Change Management is an enormous field. Both academically and in terms of industry, the study and practice of transformation within organisations is vast. Many schools of thought exist as to why transformations succeed or fail. Academics unpack the data and devise theories, practitioners spot patterns over the course of their career and provide consulting advice on how to bring about change successfully. However, despite fields of academic study devoted to change management, and millions of dollars spent annually on business transformation, there is no definitive theory or set of principles to guide a company undergoing change.

A brief search reveals suggestions for: The 4 Pillars of Successful Change Implementation; The Three Components of Organisational Change; The 5 Key Elements for Successful Change Management; Changing Change Management; and more.

Suggestions as to the critical components that lead to a successful organisational change abound: Clear Vision, Accountability, Accessibility, Alignment; or maybe it's Planning, Leadership, and Maintenance of Change; but could it be Communication, Engagement, and Enrolment?

All of these concepts no doubt contribute to making organisational change a success. It seems unlikely that any project could succeed without a clear vision or communication, planning or leadership. What appears to be lacking though, is a cohesive way of thinking about organisational transformation and change management holistically. Transformation doesn't happen person by person, or department by department. It succeeds when all of the interconnected and interdependent relationships between individuals, teams, departments, and business units all work as a synergistic whole. In other words, it succeeds when all of the elements within the system work as a collective unit.

One useful way to think about the interconnected relationships between elements is with system thinking. Applying a system thinking lens to organisational transformation enables a change leader to think through not just the key pillars of change, or the human components of an organisation, but to encapsulate all of the different ways that the elements within the system interrelate to form the whole company.

What is System Thinking?

System thinking and systems theory seeks to understand the relationships between structure and behaviour. Understanding how systems work allows ...

Posts

Wikitag Contributions

Comments