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

Complex change• when is change complex?• understanding complexity science;• tools that support complex change processes;• the role of leaders in complex change.WHEN IS CHANGE COMPLEX?It is easy to say when change is not complex. Installing a new phonesystem, or implementing a ready-made IT system, or organizing an officemove are all the types of change activity that benefit from a well-planned,controlled approach. Any change which has a high ‘technical’ element toit lends itself to more linear methods. Although the above changes maybe complicated, they do tend to happen more easily if the details can beorganized efficiently.Restructuring programmes, cultural change initiatives, outsourcing,mergers, acquisitions and strategic-led change, especially when a largenumber of people are involved, can all be seen as complex change. Theseare changes that involve so many individuals, layers of activity, areas offocus and so many factors that cannot be pre-thought out that there willbe a need for people to struggle and argue and work their way throughto an unpredictable outcome.The advantages of understanding the concept of complexity are many.Managers in today’s organizations are often trained to think in purelyanalytical, rational ways. We are taught to see things independently ratherthan inter-dependently. Current mainstream management thinking isgenerally based on a mixture of cognitive psychology – which focuses onmotivational goals and behaviour – together with scientific methodsdesigned to map out and organize tasks, such as process engineering orproject management. These disciplines do not leave much space for thepossibility of complexity; the possibility that a contained ‘muddle’ maywell sort itself out given the right conditions.When managers begin to appreciate how complex processes work, theycan release themselves from too much over-managing, and begin to thinkabout the different needs they should be fulfilling as leaders whoencourage healthy, creative change to emerge.311