cameron and green making-sense-of-change-management

Organizational changeThis model proposes that effective management of change meansattending to all four components, not just one or two components. Imaginetugging only one part of a child’s mobile.The whole mobile wobbles and oscillatesfor a bit, but eventually all the differentcomponents settle down to where theywere originally. So it is with organizations.They easily revert to the originalmode of operation unless you attend toall four components.For example, if you change onecomponent, such as the type of work done in an organization, you needto attend to the other three components too. The following questionspinpoint the other three components that may need to be aligned:• How does the work now align with individual skills? (The people.)• How does a change in the task line up with the way work is organizedright now? (The formal organization.)• What informal activities and areas of influence could be affected bythis change in the task? (The informal organization.)If alignment work is not done, then organizational ‘homeostasis’ (seeabove) will result in a return to the old equilibrium and change will fizzleout. The fizzling out results from forces that arise in the system as a directresult of lack of congruence. When a lack of congruence occurs, energybuilds in the system in the form of resistance, control and power:• Resistance comes from a fear of the unknown or a need for things toremain stable. A change imposed from the outside can be unsettlingfor individuals. It decreases their sense of independence. Resistancecan be reduced through participation in future plans, and byincreasing the anxiety about doing nothing (increasing the felt needfor change).• Control issues result from normal structures and processes being influx. The change process may therefore need to be managed in adifferent way by, for instance, employing a transition manager.121