This document outlines observations about managing organizational change. It notes that change is a complex process that involves multiple interacting variables at different levels and requires navigating institutional, interpersonal, and individual forces. Successfully encouraging and adapting to change requires creative observations, understandings, decisions, and actions. Effective change advocates act as catalysts rather than commanders and help others create desired change while managing both positive and negative forces of change. Change produces both anticipated and unanticipated results and involves some degree of risk.

1. ORGANIZATION
CHANGE
Observations, Understandings, Decisions
and Actions

2. Some Observations about
Change
• Complexity. The phenomena of
change involves multiple variables
interacting in multiple ways ay
multiple levels.
• Challenges. Managing change involves
wrestling with
institutional, interpersonal and
individual forces.
• Creativity. Successfully developing
capacities to both encourage and
encounter change requires
imaginative
observations, understandings, decisio
n and actions.

3. Some Observations about
Change
• Harnessing. Every change
intervention releases both positive
(change supporting) and negative
(change resisting) forces which must
be managed with skill.
• Harvesting. Change plans should
anticipate a rather long period of
preparation to create both the
readiness and resources the change
will require.
• Humility. Effective change advocates
quickly realize that they must act as
catalysts rather than
commanders, and learn to both
encourage and resource others who
actually create the change that is
desired

4. Some Observations about
Change
• Action. Ideas and plans (anticipation)
do not cause real change to occur –
only action can seek to make things
different.
• Anxiety. Change always creates
anxiety for both advocates and
resistors to change – honestly
recognizing and dealing
constructively with this anxiety is
crucial to change that endures.
• Anticipation. Change initiatives
anticipate certain kinds of results – in
fact, change efforts rarely produce
results precisely as anticipated.
Change produces both desired and
undesired results in ultimately
unpredictable degrees.

5. Some Observations about
Change
• Negotiation. While change is often
“ordered” by those “on top,” there
are always visible and less visible
negotiations in both formal and
informal venues, at
institutional, interpersonal and
individual levels.
• Natural systems. We can learn
important principles about the
character and conduct of change
from natural systems ranging from
diseases to animals.
• Navigation. Change management is
more like sailing than power boating
– navigating the twist and turns of
change while keeping the “end in
mind” allows positive progress
without absolute precision.

6. Some Observations about
Change
• Growth. The aim of any particular
change must ultimately also include
growth in the ability of the
organization to make future changes.
Selection of short term means must
include recognition of long term
growth capabilities.
• Gambling. All real change involves
some degree of risk taking, an
assessment that the probable
benefits will outweigh the probable
costs.
• Groups. Organizations are actually
composites of a variety of formal and
informal groups. Group
characteristics and behaviors can
both help and hinder desired
organizational change.

7. Some Observations about
Change
• Entropy. All organizational systems
gradually and inevitably lose their
energy; change is necessary in order
to refocus, redirect and reenergize
organizations (and individuals)
• Effectiveness and Efficiency. Almost
all organization change is targeted at
helping organizations and individuals
achieve more desirable ends
(efficiency) and/or more desirable
means (efficiency).
• Energy. Almost all change requires
greater energy and effort than might
be anticipated to overcome the
internal forces of
momentum, inertia, gravity and
entropy.