance from the masses. You can hear the eyes rolling, whimpering and sighs. The definition of “resistance to change” is the action taken by individuals and groups when they perceive that a change that is occurring as a “threat to them.” Key words here are ‘perceive’ and ‘threat’. The threat need not be real or large for resistance to occur. George Bernard Shaw said, “Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”
Now, resistance, to some extent, is actually advantageous to overall growth and progress. If management and leaders were not sometimes probed and questioned as to why things are done the way they are, their eyes would never be opened to check and recheck assumptions. We’ve all heard of “Yes Men;” if you’re a leader and surround yourself with those types of personalities, you are bearing a course down a road to disaster. If you are fortunate enough to move up the ladder, reasons for change become much clearer. But for the average first or second line staff member who may not be privy to the same enlightenment, this often leads to a substantial abyss of knowledge and rumors among the masses. This may also lead to a belief system that construction of their daily duties and responsibilities is becoming unpromising.
Correction agencies are what can be described as quasi-military in nature. Most department processes tend to embrace the time-honored hierarchical models of top down leading. However, as leadership models suggest, information has to flow both ways. Staff need to be open-minded and have faith that leadership is moving the agency in the right direction. A hot topic that has been in the news recently is the introduction of body cameras for the police. This type of change is receiving mixed reviews from officers, but is slowly being accepted as information is communicated. I and project the same will hold true for corrections agencies exploring this option as well.
We function on policies and procedures to ensure the safety and security of all behind our gates. We also know that things and people (inmates are not the same as they were 20 years ago) change, as will those same policies in time. Many traditions are good, but when way of doing things hinders us from perfecting our quality of life and job, then maybe it’s time to change it.
Former Navy Seal Rorke Denver said, “All our lessons are written in blood. Someone has failed, been hurt or died, therefore we need to learn and adjust our tactics, policy and procedures to avoid future calamity.” He adds, “Warriors pass down tried and true lessons to be learned and exercised by each new trainee.” As human beings we tend to gravitate towards the familiar and what was done in the past, only to miss out on an opportunity for a better alternative right in front of our noses.
From a management standpoint, we all have experienced the naysayers whose exhibit instinctive steadfastness and resistance to change. God knows, our environment and the future in general are laden with uncertainty. However, we must balance present and future impediments. There’s a difference between reflecting about the past and actually living in it. The past is familiar and holds no surprises, but living in the past becomes a problem because it deprives you of what the present and future have to offer. Continuing to do things you’ve “always done” is appropriate in some cases, but not merely because it’s safe and predictable.
Let’s put it this way, if you or a loved one needed to have heart or brain surgery, wouldn’t it be more comforting to know that the person doing this surgery was up to date on the most recent advances in the field, and not someone still using techniques from the 1970’s? Fred Smith, the founder of Federal Express, wasn’t deterred or challenged for charging people more to deliver things faster and for higher prices. Kodak not going digital is another example. We can go on and on.
I’ll leave you with this: can you remember working without a computer desktop? How about portable radios, facility cameras or electronic doors; when you actually had to use desk phones, no video, rely on reports and stand at the gates to let people through? You may be dead soon if you do, but nevertheless, we all survived those crazy days of transition and change, and will so in the future.
The incorporation of ‘best practices,’ that which has already been proven, and ‘next practices,’ which are the innovative new things in this ever-changing environment, need to be studied. Change is coming.
Resources:
Changing Minds.org; Resistance to Change http://changingminds.org/disciplines/change_management/resistance_change/resistance_change.htm
Brown, Mike (2012 April 17); Retrieved from rrstar.com
http://blogs.e-rockford.com/mikebrown/2012/04/17/tradition-just-because-youve-always-done-it-that-way-doesnt-mean-its-not-incredibly-stupid/#ixzz3LX7DtbH3
Denver, Rorke (2014 November 3); Leader Cast Now; You Tube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8nb34w-lvw&feature=youtu.be&list=PLdfYXf9D1pRS7qfdZ1mWA-vgCTJmcpp1r
Begley, Nick (2014 March 31) We’ve always done it that way; Retrieved from Audience View. http://www.audienceview.com/weve-always-done-way/
About the Author
William Daly, is a veteran in the corrections field, in his 28th year. Daly is a retired Captain from the New York City Department of Corrections and is currently the Director of the Salt River Department of Corrections in Scottsdale, Arizona. He is a Certified Corrections Executive (CCE) and Certified Jail Manager (CJM) through the American Correctional Association and American Jail Association respectively, as well as, a Certified Public Manager (CPM). He can be contacted at William.daly@srpmic-nsn.gov