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

Emerging inquiriesDent (1999) sees the list on the right as an extension of the list on theleft, rather than replacing it.Capra (1982) explains why we now need to see the world in differentways:Modern science has come to realize that all scientific theories are approximationsto the true nature of reality, and that each theory is valid for acertain range of phenomena. Beyond this range it no longer gives a satisfactorydescription of nature, and new theories have to be found to replace theold one, or rather to extend it by improving the approximation.Systemic views of organizations, such as the concept of the learning organizationpromoted by Senge (1993) owe much to the influence ofcomplexity science. The four basic assumptions that Konigswieser andHillebrand (2005) identify in their book about systemic consultancyprovide a useful translation of the principles of complexity for use inorganizational work:• Organizations do not function like trivial machines. They do notsimply work at the push of a button and can therefore neither becontrolled directly nor completely understood.• They constantly reproduce themselves through communication, arein a state of permanent change and continually create new orderstructures in the form of retained stories, recorded successes andagreed perception, patterns and expectations.• This ‘self-image’ gains intensity in the sense constructs and views ofthe world projected as models from inside the system to the environment.Internal order structures, sense constructs and images of theworld create security and stability within the organization, yet at thesame time obstruct its ability to react to changes in a dynamic, rapidlychanging environment.• Organizations can learn from their environment not only in timeof crisis and pressure, but also proactively by assuming an activeand creative role in reshaping themselves and their respectiveenvironments.314