"change often happens most easily if it can be shown to be embedded in long-held beliefs, values, traditions"

"At Radcliffe, she responds, she immersed herself in the archives, rediscovering the institution’s roots and envisioning how to capture and fulfill its founders’ desires 'in a way that’s appropriate for a new era.' More broadly, she explains, this suggests that 'change often happens most easily if it can be shown to be embedded in long-held beliefs, values, traditions, rather than being just a total assault on everything everybody thought they were and wanted.

'So it seems to me that part of moving through change effectively is making it seem seamless, or as seamless as possible, with what has gone before—of identifying continuities that can serve as bridges over the chasm of differences, building understanding and transparency about purpose and shared commitments, and using those as the fuel of change. And then saying, ‘Hope you’ll come, too, but this is where we’re going.’ So it begins with persuasion and collaboration and building a case, but I think ultimately it becomes a gesture of decisive movement.'"

Above excerpt is from p. 30 of "A Scholar in the House - President Drew Gilpin Faust," by John S. Rosenberg, Harvard Magazine, July-August 2007, pp. 24-30

Available online as of July 27, 2007 at

http://www.harvardmagazine.com/
2007/07/p4-a-scholar-in-the-house.html