The students at the MYAN Conference had not difficulty "finding" the problem underlying the Project we are calling the network challenge. Should we be thinking of change in the district as a challenge-based learning opportunity?
This link has been bookmarked by 43 people . It was first bookmarked on 27 Jul 2006, by eshepherd.
-
17 Jan 10
-
Add Sticky NoteFrom the preceding discussion, it follows that “problem finding” is the search for situations requiring action. Whether we choose to call these situations “problems” (because they are troublesome or spell bad news), or whether we choose to call them “opportunities” (either for reasons of political sensitivity or because the time is ripe to exploit a situation) is immaterial. In both cases, the practical matter is one of identifying and settling on a course of action that will bring about some desired and predetermined change in the situation.
-
-
-
13 Jan 10
-
To recapitulate, there are at least four basic definitions of change management:
1. The task of managing change (from a reactive or a proactive posture)
2. An area of professional practice (with considerable variation in competency and skill levels among practitioners)
3. A body of knowledge (consisting of models, methods, techniques, and other tools)
4. A control mechanism (consisting of requirements, standards, processes and procedures).
-
the problems found in organizations, especially the change problems, have both a content and a process dimension.
-
The process of change has been characterized as having three basic stages: unfreezing, changing, and re-freezing. This view draws heavily on Kurt Lewin’s adoption of the systems concept of homeostasis or dynamic stability.
-
this framework is that it gives rise to thinking about a staged approach to changing things.
-
What is not useful about this framework is that it does not allow for change efforts that begin with the organization in extremis
-
The Change Process as Problem Solving and Problem Finding
-
Change as a “How” Problem
-
Change as a “What” Problem
-
Change as a “Why” Problem
-
The Approach taken to Change Management Mirrors Management's Mindset
-
People in core units, buffered as they are from environmental turbulence and with a history of relying on adherence to standardized procedures, typically focus on “how” questions.
-
-
“How” questions tend to cluster in core units.
-
“What” questions tend to cluster in buffer units.
-
People in perimeter units tend to ask “what” and “how” questions.
-
“Why” questions are typically the responsibility of top management.
To summarize: Problems may be formulated in terms of “how,” “what” and “why” questions. Which formulation is used depends on where in the organization the person posing the question or formulating the problem is situated, and where the organization is situated in its own life cycle.
-
-
-
The first thing to do is jump in. You can’t do anything about it from the outside.
-
A clear sense of mission or purpose is essential. The simpler the mission statement the better. “Kick ass in the marketplace” is a whole lot more meaningful than “Respond to market needs with a range of products and services that have been carefully designed and developed to compare so favorably in our customers’ eyes with the products and services offered by our competitors that the majority of buying decisions will be made in our favor.”
-
Build a team. “Lone wolves” have their uses, but managing change isn’t one of them. On the other hand, the right kind of lone wolf makes an excellent temporary team leader.
-
Maintain a flat organizational team structure and rely on minimal and informal reporting requirements.
-
Pick people with relevant skills and high energy levels. You’ll need both.
-
Toss out the rulebook. Change, by definition, calls for a configured response, not adherence to prefigured routines.
-
Shift to an action-feedback model. Plan and act in short intervals. Do your analysis on the fly. No lengthy up-front studies, please. Remember the hare and the tortoise.
-
Set flexible priorities. You must have the ability to drop what you’re doing and tend to something more important.
-
Treat everything as a temporary measure. Don’t “lock in” until the last minute, and then insist on the right to change your mind.
-
Ask for volunteers. You’ll be surprised at who shows up. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by what they can do.
-
Find a good “straw boss” or team leader and stay out of his or her way.
-
Give the team members whatever they ask for — except authority. They’ll generally ask only for what they really need in the way of resources. If they start asking for authority, that’s a signal they’re headed toward some kind of power-based confrontation and that spells trouble. Nip it in the bud!
-
Concentrate dispersed knowledge. Start and maintain an issues logbook. Let anyone go anywhere and talk to anyone about anything. Keep the communications barriers low, widely spaced, and easily hurdled. Initially, if things look chaotic, relax — they are.
One More Time: How do you manage change?
The honest answer is that you manage it pretty much the same way you’d manage anything else of a turbulent, messy, chaotic nature, that is, you don’t really manage it, you grapple with it. It’s more a matter of leadership ability than management skill.
Remember, the task of change management is to bring order to a messy situation, not pretend that it’s already well organized and disciplined.
-
-
-
21 Oct 09
jim rootsChange Management Bibliography
A bibliography pertaining to change management can be found at http://home.att.net/~nickols/change_biblio.pdfchangemanagement change management strategy business reference change_management innovation
-
02 Sep 09
-
21 Jun 09
-
18 May 09
-
23 Dec 08
-
24 Sep 08
-
09 Sep 08
-
13 Apr 08
-
27 Mar 08
-
17 Jan 08
-
19 Nov 07
-
17 Oct 07
-
16 Oct 07
-
11 Oct 07
-
27 Aug 07
-
13 Aug 07
-
22 Sep 06
-
08 Sep 06
-
16 Jun 06
-
Change Management
-
Change Management
-
-
12 Jun 06
-
20 Jan 06
-
08 Jan 06
-
-
07 Oct 04
-
By Fred Nikols, Assistance at a Distance, Sept 2004
-
-
14 Sep 04
-
05 Jul 04
Public Stiky Notes
Would you like to comment?
Join Diigo for a free account, or sign in if you are already a member.