The world is both unpredictable and fundamentally unknowable
The very act of measurement alters the physical systems we hope to understand.
Continuous change, activity, and interconnectedness add an element of unpredictability to any system.
Planned, controlled, orderly approaches to innovation or change are unlikely to perfectly achieve their intended outcomes
The future state of the world is unknowable because physical systems are highly sensitive to initial conditions.
Small differences in initial conditions can lead to radically different outcomes
Reinforcing feedback loops
Amplify or intensify whatever is happening in a system
Balancing feedback loops
Counteract or oppose whatever is happening in a system
Promotes adaptive learning
Adjusting behavior and processes in response to changing events or trends
Promotes generative learning
Eliminate problems by changing the underlying structure of the system.
Promotes adaptive learning
Adjusting behavior and processes in response to changing events or trends
Promotes generative learning
Eliminate problems by changing the underlying structure of the system.
Five disciplines that each involve a body of theory and techniques that must be practiced in order for mastery to develop.
When combined, these produce an organization capable of “expanding its capacity to create its future.”
Systems Thinking
Seeing wholes, perceiving the structures that underlie dynamically complex systems, and identifying high-leverage change opportunities
Personal Mastery
Individual learning, without which organizational learning cannot occur
Mental Models
Constantly surfacing, testing, and improving our assumptions
Shared Vision
Generating a common answer to the question, “What do we want to create?”
Team Learning
Creating alignment
Team members think insightfully about complex problems, synergize their knowledge and skills, and produce coordinated action
Relative Advantage
Innovation perceived as superior to current practice
Compatibility
Consistent with the values, beliefs, history, current practices
Complexity
Difficult to understand or use
Trialability
Experiment with the innovation on a limited basis
Observability
Results of an innovation are visible to others
Network Structure
Greater variation between local communities than within them.
Homophily – changed to homogeneity
Similarity between individuals, groups, or organizations
Opinion Leaders
Hubs in social and professional networks
Boundary Spanners
Significant social ties both inside and outside the organization
Absorptive Capacity
Ability to acquire, assimilate, and apply new knowledge
Organizational Readiness
Function of motivation, resources, and climate
Transition period
Targeted organizational members ideally become increasingly skillful, consistent, and committed in their use of an innovation
Implementation commonly involves mutual adaptation of the innovation and the organization
Organizational adaptation generally takes the form of implementation policies and practices
Formal strategies to put the innovation into use, and the actions that follow from those strategies
Critical factors for success
Innovation effectiveness
The benefits the organization realizes from innovation use
Implementation effectiveness
The overall consistency and quality of organizational members’ use of an innovation
Critical factors for success
Innovation effectiveness
The benefits the organization realizes from innovation use
Implementation effectiveness
The overall consistency and quality of organizational members’ use of an innovation
Diffusion
A passive process
Information about an intervention, product, or technology is initially absorbed and acted upon by a small body of highly motivated recipients.
Dissemination
An active process
Special efforts are made to ensure that intended users become aware of, receive, accept and use an innovation
Questionable whether successful large-scale change efforts can be implemented in a top-down, linear, planned manner.
Successful large-scale organizational change often occurs through emergent, incremental steps
Both problems and solutions arise through repeated interactions among leaders, organizational members, work processes, and environmental factors
Questionable whether successful large-scale change efforts can be implemented in a top-down, linear, planned manner.
Successful large-scale organizational change often occurs through emergent, incremental steps
Both problems and solutions arise through repeated interactions among leaders, organizational members, work processes, and environmental factors
