This document discusses managing organizational change. It notes that change is difficult and often faces resistance. Successful change requires addressing many interdependent factors simultaneously using the right model. The key is coordinating fundamental changes across an organization to adapt to its shifting environment. Change is an iterative process of unfreezing the status quo, defining a new state, experimenting, and stabilizing until a new equilibrium emerges. Total transformation requires revolutionary rather than incremental change across all aspects of an organization.

1. Managing Change: Getting the Right Model,
and Getting the Model Right
Robert Padulo, Ph.D.
iWorkwell, Inc.
215-875-9550
robert.padulo@iworkwell.com

2. robert.padulo@iworkwell.com
215-875-9550
© 2001 iWorkwell, Inc.
• "There is nothing more difficult to carry out,
nor more doubtful of success, nor more
dangerous to handle, than to initiate a new
order of things. For the reformer has
enemies in all those who profit by the old
order, and only lukewarm defenders in all
those who would profit by the new order …
who do not truly believe in anything new
until they have had actual experience of it"
(Machiavelli, 1532).

3. robert.padulo@iworkwell.com
215-875-9550
© 2001 iWorkwell, Inc.
• "We trained very hard, but it seemed that every
time we were beginning to form up into teams,
we would be reorganized. I was to learn later in
life that we tended to react to any new situation
by reorganizing, and a wonderful method it can
be for creating the illusion of progress, while
producing confusion, inefficiency and
demoralization"
(Gaius Petronus, a Roman general who later
committed suicide, attributed by Petronii Arbitri
Satyricon, AD 66).

4. (Robert Padulo, 2001).
robert.padulo@iworkwell.com
215-875-9550
© 2001 iWorkwell, Inc.
• "The central idea is this: You have to
coordinate and align fundamental changes,
to many things, at the same time, to
manage a successful transformation"

5. • Organizations are complex systems. As their
environment changes, organizations must adapt
to survive
• Organizations are composed of multiple
fundamentally interdependent parts
• Organizations seek equilibrium — they move
toward a state of balance
• There is no universal best design
• Organizational systems can and do change
robert.padulo@iworkwell.com
215-875-9550
© 2001 iWorkwell, Inc.
General Nature of Organizations —
Organizations as Systems

6. robert.padulo@iworkwell.com
215-875-9550
© 2001 iWorkwell, Inc.
What is the Process of Organizational
Change?

7. I
A
B
C
status quo
status quo
status quo
S2
status quo
STAT
E
change
change
S1
change
change
Lewin's Force Diagrams.
robert.padulo@iworkwell.com
215-875-9550
© 2001 iWorkwell, Inc.
SCENARIO

8. • disequilibrium;
• defining the desired future state;
• assessing the present in relation to that desired future;
• further symmetry breaking or unfreezing;
• experimentation;
• moving towards the desired new state;
• repeating stages 2–6 until, at some point,
• forming a new, dynamic equilibrium.
robert.padulo@iworkwell.com
215-875-9550
© 2001 iWorkwell, Inc.
Organizational Change is an Iterative
Process

9. A total, fundamental, discontinuous and revolutionary
change of qualities (paradigm, character, behavior,
capabilities) such that the organization as a whole
becomes dramatically different. This change of one
thing into another has the general goal of attaining a
better fit with the environment, to increase chances
of survival and achieve quantum-leap improvements
in performance.
robert.padulo@iworkwell.com
215-875-9550
© 2001 iWorkwell, Inc.
Definition of Corporate Transformation

10. – *See 35 Factor List
robert.padulo@iworkwell.com
215-875-9550
© 2001 iWorkwell, Inc.
Recommendations/Practical Advice:
35 Factors

11. "I think incentives are God-given and inspired.
You just have to be careful how you structure
them. You also need to package it correctly.
Even though it's only a semantic difference, you
need to sell it as 'better patient care' (not 'cost
reduction'!) ... and then add: 'Oh, by the way,
if we save any money you get to keep some of
it to do whatever you want for your
department.' That would work“
(Dr. George Huggins).
robert.padulo@iworkwell.com
215-875-9550
© 2001 iWorkwell, Inc.
Use financial incentives to shape behavior

12. – *See 35 Factor List
robert.padulo@iworkwell.com
215-875-9550
© 2001 iWorkwell, Inc.
Recommendations/Practical Advice:
35 Factors

13. © 2001 iWorkwell, Inc.
robert.padulo@iworkwell.com
215-875-9550

14. © 2001 iWorkwell, Inc.
robert.padulo@iworkwell.com
215-875-9550

15. robert.padulo@iworkwell.com
215-875-9550
© 2001 iWorkwell, Inc.
Do These Lessons About Corporate
Transformation Apply to
Organizational Change Generally?

16. • The core idea uniting all 35 success factors is the
necessity of a systems-change approach.
• To manage change successfully, you need to:
– get the right model (i.e., along the lines of my diagram
incorporating the relevant factors),
– and get the model right (i.e., the dynamic process must be
fine-tuned and managed, to work within your specific
circumstances).
• In other words, not only do you have to address the
roughly 35 factors, you have to address them properly.
• The greater the change management task, the more you
have to coordinate and align fundamental changes, to
many things, at the same time, to manage change
successfully.
robert.padulo@iworkwell.com
215-875-9550
© 2001 iWorkwell, Inc.
Summing Up – The Key Takeaway

17. © 2001 iWorkwell, Inc.
Applying These Lessons
robert.padulo@iworkwell.com
215-875-9550

18. – *See 35 Factor List
robert.padulo@iworkwell.com
215-875-9550
© 2001 iWorkwell, Inc.
Recommendations/Practical Advice:
35 Factors

19. Managing Change: Getting the Right Model,
and Getting the Model Right
Robert Padulo, Ph.D.
iWorkwell, Inc.
215-875-9550
robert.padulo@iworkwell.com