Approaches to Managing Change

(Planned vs Emergent change)

Lecture 5

Dr. Joshua R. Moon(SPRU)

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 Seminars & Lectures
• Next week (Wk 8, w/c 20th Nov):
• Seminars for all groups at normal times (check Sussex Direct for
rooms) on Planned & Emergent Change
• Lecture on Culture & Politics
• Week after (Wk 9, w/c 27th Nov):
• Seminars for all groups at normal times (check SD for rooms)
• Lecture on Restructures and M&As
• Week after (Wk 10, w/c 4th Dec)
• No seminars
• Lecture on Industrial Change w/ Carlos Sato
• Week after (Wk 11, w/c 11th Dec)
• Seminars are revision sessions/exam prep
• Lecture on Tuesday 4-6pm on Project & Programme Change
• Lecture on Thursday as normal on Crisis Management

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 Planned v Emergent Change

Two dominant approaches to managing change:

The Planned approach – 1940s

(based on Burnes 2017, and Cameron and Green, ch. 1, 3)

The Emergent approach – 1980s

(based on Cameron and Green 2019, ch. 11,12)

Link to Seminar 3: Try to implement each approach

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 Reminder: The organism metaphor
Metaphor: Organism

Historical context Burnes and Stalker’s contingency theory and organismic organisations
(1960s) see organisations as “open systems” linked to outside world
Assumptions Organisations must respond to the environments; Cross-organisational
coordination is essential
Related beliefs Adaptively is required – no best one form
The flow of information is key
Alignment of individual, team + organisational needs
Implications for Drivers for change are external
Change Awareness for need to change must be raised
Responses can be designed
Participation and support are needed
Limitations Organisations not just passive to environment
Challenge of co-ordination and alignment of parts
Organisations cannot address the needs of all staff

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 The planned approach

Kurt Lewin (1890-1947)

German Jewish émigré, early scholar of org. change

Academic (Psychology) in Berlin, London, Cornell, Iowa, MIT

Worked during World War II to change meat consumption habits

Pioneer of group dynamics, esp. conflict resolution between minorities

Lewin’s work was adapted into the field of ‘Organizational Development’

(which grew out of the humanistic school)

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 Street gangs fight in Westside Story

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 The elements of Lewin’s approach

• Field Theory
• Group Dynamics
• Action Research
• The Three-Step model

These were developed into a systematic approach

in order to achieve a desired change
(See Burnes 2017, ch.9)

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 Force Field Analysis

* The observed behaviour studied at group level actually reflects individuals’

behaviour and their links within the group
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 Group Dynamics

… the word ‘dynamics’ … comes from a Greek

word meaning force. … ‘group dynamics’ refers
to the forces operating in groups. … it is a
study of these forces: what gives rise to them,
what conditions modify them, what
consequences they have, etc.

(Cartwright, 1951: 382)

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Selected insights by Lewin
on group dynamics (from Burnes 2017)
Fruitless to focus on individual change because people are influenced
by the groups they are in

The change process is slow – it rarely happens quickly

Planned change is effective when people are making an informed

choice to change

Weakening restraining forces works better than driving forces

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 Action Research

Action research should involve all in the group

Help groups to answer questions collectively: What is the situation/

What are the dangers? What action to take? How did that work?

Discussion helps to drive a felt-need in individuals for change

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 Lewin’s three-step model

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 Lewin’s Three-Step model

Unfreezing (creating motivation for change)

Disconfirmation
Creation of survival anxiety or guilt
Creation of psychological safety to overcome learning anxiety
Moving (implementation)
Imitation of and identification with new role models
Scanning for solutions/ trial and error learning (action research)
Refreezing (stabilisation, internalising new concepts)
Incorporation into self-concept and identity
Incorporation into ongoing relationships

- Schein’s elaboration of Lewin’s model (see Cameron and Green 2019: 55)

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 Planned change - summary

• Assumes that a group (not necessarily an organization) is moving

from one stable state to another

• Change is top-down - reliant on managers who set the goal

• Finite objectives (not always possible)

• Must be self-sustaining

• Is a collaborative process (ignores power and politics)

• Is a cyclical process:
- spiral of diagnosis, Action, Evaluation, Further action, Further evaluation.
(therefore can be slow)

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applicable as often assumed?
 Emergent change
In this perspective, organizational transformation is not
portrayed as a drama staged by deliberate directors with
predefined scripts and choreographed moves, or the inevitable
outcome of a technological logic, or a sudden discontinuity that
fundamentally invalidates the status quo. Rather, organizational
transformation is seen here to be an ongoing improvisation
enacted by organizational actors trying to make sense of and act
coherently in the world. … Each shift in practice creates the
conditions for further breakdowns, unanticipated outcomes, and
innovations, which in their turn are responded to with more
variations. And such variations are ongoing; there is no beginning
or end point in this change process.

p.65-66. Orlikowski in Information Systems Research 1996 (7:1)

63–92.

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 Reminder: Flux & transformation

Metaphor: Flux and transformation

Historical context Complexity theory and organisations as complex adaptive systems

(1960s onwards)
Assumptions It is not possible to have overall control of change in a complex system

Related beliefs Organisation emerges from chaos

Organisations can self-renew
Key tensions influence new ways of working
Many dimensions are influential on organisations (no linear cause and
effect).
Implications for Change emerges – it is not managed
Change Managers are part of the system – not outside it
Tension and conflict are part of change
Managers as facilitators
Limitations Lack of control is disturbing, especially for managers

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Emergence is a property of complex
adaptive systems
The Sante Fe Institute’s characteristics of Complex Adaptive Systems
include:
•There is no central control

•There is an inherent underlying structure within the system

•There is feedback in the system

•Non-linearity – difficult to link cause and effect

•Emergence is an outcome of the system – it happens without intent

•The system is non-reducible – all parts have to be studied

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 An introduction to Chaos Theory

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5mruabpGkU

Source: The Open University

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 Dent’s (1999) world view
descriptors

Cameron and Green 2019 p.424

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 Principles for managing complexity
•Interactions, connectivity and diversity influence self-organisation

•Local rules (kept by individuals) are not under central control

•Attractors can affect a move away from one state to another

•Power influences change through including and excluding individuals

•In large systems, local communication is important

•Choices can be polarities rather than either/or

•Small influences can have large effects due to feedback loops

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 Growth in Uncertainties

Bauman (2007) identifies modern trends that make us more fearful

and self-focused:
•Erosion of institutions
•Politics without power
•At the mercy of the markets
•Loss of long term planning and retained learning
•Increased risk borne by individuals

Scharmer (2007) also identifies important trends:

Deregulation, downsizing, emerging technology, globalised
governance, individualisation, loss of job security, rising consciousness
(e.g. through support of NGOs, spiritualism)

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 The things leaders do to avoid
uncertainty
(managerial resistance to change?)

•Blame others for not being decisive

•Avoid forming a joint agenda with team/ stakeholders
•Invest in a series of over simplified projects without
agreement of intended achievements
•Focus on needs of a key stakeholder without
identifying key issues
•Not allowing time for agenda items that might open
up new issues
•Creating rules and processes to deter transgressors

Cameron (2011)
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 New ways of doing things…

Less structured careers (emphasis on personal development)

New organisational forms

-Adaptable, decentralised, networked (Child and McGrath 2001)
-Re-structure for ambidexterity (O’Reilly and Tushman 2004)

New forms of leadership (based on a facilitator role)

- Including new forms of decision making

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 The role of leaders in emergent
change
Facilitate emergent change

Provide vision, values and ethics

Create opportunity for generative and reflective dialogue

Being present in the ‘here and now’

Taking good decisions (but accepting these don’t always work out well)

Avoiding ‘Righteousness’ and ‘Big Acts’ (in favour of smaller changes)

Accept regret as a learning opportunity (but avoiding blame, shame and

disconnection)

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 Five important skills for leading
change
Presence and ‘deep listening’: being alert and really listening

Framing: defining a clear space for others to operate within

Containing: Being confident and non-anxious in difficult situations;

providing a space for others to address fears, while containing your
own.

Negative capability: being able to resist rapid action in favour of

further creative opportunities (see ‘decisiveness’ v ‘dithering’)

Practicing self-care: looking after yourself, developing a calm mind

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 Ester Cameron’s leadership pathway

Cameron and Green 2019 p.460

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 Supporting complex change

Story telling - helps sense making in complex contexts

Dialogue (collective thinking) - can lead to productive analysis and

insights

Whole system work - bringing together stakeholders to plan action

•Open space technology - freeing people up to make progress

•Future search - intensive collective debate for analysis and action

•World café – small groups, individuals and larger groups reflect on

inquires in an ordered process

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 Emergent Change - Summary
Increasing uncertainty is experienced

The end state is unknown

Change is a continuous process

Many old rules do not apply

Emergent change is unsettling for managers – so they avoid it!

Managers can create a collective vision for the organization

Managers can foster a climate of learning and experimentation

There are useful approaches and skills to facilitate emergent change –

promoting engagement, experimentation, learning.

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