Leverage is all about applying a catalyst -- with just the right level of force within just the right dynamic pathway -- within an unproductive system. This catalyst is what Malcolm Gladwell calls an “infectious agent." Even leverage as small as a nudge can change the course of subsequent events.
A common assumption is that an agent is a person who works on behalf of others. But an agent is not only an individual; groups can be agents, as can social situations. When it comes to social change, an agent—whether and individual, group or situation—channels energy by leveraging the right amount of it—both from within a system and adding it from without. Individuals, groups and situations can also serve as the points of entry to change making in education, also known as our three “approaches.”
With this in mind, the skillful changemaker knows intuitively that any state of equilibrium, no matter how unproductive and stable, is not all powerful. And that when change does come, it can reach a “tipping point,” and thus it can be both rapid and extensive.
A common assumption is that an agent is a person who works on behalf of others. But an agent is not only an individual; groups can be agents, as can social situations. When it comes to social change, an agent—whether and individual, group or situation—channels energy by leveraging the right amount of it—both from within a system and adding it from without. Individuals, groups and situations can also serve as the points of entry to change making in education, also known as our three “approaches.”
With this in mind, the skillful changemaker knows intuitively that any state of equilibrium, no matter how unproductive and stable, is not all powerful. And that when change does come, it can reach a “tipping point,” and thus it can be both rapid and extensive.