Effective School Management

part of such a ‘domainal map’ for a mathematics department contemplating a
major reorganization based on the introduction of computer-aided learning.
Concentrate on those domains, and the associated demands, that are most
relevant and important to the change being planned. Then, for each demand,
write down the organization’s typical response pattern: what does the school
do at present to cope with these demands?
Thus the response to the LEA in the example given might be not to solicit
additional resources. The future scenario, however, might call for a more
assertive response, and hence a set of goals and actions might emerge in
order to bring about the desired state. At the same time, the demand from
parents may be thought likely to intensify, as they gain more power on
governing bodies, and the school’s response may have to be a faster
development of new teaching methods.
It may become apparent that, if nothing is done, the system is heading for
conflict or even disaster (the ‘doom’ scenario). But no one wants to submit to
the future: we want to shape it! So something must be done to alter the
demand–response system. Either we have to ask what future demand we

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A SYSTEMATIC APPROACH TO CHANGE
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would like to be made by each domain, and then plan to influence it; or we
have to adjust our response. Often it turns out that influencing a domainal
demand to fit an organization’s response capability is a more attractive
proposition than submitting to an unmanaged demand. An important aspect
of the technique of domainal mapping is that it alerts us to the need to
manage the environment as well as the organization. Many heads have been
finding over the last few years that they are having to spend an increasing
proportion of their time influencing the environment rather than running
their school.
It is on the basis of this demand–response behaviour that a basic statement
of the ‘present scenario’ is constructed, i.e. an answer to the question: ‘Where
is the system now in relation to the future desired scenario?’
In completing the present scenario, you may find that you do not know
enough about the present system to be able to write down some of the
important cause-and-effect relationships in the organization. It is, of course,
essential to know how the system works before you start trying to influence
it, so you may need to go around asking questions. What is important is how
the system actually  works, not how it is supposed to work. BCLP used the
phrase ‘epistemic fluency’ to describe the skill of those who can see beyond
the bullshit and spot the games that are actually being played.
PERSONAL APPLICATION
Draw up two domainal maps for a change that you foresee or want to bring about,
showing respectively the current and the future demand–response relationships.