The Challenges of Leading Change

"Change is inevitable. Growth is optional." — John Maxwell

The coronavirus pandemic has taught us many lessons. One — and this holds true for any crisis — is a level of clarity that is difficult to deny. People have prioritized life decisions like marriages and divorces, and reevaluated learning and career paths. Institutions have looked at business practices and cultural norms and have seen an undeniable need to change. The pandemic did not cause these issues, but has cast a harsh light upon them.

The School of Dentistry is no exception. We have long known about financial, technological, educational and cultural challenges that stand in the way of our school being the absolute best it can be. Those challenges, left unaddressed, will erode the legacy of excellence and innovation that has defined our school for 150 years.

Change is inevitable. It will happen if we do nothing; and it will happen if we are proactive and visionary in planning for the future.

Leading an organization through change is an ambitious undertaking. As leadership strategist John Kotter describes it, "Change leadership is much more associated with putting an engine on the whole change process, and making it go faster, smarter, more efficiently."

But just as with a fast car revving up on a bumpy road, leading change sometimes can make for a rough ride. We've seen this recently in our clinical enterprise: Changes we've made to improve the student, teaching and patient experiences have been uncomfortable in the short term, but we expect them to be beneficial over the long haul.

The coming year promises significant and exciting change within the School of Dentistry. We will convene as a school community in early 2022 to brainstorm ways to modernize our curriculum. We continue striving to make our culture actively equitable and inclusive, and addressing institutionalized racism in our systems. Recruiting for our new associate dean of education provides us with an opportunity to assess and improve our student support structures. Our partnership with UCSF Health will begin to dismantle the barrier between oral and overall health care.

Changing expectations, behaviors and outcomes is not a job for one. It is an enormous effort that takes time. Organizations that successfully lead large change processes are those that can get everyone to embrace a vision of success. They also take an all-hands-on-deck approach to navigate the way, especially when the road gets bumpy.

Change leadership goes hand in hand with a commitment to continuous improvement. At UCSF Dentistry, this is embodied in our True North strategic framework. Sometimes we may appear to take a step back as we're pushing forward. Not everything we try will be successful. But we won't know what succeeds until we try. And not trying is to do nothing; if we do nothing, change will lead us, not the other way around.

Harnessing the brilliant minds here at UCSF and continuing to shift our gears will propel us in leading the change necessary to sustain our commitment to excellence.

Michael S. Reddy, DMD, DMSc Dean and Associate Vice Chancellor, Oral Health Affairs