making-sense-of-change-management

The underpinning theorythat shape people’s attitudes to and understanding of organizations, youcan take advantage of the possibilities of other ways of looking at things,and you can begin to understand how other people in your organizationmay view the world. You can also begin to see the limitations of eachmindset and the disadvantages of taking a one-dimensional approach toorganizational change.In the second section, we set out a range of useful models and ideasdeveloped by some of the most significant writers on organizationalchange. This section aims to illustrate the variety of ways in which youcan view the process of organizational change. We also make sense of thedifferent models and approaches by identifying the assumptions underpinningeach one. When you understand the assumptions behind amodel, you can start to see its benefits and limitations.In the third section, we come to some conclusions about organizationalchange, and stress the importance of being aware of underlying assumptionsand having the flexibility to employ a range of different approaches.HOW ORGANIZATIONS REALLY WORKWe all have our own assumptions about how organizations work, developedthrough a combination of experience and education. The use ofmetaphor is an important way in which we express these assumptions.Some people talk about organizations as if they were machines. Thismetaphor leads to talk of organizational structures, job design andprocess reengineering. Others describe organizations as political systems.They describe the organization as a seething web of political intriguewhere coalitions are formed and power rules supreme. They talk abouthidden agendas, opposing factions and political manoeuvring.Gareth Morgan’s (1986) work on organizational metaphors is a goodstarting point for understanding the different beliefs and assumptionsabout change that exist. He says:Metaphor gives us the opportunity to stretch our thinking and deepen ourunderstanding, thereby allowing us to see things in new ways and act in newways… Metaphor always creates distortions too… We have to accept thatany theory or perspective that we bring to the study of organization andmanagement, while capable of creating valuable insights, is also incomplete,biased, and potentially misleading.98