Often the hardest part of implementing any change program (e.g. an IT implementation, a business unit restructuring, a training and development program) is determining whether the change had the positive impact that its sponsors intended. The difficulty of assessing success comes from three sources: 1) Lack of clarity around purpose for the program, project, change,… Read More
Thinking in Threes
Centralize vs. decentralize. Authoritative decisions vs. consensus-based decisions. Top-down vs. bottom up change. How many times do people in organizations get stuck thinking that there are only two variables in any one organizational challenge? Worse yet, how often do people try to negotiate the distance between the variables by finding some type of middle ground,… Read More
Appreciating the Complexity of Group Processes
A group of five newly affiliated professional colleagues is tasked with creating a children’s game out of a set of disparate objects: a box of crayons, Chinese yoyos, a packet of chocolate bars, plastic clapping hands, and other assorted games and toys. While the group sets out on their task, nearly 20 other observers watch, chart, and note… Read More
The Importance of Framing
If you’ve ever been in charge of leading a group or facilitating a workshop, you probably know that framing is one of the most important skills of the convener. Framing is what we do when we set up an activity, give instructions, or lead participants through a series of questions to arrive at a conclusion…. Read More
Are You Networking Forward?
Here’s the typical networking scenario: a crowded room, lots of conversations taken place, some people thoroughly enjoying themselves, while others look like they attended only to avoid a trip to the dentist. Have you ever been in this situation? If you are lucky, you’ll make connections with a few people during the course of the evening… Read More
Leading Culture Change from the Inside
Earlier this summer I had the pleasure of moderating a panel discussion whereby three seasoned organization development practitioners shared their insights on culture change at the Capital City OD Network meeting. Each of these individuals were seasoned internal consultants for major corporations or academic institutions, and each was responsible for initiating, facilitating, and overseeing culture change programs… Read More
What is Organizational Culture?
If all of organization development is essentially focused on changing organizational behavior, than isn’t change essentially focused on influencing “culture” or the values and beliefs that drive organizational behavior? “Culture” is a word that is used freely in the organization development and change management world. It is often cited as a barrier to implementing a new initiative,… Read More
Virtual Campfires
Imagine sitting around a table with 7 other people, none of whom you had met before, sharing what you are learning at a conference. This is not your normal one liner conversation per participant that solicits polite head nods, follow on comments, and side bar discussions. Actually, the people around the table, as they listen to… Read More
Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
Malcolm Gladwell has done it again. He is a brilliant writer and reporter. He has created another blockbuster with his latest book, Outliers: The Story of Success. But we shouldn’t be fooled into thinking that Gladwell did it all on his own. In fact, that is precisely the premise of his book: People who are successful are so… Read More
Can you really “manage” knowledge?
I don’t know the answer to that question. “Knowledge management” seems to set off as many alarm bells in people as the term “change management.” Both are loaded terms, yet constitute whole bodies of work, research, methods, and theories that tie many people across industries together. What I do know is that we can extract, reuse, teach,… Read More