Abstract
When a state in the USA enacted legislation that radically altered its prescriptions for principal preparation programmes, its institutions of higher education had to re-invent, not just adjust their principal preparation programmes. In this article I describe how one university rebuilt its principal preparation programme and then analyse the process with constructs from contemporary theories about complex organisations, change, and leadership. My findings indicate that understandings of change initiatives are enriched by adopting complexity theory’s focus on interactions and connections, by viewing change as a process of diffusion, and by recognising that change in a complex organisation requires multiple types of leadership.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Correction Statement
This article was originally published with errors. This version has been corrected. Please see Corrigendum (https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2017.1390824)
Notes
1. Janis’ hypothesis that group cohesiveness is a major prerequisite for groupthink has not been substantiated in subsequent research (e.g. see Park, Citation1990 and Citation2000).