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Summary articles - Organizational Change
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A summary of the mandatory articles for the course organizational change
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Lecture 1: Introduction and managing organizational change at the change agent levelThe change agent: From expertise to authenticity (De Caluwe & Vermaak, 2002).
Roles and Styles
Change agent: an individual or group of individuals who take initiative and orchestrates changes
within an organization.
Expert/teacher roles: provides necessary knowledge and solutions.
Facilitating roles: improving communication, trust and safety.
Assisting personal growth: opportunity for individuals to grow and learn.
Change agent’s implicit or explicit belief system influences their preferred roles and strategies for
facilitating change within an organization. Style seems to match the values of the change agent.
Competencies
Change agents need a broad range of competencies to implement various strategies effectively.
Understanding one’s strengths and limitations is crucial.
Self-awareness allows change agents to know when to seek assistance and avoid pretending to be
perfect.
Methods to gain self-awareness:
- Comparing beliefs about change.
- Familiarity with intervention techniques.
- Preferred styles with the color print model.
It is important to understand the nuances of each approach and recognizing that different
competencies are prioritized based on the chosen strategy.
Professional career
Wolfe’s Five Learning Phases outlines five learning phases in the development of what he
calls the “creative agent”:
- Conceptual grounding: Familiarization with basic models and theories.
- Learning the craft: Acquisition of basic skills, including diagnostic and intervention
skills.
- Practice in the field: Gaining hands-on experience to build a professional identity.
- Consolidating and integrating competencies: Reflecting on experiences and seeking
feedback to enhance skills.
Lynn’s Four Stages of Development distinguishes four stages in the development of
organization developers/consultants:
- The beginner: Struggles with self-acceptance and credibility, seeks validation through
initial success.
- The technologist: Focuses on mastering specific techniques and methods, gains
confidence and authority.
- The professional: Balances independence with collaboration, relies on creativity and
intuition.
These stages of development align with specific styles and strategies.
Color print thinking: used to describe different approaches or styles
that change agents may adapt when facilitating organizational change.
It categorizes change strategies into four distinct “color prints” based
on their focus and approach.
,Reflective practitioner
The process of learning and development for change agents.
Kolb’s Learning Cycle emphasizes learning through experience:
Concrete experience: Involves active experimentation and encountering problems or success
(Feeling).
Reflective observation: Reflecting one experiences to understand observations and crystallize
concepts (Watching).
Abstract conceptualization: Making new choices and decisions based on understanding and
concepts (Thinking).
Active experimentation (or Testing): Trying out new approaches and repeating the cycle
continuously (Doing).
By continuous repetition, the behavior can be reevaluated and reformulated. Behavioral change
becomes possible and can lead to increased effectiveness of the person involved.
Learning styles: Individuals may lean towards specific learning styles:
Dreamer: Emphasizes experiencing and reflecting.
Thinker: Focuses on reflecting and conceptualizing.
Decision Maker: Balances conceptualization and experimentation.
Action Hero: Emphasized experimentation and action.
From Observing to Sensing
Levels of perception: Different levels of perception exist, including:
Subconscious: Basic perceptions related to body, senses, emotions, and impulses.
Self-conscious: This level involves perceptions of the will, logical mind, ego and creativity. It’s
where individuals observe social interactions, analyze language, and gauge intentions.
Super-conscious: This level encompasses intuition, sudden transparency,
interconnectedness, and spirituality. Here, duality makes room for experiencing unity and
cohesion.
From Conceptualization to Sense-Making
First-order learning: learning by doing (“how”).
Second-order learning: examining the way in which one learns, questioning the methods one
uses to solve problems, deliberately crafting one’s own learning process and thus also daring
to recognize one’s own capacities and incapacities (“why”).
Three paradigms that change agents can employ in organizing observations and addressing
problems:
- Monoparadigmatic: adjusting observation within the client’s framework or use own
familiar framework. Focus on finding solutions to problems without critically
questioning whether the stated problem is indeed the real issue (First-order).
- Multiparadigmatic: seeking new frameworks to organize their observations. Focus on
examining the problem from new angles (Second-order).
- Metaparadigmatic: observing the patterns and fixations in their own learning
processes that hinder them from detecting new perspectives and corresponding
solutions. Learning how to lean, thus fueling own personal development (Second-
order).
Resistance to Change: The rest of the story (Ford et al., 2008)
, The texts suggests expanding our understanding of resistance to change by considering its sources
and potential contribution to effective change management. It criticizes the prevailing “change
agent-centric” view, which portrays change agents as victims of irrational resistance from change
recipients.
Key points include:
Perception of Resistance: Resistance to change is often portrayed as an objective reality by
change agents, without considering their own role in defining and interpreting resistance.
Change Agent Contribution: Change agents may inadvertently contribute to resistance
through their actions or inactions, such as breaching agreements or failing to restore trust.
Positive Aspects of Resistance: Resistance can sometimes be beneficial, contributing to
successful implementation by increasing awareness, momentum, and eliminating impractical
elements in the change process.
Need for Reevaluation: The text calls for a reevaluation of resistance in organizational
change, urging researchers to consider the role of change agents in resistance and its
implications for effective change management.
Resistance as change agent sensemaking
Sensemaking in Change: Change in situations are viewed as opportunities for both change agents
and recipients to engage in sensemaking, where they interpret novel or problematic situations to
make sense of them.
Active Process of Sensemaking: Sensemaking involves extracting behaviors and communications
from events, interpreting them, and acting based on those interpretations. Change agents play an
active role in this process, shaping the interpretation of events.
Expectation Effects: Expectations of resistance can influence change agents’ sensemaking
processes. If change agents expect resistance, they are more likely to interpret events as
resistance, confirming their expectations. Self-fulfilling prophecy, Pygmalion effect. You find
what you look for. Pygmalion effect: high expectations lead to improved performance vice
versa.
Self-Serving Account: Change agents may attribute problems in the change process to
resistance as a way to deflect blame and maintain a favorable image. This attribution can
serve the interests of change agents by absolving them of responsibility and perpetuating the
belief that resistance is inherent to change recipients. Validating reality in a self-serving way
Change agents contributions to resistance
Broken agreements and trust violations
Change agents break agreements before and during change, leading to a loss of trust among
recipients. Research on organizational justice suggests that fair treatment fosters positive
attitudes and behaviors toward change, while perceived injustice leads to resentment and
negative behaviors.
Communication breakdowns
Change agents may contribute to resistance through communication breakdowns by failing
to legitimize change, misrepresenting its chances of success, or not calling people to action.
- Failure to legitimize change: Change agents must provide convincing justifications for
change adoption to create readiness and increase acceptance among recipients.
Dismissing recipient scrutiny as resistance may lead to future resistance.
- Misrepresentation: Change agents may engage in intentional or unintentional
misrepresentation of change to induce participation or avoid looking bad. Optimism
bias among change agents may lead to overselling the positive aspects of change,
which can erode trust if not matched by actual outcomes.
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