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

Organizational change• There are many approaches to managing and understanding changeto choose from, none of which appears to tell the whole story, most ofwhich are convincing up to a point. See Table 3.3 for a summary of ourconclusions for each model.• To be an effective manager or consultant we need to be able flexibly toselect appropriate models and approaches for particular situations.See the illustrations of different approaches in Part Two.Table 3.3Our conclusions about each model of changeModelLewin, three-step modelBullock and Batten,planned changeKotter, eight stepsBeckhard and Harris,change formulaConclusionsLewin’s ideas are valuable when analysing thechange process at the start of an initiative. His forcefieldanalysis and current state/end state discussionsare extremely useful tools.However, the model loses its worth when it isconfused with the mechanistic approach, and thethree steps become ‘plan, implement, review’.The planned change approach is good for tacklingisolated, less complex issues. It is not good whenused to over-simplify organizational changes, as itignores resistance and overlooks interdependenciesbetween business units or sub-systems.Kotter’s eight steps are an excellent starting pointfor those interested in making large or small-scaleorganizational change. The model places mostemphasis on getting the early steps right: buildingcoalition and setting the vision rather than latersteps of empowerment and consolidation.Change is seen as linear rather than cyclical, whichimplies that a pre-designed aim can be reachedrather than iterated towards.The change formula is simple but highly effective. Itcan be used at any point in the change process toanalyse what is going on.It is useful for sharing with the whole team toilluminate barriers to change.135