Community college administrators have the unenviable role of attempting to stimulate change in an organizational structure that focuses on control and the acquisition of power to maintain control. The theme of control runs through management theory, suggesting that the ability to exercise control over situations and events enables one to fulfill goals and objectives. Ironically, organizations and organizational behaviors are not fully controllable, no matter how self-efficacious managers are. There is a counter theme in management theory, however, that focuses on the duality of the role of management, recognizing that institutions are controlled by both internal direction and external forces. Moreover, exerting too much control can limit an institution's potential. This dilemma of control is especially true for community colleges and other academic institutions. With authority contested and reality defined as a social construct, educational managers who fail to understand the need for change have become more controlling and repressive, adopting hierarchical models from the corporate sector that inhibit rather than liberate institutional participants in the exercise of their roles. The challenge for managers is to understand how their organization works, how it becomes dysfunctional, why conventional approaches to management have failed, and, above all, how to use power positively by adjusting to changing conditions and preserving institutional and individual values. Contains 17 references. (TGI)