Change management 1

Change management
Introduction

Do organizations need to change? Why?

Contents of the course
• Approaching change-
• Change orientation- is the direction,
positioning and preferences for change
• Organization-is the more formal
arrangements, systems and formulations of
the change process;
• Mobilization- is the process of involving,
engaging and catalysing the stakeholders
affected by the changes

Contents (cont’d)
• Implementation - is the process of carrying
out or executing the changes
• Transition - is managing the passage of people
through the changes
• Integration - is the embedding of the changes
and the realizing of the transformation to
produce a qualitative step change

Facts
• new competitive landscape around the world,
• more countries from Eastern Europe entering
the European Union,
• The explosion in manufacturing capability in
the BRICS,
• And the pronounced growth in other African
countries

Cont’d
• growth in outsourcing, offshoring and shared
services;
• continuing and increasing possibility of global
culture clashes,
• The escalation of local and national conflicts
• global warming, and climate change and
• mass movements of people

Can you see that these things require change??

But
• less than 10% of enterprises and their Chief
Information Officers have attempted to
institutionalize change management in even
the most basic way.
• only 6 per cent of change management
projects were completely successful (with a
further 32 per cent ‘mostly’ successful)

Cont’d
• During the changes the mood of the organization
was characterized by:
Successful projects Unsuccessful projects
(%) (%)
• Anxiety 44 51
• Confusion 22 43
• Frustration 23 44
• Fatigue 24 34
• Resistance 24 28

Cont’d
• there was a marked sense of focus,
enthusiasm, feelings of momentum, hope and
confidence in those organizations successfully
managing change.

Cont’d
• Percentage of managers feeling that change
had negatively affected their:
• Motivation: 51%
• Sense of employee well-being: 48%
• Loyalty: 47%
• Morale: 61%
• Sense of job security: 56%

• Do you see the justification for change
management?

Definition
• Change is alteration in the state or quality of
anything
• Changes involve people, technology, services
or buildings.

Cont’d
• Early thinkers on the nature of change
construed change as an incremental process.
• This view of the world is described as the
‘gradualist’ paradigm. Continuous
improvement (Kaizen; Japanese for ‘change for
the better’) was proposed as the key method
for managing change in an environment which
was perceived as largely predictable.

Cont’d
• Based on this concept, changes to individual
subsystems such as people, missions or
facilities provide the necessary intervention to
allow small but continuous change that allows
adaptation to the internal and external
environment.
• In such a model it is possible to tinker with one
part of the system without affecting the whole

Cont’d
• in parallel with modern day reinterpretations of
biological evolution, it has been argued that
change in most organisations is not continuous,
but is characterised by events involving rapid
change.
• In just the same way as evolution in the natural
world undergoes major transformative events, so
it can be seen that organisations are also subject
to such rapid and often unexpected change.

Cont’d
• There is in-built organisational inertia which
arises from persistent deep structures which
allow only small incremental changes.
• It is these embedded structures which resist
change and pull an organisation back to a
condition of equilibrium.

sources of inertia
• Sense making: the organisation’s way of seeing things
(cognitive framework). Organisations evolve shared
mental models in the way that they interpret reality
and learn.
• Motivation: change brings with it a fear of loss as well
as a realisation that such change may bring about a
‘sunk cost’.
• Obligation: with any change comes disruption and the
severing of interdependencies. Relationships with
particular service providers may have to be terminated:
short-term disruptions to customer services may ensue.

The s-curve
• The curve illustrates the slow growth rate
associated with start-up organisations whose
initial growth is tempered by resource constraints
and market acceptance.
• This is then succeeded by a period of rapid
(exponential) growth during which time the
organisation undergoes successive periods of
growth.
• Finally, as the service or product offering is
exhausted, the growth rate reaches maturity,
with a tapering of growth.

Cont’d
• change takes place from the broadest
conceptual level (i.e. in the minds of
organisational thinkers) to the most concrete
and tangible level (facilities and people).
• Change occurs in one of two spheres; (1) the
basic state and (2) the thrust or direction of
the organisation. Put together, we end up with
the total landscape of change which confronts
an organisation.

State versus direction
• The ‘state’ is about what you have got.
• We can reconfigure organisational services,
delivery systems and people to satisfy the
changing requirements of an organisation.
• Service level agreements can be modified,
maintenance staff can be redeployed and space
plans rearranged.
• Such changes often occur incrementally, over
days, months or years, often in a piecemeal
manner

Cont’d
• Whilst these changes may be largely
unplanned, over time they can have a
profound effect on an organisation
• change in strategy which involves planned
change and determines the direction of an
organisation

Introduction
• Kurt Lewin introduced his concept of
organizational change during the middle of the
last century (Lewin, 1951).
• His work was deeply embedded in looking at how
human systems operate and the different
dynamics at play.
• His central model comprises three stages:
unfreezing, effecting change and then refreezing.
• Starting with a status quo, you move things and
then continue with the new status quo.

Cont’d
• Some critics have suggested that this is too
linear a model of change for these turbulent
times of exponential change – that there is no
initial ‘stable equilibrium’ that needs to be
unfrozen to allow change to occur.
• Likewise there’s no promised land of a
renewed equilibrium position where we can all
rest, recuperate and not worry any more.

key tenets of Lewin which are true for
all change scenarios:
• change doesn’t operate in a vacuum but within
an interactive system which itself is within a wider
environment;
• any human system will have a variety of forces at
play which can help and/or hinder movement.
These forces need to be addressed; and
• the change process is helped through a process of
observing or being in the system and exploring
what works and what doesn’t.

Cont’d
• Change doesn’t just start at page one but in
fact in countless thoughts, ideas, experiences,
conversations, incidents and motivations
stretching back many years.
• Likewise it doesn’t necessarily stop once put in
motion.

Change model
• Orientation
• Organization
• Mobilization
• Implementation
• Transition
• Integration

Cont’d
• Central, fundamental and interactive elements
of the model are:
– Mindset we have when we approach the change
– organizational culture within which we operate
– Leadership- at all levels and at all stages to make
the change successful

“Things which are put together are both whole
and not whole, brought together and taken
apart, in harmony and out of harmony; one
thing arises from all things, and all things arise
from one thing.”
(Heraclitus, 540–475BCE)

Cont’d
• Managers are in the business of achieving
certain outcomes or at least gaining tangible
results.
• No matter how well planned, structured and
organized the intervention is it is unlikely to
work unless you pay particular attention to:

Cont’d
– The emotional component of change cannot ever
be divorced from the change itself
– There will inevitably be a number of stakeholders
in the change
– Right in the middle are those who are the prime
movers of the change – be they the CEO, the
project manager, the change team or a team
leader in a remote part of the organization

A model for approaching change
• Outputs and Outcomes - Developing and
delivering business outcomes
• Stakeholders and Interests - Mobilizing
influence, power and authority
• Emotions and Culture - Enabling people and
culture to adapt
• Self and Leadership

Approaching change
• We all approach change in different ways.
• That’s partly because of our different
personalities and it’s partly because of our
individual histories.
• We see the world in different ways and also
react to it in different ways.
• The whole area of change management is one
where these ideas have a particular relevance
and resonance.

Cont’d
• If we conceptualize change in a particular way
then perhaps we will try to manage it in a way
that is seemingly logical within our reality,
whilst leaving no room for the idea that it’s
just our reality or certainly just one way of
looking at the world

Different ways of looking at
organizations:
• Organizations as Machines-
• Organizations as political system
• Organizations as organisms
• Organizations as flux and transformation

Metaphors, beliefs and assumptions

Machine
Key beliefs
• Each employee should have
only one line manager
• Labour should be divided into
specific roles
• Each individual should be
managed by objectives
• Teams represent no more than
the summation of individual
efforts
• Management should control
and there should be employee
discipline
Key assumptions
• The organization can be
changed to an agreed
end state by those in
positions of authority
• There will be resistance,
and this needs to be
managed
• Change can be executed
well if it is well planned
and well controlled

Political system
Key Beliefs
• You can’t stay out of
organizational politics.
You’re already in it.
• Building support for your
approach is essential if
you want to make
anything happen
• You need to know who’s
powerful, and who they
are close
Key Assumptions
• The change won’t
work unless it’s
supported by a
powerful person
• The wider the
support for change
the better it is

Cont’d
Key Beliefs
• There is an important political
map which overrides the
published organizational
structure
• Coalitions between individuals are
more important than work teams
• The most important decisions in
an organization concern the
allocation of scarce resources ie,
who gets what, and these are
reached through bargaining,
negotiating and vying for position
Key Assumptions
• It’s important to
understand to the
political map, and to
understand who will be
winners and losers as a
result of this change
• Positive strategies
include creating new
coalitions and
renegotiating issues

Organism
Key Beliefs
• There is no ‘one best
way’ to design or
manage an
organization
• The flow of
information between
different parts of the
systems and its
environment is key to
organization’s success
Key assumptions
• Changes are made only in
response to changes in the
external environment (rather
than using an internal focus)
the Individuals and groups
need to be psychologically
aware of the need for change
in order to adapt
• The response to a change in
the environment can be
designed and worked towards

Cont’d
Key Beliefs
• It’s important to
maximize the fit
between individual,
team and
organizational needs
Key assumptions
• Participation and
psychological
support are
necessary strategies
for success

Flux and transformation
Key beliefs
• Order naturally emerges out of
chaos
• Organizations have a natural
capacity to self-renew
• Organizational life is not
governed by the rules of cause
and effect
• Key tensions are important in the
emergence of new ways of doing
things
• The formal organizational
structure (teams, hierarchies)
only represents one of many
dimensions of organizational life
Key assumptions
• Change cannot be managed; it
emerges
• Managers are not outside the
systems they manage; they are
part of the whole environment
• Tensions and conflicts are an
important feature of emerging
change
• Managers act as enablers;
they enable people to
exchange views and focus on
significant differences

Organization as a machine
• organization functions like a machine – if all
the parts are properly constructed and
connected and force applied in the right place
and right direction then the machine will start
to move and continue to move until it needs
repair or replacement or encounters
resistance.

Organizations as political system
• everyone who inhabits an organizational space is in the
midst not only of a human system but one where there
are competing forces and pulls on scarce resources and
where different players have different degrees of
power.
• It is the awareness and management of these forces
and these players that allow work to be achieved.
• There is an understanding of who is an enabler and
who is a disabler; who stands to gain and who stands
to lose; who is supporting you and who might be
against you.

Organizations as organisms
• organizations are not discrete singular entities but are
composed of a number of internal subsystems
operating in an external environment and there are
flows and interaction throughout.
• Operating within this metaphor an organization would
be organizing itself around the changing environment –
the more turbulence in the environment the greater the
need for adaptability.
• Its internal subsystems – structural, human,
managerial, informational – would all need to be
capable of receiving data from the environment and
other parts of the system and responding intelligently

Organizations as flux and
transformation
• We are moving into a world where we need to
review our understanding of what an
organization actually is.
• Rather than a machine or a social system of
power bases, or an organism that interacts
symbiotically with the environment, it is a place
that has form and movement but events which
cannot be predictable.
• There is a dynamism that can lead to equilibrium
or disequilibrium depending on factors or
‘attractors’ at play

Paradigm of change
• de Caluwé and Vermaak (2004) have
categorized approaches to change in a
somewhat different way:
– Blue – change through design
– Yellow – change through addressing interests
– Red – change through people
– White – change through emergence
– Green – change through learning

Change through design
• It is the project management approach to change and
involves careful planning and detailed analysis before
the change happens.
• It links quite well with the machine metaphor of
organizations and leading outcomes in the three-ball
model.
• It is very much about the rational way to enact change.
• If we have done the initial analysis well enough and
can plan the steps and stages comprehensively enough
then the inputs that we make will produce the outputs
that we want

change through addressing interests
• addresses the political aspect of organizations,
recognizing that there are winners and losers in
all change situations and that directly addressing
the different wants and needs of the various
stakeholders is a necessary element in getting
positive movement forward in the driving forces
for change and a useful way of attending to those
forces that are restraining or against the change.
• This is most closely aligned to the political
metaphor and also leading interests in the three-ball
model

change through people
• recognizes that change in an organization is
predominately done through people, and for
the outcome of any change initiative to be
successful it will not only need to have
addressed the concerns of the organization’s
people but to have engaged with them in
order for new attitudes, skills and behaviours
to have been acquired or learnt and certainly
demonstrated

change through emergence
• is about creating the conditions for change to occur without
specifying the exact nature of the changes.
• Drawing on the flux and transformation metaphor it
suggests that we cannot logically and rationally design,
plan and manage change in a linear way.
• What is required is an enabling environment, people to
make sense of what is happening, and to spot where the
organizational energy is and take steps to removing
hindrances and obstacles.
• Perhaps requiring a leap of faith, this approach is based
around the belief that systems will self-organize and, even
in the midst of chaos, order and evolution will occur

change through learning
• is concerned with change happening as a direct result of
learning.
• Here we are talking about individual and team learning and
also the concept of the learning organization.
• The key focus is on creating the environment necessary for
individuals and teams to acquire the necessary knowledge,
skills and experience to step into the new state and also
how collectively the organization can embed any new
knowledge for sustained performance.
• This also covers the single-loop and double-loop learning of
Argyris and ways in which the organization can monitor
and evaluate itself throughout the changes

Implications and different roles of
change leaders
• Entering into a change process when
operating within one of the four change
metaphors or five paradigms has implications
for how you construct your change process
and what sort of role you need to play

machine metaphor or the ‘change
through design’ paradigm
• a rigorous project management approach with a
leadership style that is one of architect and grand
designer.
• The terrain is about efficiency and effectiveness of
project planning processes and their well-oiled
implementation.
• It’s about an unambiguous mapping out of the
plan to get from A to B and the careful planning,
managing, monitoring and controlling of this
process.

political metaphor and ‘change
through addressing interests’
• require a greater focus on managing
stakeholders, the informal organization and
ensuring that key players are brought on board,
and potential winners are motivated enough and
potential losers’ needs are managed.
• The terrain for the change agent within this
paradigm is all about power and the harnessing
of it.
• The change agents themselves have to have
perceived power as well as requiring powerful
sponsors

organism metaphor
• requires the change agent to be monitoring the
environment and taking the pulse of the
organization.
• A key focus will be to create an enabling
environment where people can learn to become
responsive to the environment and the changes
that are needed.
• It is also necessary to be aware of the process in
order for responses, reactions and adaptations to
be factored in as the change proceeds

flux and transformation metaphor and
the ‘change through emergence’
• change cannot be explicitly managed, but rather
needs to emerge.
• The tensions, the conflicts and the hot spots
within the organization and those on the
boundary are where the change agent is focused.
• Once again the role is one of enabling emergence
rather than directing and controlling it.
• The concepts of setting parameters, acting as a
container and reminding people of core values
are critical to this process.

change through learning
• draws on the key ideas from the
organizational development movement
originating in the 1960s, and the writers and
researchers of the learning organization.
• Coaching, training and group and team
facilitation are all ways of providing
opportunities for learning to take place.

change through people
• situated between the learning paradigm and the interest
paradigm.
• It recognizes the need to include, involve and engage with
all stakeholders, but principally managers and staff in order
to create solutions that address the important issues.
• Given that change happens through people, winning the
hearts and minds of the people is clearly a key factor in this.
• Affiliative and democratic management styles, human
resource management and a collaborative culture are
strong indicators of change agents operating within this
paradigm.

Types of change
• Adaptation – is a ‘non-paradigmatic change
implemented slowly through staged initiatives’.
• Reconstruction – is also a ‘non-paradigmatic change to
realign the way the organization operates, but in a
more dramatic and faster manner’.
• Evolution – is a ‘transformational change implemented
gradually through different stages and interrelated
initiatives’.
• Revolution – is ‘fundamental, transformative change…
but it occurs via simultaneous initiatives on many
fronts, and often in a relative short space of time’.

Cont’d
• Stace and Dunphy (2002) distinguish a number of
levels of change on a continuum:
• Level 1 – Fine tuning:
– Addressing and improving the fit between strategy
and the organizations people, processes and
structure, for example, policy and process changes;
continuous improvement teams; development of
reward mechanisms and training programmes tied
into strategy. Refining, clarifying, interpreting group
norms and operating procedures

Cont’d
• Level 2 – Incremental adjustment.
– Relatively modest changes around the
organization in the light of external drivers for
change.
– Typically changes involving strategy, structure and
management process.
– Shifting the scale and scope of the operation;
changing the product or service mix; addressing
production inefficiencies; evolving the structure so
that it’s fit for the purpose of the refined strategy.

Cont’d
• Level 3 – Modular transformation
– Major restructuring and realignment – focusing
specific parts of the organization rather than the
organization in its entirety. For example, a
restructuring of the marketing department around
distribution channels rather than product lines, or a
decentralization of the HR department into business
units (or more likely a centralization of HR into shared
services); appointment of different key personnel;
significant shift in the strategy of a cost or profit
centre; introduction of new information systems that
redefine key business processes

cont’d
• Level 4 – Corporate transformation
– Fundamental shift in organizational business
strategy involving new statement of vision,
mission and/or values; major restructuring that
changes the power bases within the organization;
radical changes to structure, systems and
processes across the whole organization; key
appointments recruited from outside the
organization.

Approaches to change
• Higgs and Rowland (2005) categorized them along two
axes: a uniform approach (top-down) as against a more
disseminated or differentiated approach (bottom-up) and
change as a predictable phenomenon (planned) as against
change as a more complex phenomenon (emergent).
• Their research suggested that when there was large scale
change an emergent approach was more successful –
‘change is a complex activity’ – and the more that change
was planned as a simplistic machine metaphor then the less
successful was the outcome.
• An emergent approach which was not overly dictated by
top management was shown to be more effective than the
other approaches

complexity in change situations
• Dynamic- where the questions is whether to
focus on the whole system or just a specific
part;
• Generative- where the question is whether to
take a planned or emergent approach; and
• Social- where the question is who to involve in
the change.

Cont’d
• When there are low levels of complexity you can see
causal effects more clearly and it is probably
worthwhile focusing on one part of the organization at
a time.
• If the strategic and operational environments are
relatively predictable and have low turbulence then it is
easier to plan a whole change approach.
• When the organization and its stakeholders are fairly
well aligned and have shared vision, values and
assumptions, then if the leader has his or her finger on
the pulse, he or she can perhaps involve fewer people
in the decision.

Cont’d
• when the level of complexity is relatively high a
different set of solutions might be appropriate.
• When the causal links are harder to make, a whole
system approach might be indicated.
• If the strategic and operational environment is more
turbulent or rapidly changing then a planned approach
may not work so well, with a more emergent, organic
approach to change indicated.
• The greater the level of complexity the more you might
need contributions from around the organization –
horizontally and vertically and from external
stakeholders too

Culture
• Like individuals, organizations have their own identity –
a way of being and behaving which differentiates them
from other organizations.
• Culture is sometimes defines as ‘the way we do things
around here’.
• It captures the general feel, but culture is more
complex than that.
• If we want to manage change within specific cultures
and if indeed we want to change the cultures
themselves as a way of changing strategy or enhancing
performance it is essential to understand what culture
is and how culture itself changes

Cont’d
• Schein (1999) identified three different levels of culture with
three different levels of difficulty in changing it:
• Artefacts –
– are the things that you will encounter as you enter the
organization and move around: what you see, what you hear,
what you feel about the place.
– There may be car parking spaces reserved right by the front
door for the most senior managers whilst other staff don’t have
any car parking at all. In others there are no allocated spaces.
– Some organizations will be very formal and people wear suits
and smart clothes. Other organizations will be somewhat
ramshackle and people work in jeans. Some organizations will
be open plan, others will have individual offices. In some
organizations drinks are ‘on tap’, whereas others will have pay
machines.

Cont’d
• Espoused values –
– at this level of culture you will find out some of the
meaning behind what you have encountered, the
organizational rules – either made public and lived, or
tacit and followed as the norm.
– There may be a stay late culture even though the
working times are clearly set out.
– There may be an acknowledgement that in order to
get something through the decision making process
you have to network it round the key players first.

Cont’d
– These rules are laid out in a set of organizational
values and sometimes translated into behavioural
imperatives.
– Everyone knows what the deal is. Sometimes the
espoused values are not the value-in-practice
(Argyris, 1990) and although teamwork is valued
people are rewarded for individual effort; or
integrity is a core principle but if you can get away
with something then that’s ok too.

Cont’d
• Basic underlying assumptions –
– this level deals with the core of the organization’s
identity and can be related back to its history and how
it came to be successful or survived due to the values,
attitudes and beliefs of the key people in its history.
– Schein says, ‘the essence of culture is these jointly
learned values, beliefs, and assumptions that become
shared and taken for granted as the organization
continues to be successful.
– It is important to remember that they resulted from a
joint learning process.’

Schein’s six ways in which culture
evolves
• Some of these can be influenced by leaders and change agents and
some cannot:
– a general evolution in which the organization naturally adapts to its
environment;
– a specific evolution of teams or subgroups within the organization to
their different environments;
– a guided evolution resulting from cultural ‘insights’ on the part of
leaders;
– guided evolution through encouraging teams to learn from each other,
and empowering selected hybrids from subcultures that are better
adapted to current realities;
– planned and managed culture change through the creation of parallel
systems of steering committees and project-oriented task forces; and
– partial or total cultural destruction through new leadership that
eliminates the carriers of the former culture (turnarounds,
bankruptcies, etc)

Harrison’s four cultures
• A power culture
– is one where decisions are based around the
sources of power within the organization and are
often centrally controlled.
– From entrepreneurial companies to organizations
with strong charismatic leaders the operating
paradigm is based around ensuring you have the
necessary people ‘on side’ and have the power
and authority to make decisions relatively quickly
without any particular bureaucratic hindrances

Cont’d
• The role culture
– tries to fit the workings of the organization into
clearly defined structures and roles, with
accountabilities being aligned to the role and each
person in their role knowing where they fit into
the system.
– Large bureaucratic institutions would typically
display the characteristics of a role culture.

Cont’d
• Task culture
– is characterized by getting things done, and power
and authority emanate from the ability to achieve
the tasks in hand.
– What is rewarded is not necessarily position but
task accomplishment, with systems and structures
designed to enable that to happen.
– Project management organizations and
meritocracies would often have a task culture.

Cont’d
• A person culture
– would have the needs of the people pretty central
to its ethos.
– This might be at the expense of the overarching
aims of the organization.
– Academic or professional associations or
partnerships might display elements of the person
culture, with decision-making more consensual
and explicit displays of power being shunned.

Goffee and Jones’s classification of
culture
• Classified culture based on sociability and
solidarity.
– Sociability- the degree to which people are
friendly with each other and work towards a social
cohesion within the organization
– Solidarity- a measure of a community’s ability to
pursue shared objectives quickly and effectively,
regardless of personal ties

Cont’d
• Networked (high sociability, low solidarity):
– The networked culture is one where cohesiveness
across the organization is valued, with people
encouraged to use both formal and informal
networks to achieve their objectives and have a
fulfilling time.
– Relationships form an important part of the work
environment, with the giving and receiving of
support a key aspect

Cont’d
• Fragmented (low sociability, low solidarity):
– The fragmented culture on the other hand doesn’t
value social cohesion and relationships within the
work environment.
– People are that much harder to get to know (for
friendship and for work accomplishment).
– Individualism, autonomy and freedom are valued,
with individual efforts and achievements being
rewarded.

Cont’d
• Communal (high sociability, high solidarity):
– The communal culture is both cohesive and
collaborative, with people committed to each
other, the organization and the products and
services the organization provides.
– Often a very ‘values-based’ company with high
levels of passion commitment and teamwork

Cont’d
• Mercenary (low sociability, high solidarity):
– The mercenary culture is high on task focus, low on
people process.
– There is little movement towards cohesiveness though
high degrees of collaboration when a task needs
achieving.
– As a result relationships tend to be transactional with
people being used for their abilities to help the task,
not for who they are.
– Communication will tend to be on a need to know
basis

Importance of understanding culture
during change
• knowing whether the culture you are in will be
the best for the end state;
• knowing how the culture will aid or detract
from the change effort; and
• being aware that the culture you are in will
consciously or subconsciously shape your
thoughts, ideas and decision-making
processes when engaged in discussing change

Personality
• Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI®) identifies
four different personality dimensions:
• Two things are of interest to us in exploring
change:
– different personalities approach, address and
respond to change in different ways; and
– organizations themselves can be seen to exhibit
the personality traits of their individuals, which in
turn affect how they will respond to change.

Cont’d
• extroversion–introversion
• sensing-intuition
• thinking-feeling
• judging-perceiving

Cont’d
• There are four types of personality, which will be
found in all organizations, exhibiting significant
differences in behaviour:
• The thoughtful realists
– will want to know why there’s a need for change and
will require some good evidence-based arguments.
– When initiating change they will adopt the view that if
it isn’t broken why would they want to change it.
– They therefore might be seen as more cautious when
it comes to change; not necessarily against change,
but needing some time to think it through.

Cont’d
• The thoughtful innovators-
– also need time to think things through but not
from the viewpoint of retaining things, more
ensuring it fits with the bigger picture, the wider
strategy and that all the component parts are
interlinked

Cont’d
• Action-oriented realists
– are happy to kick-start the changes and get things
moving.
– Their natural energy and enthusiasm will create
the momentum but they do need to have a clear
focus and that focus needs to be practical and
based on improving efficiency and effectiveness –
what, why, how, who and by when would be
typical questions

Cont’d
• action-oriented innovators
– who are similar to the action-oriented realists in
their energy and enthusiasm but also are more like
the thoughtful innovators in their focus on the
future and different ways of changing and the
possible different scenarios

Groupthink
• Groupthink is ‘a mode of thinking that people
engage in when they are deeply involved in a
cohesive in-group, when the members’ striving
for unanimity overrides their motivation to
realistically appraise alternative courses of
action’
• It occurs in certain situations and when certain
criteria are met.

attitudes and behaviours in a group
suffering from groupthink
• an illusion of invulnerability, shared by most or all
the members, which creates excessive optimism
and encourages taking extreme risks;
• collective efforts to rationalize in order to
discount warnings that might lead the members
to reconsider their assumptions before they
recommit themselves to their past policy
decisions;
• an unquestioned belief in the group’s inherent
morality, inclining the members to ignore the
ethical or moral consequences of their decisions;

Cont’d
• stereotyped views of enemy leaders as too evil to
warrant genuine attempts to negotiate, or as too
weak and stupid to counter whatever risky
attempts are made to defeat their purposes;
• direct pressure on any member who expresses
strong arguments against any of the group’s
stereotypes, illusions, or commitments, making
clear that this type of dissent is contrary to what
is expected of all loyal members

Cont’d
• self-censorship of deviations from the apparent group
consensus, reflecting each member’s inclination to minimize
the importance of his or her doubts and counterarguments;
• a shared illusion of unanimity concerning judgements
conforming to the majority view (partly resulting from self-censorship
of deviations, augmented by the false
assumption that silence means consent);
• the emergence of self-appointed ‘mindguards’ – members
who protect the group from adverse information that might
shatter their shared complacency about the effectiveness
and morality of their decisions

Change management 1

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Change management 1