Leadership, Organizational Change and Sensemaking

Description

Organizational change literature often focuses on the leaders role in giving sense to others of the need for change and there is a plethora of models and recipes on how to influence employees thinking about change, organizational design and performance. Notwithstanding this ready supply of advice, research has shown that up to 90% of change programs fail to deliver their expected outcomes. One of the reasons for this which has been neglected in the literature is that successful change in thinking starts with how leaders first make sense of the need for change and the challenges this poses to their own thinking. This book surfaces the elements behind leader sensemaking that add to or detract from their ability to critically question their current thinking. Leaders and interventionists have lacked practical and pragmatic advice on how to influence the process. This book is the culmination of 10 years of research spent working with leaders in organizations as they interpreted the need for change and made choices about engaging, or not, with transformational change methodologies. It reveals nine elements of sensemaking displayed by organizational leaders as they grapple with challenges to their current orthodoxies about how to lead and organize in times of change. The book shows the latest state of knowledge on the topic and will be of interest to researchers, academics, practitioners, and students in the fields of leadership, change, and organisational development. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Contents Introduction Why This Book? Summary of contents Summary of Conclusions Reference Part I: Leadership, Organizational Change and Sensemaking Introduced 1. What Are Leadership and Organizational Change? Leadership Leadership Traits Behavioral Leadership Situational/Contingency Leadership Process Theories of Leadership Approaches to Change Nature of Change A Postmodern Perspective on Organization and Change References 2. What Is Sensemaking and How Can You Observe It in Practice? Qualitative Research References 3. Epiphanies and Crossing the Rubicon: The Drama of Moving from Old to New Realities The Impact of Experience on My Thinking The Drama of the 'ah-ha!' Moment Oxymorons It's Lonely Being the Hero It's a One-Way Trip: You Can't Go from Knowledge Back to Ignorance Conclusions Note References Part II: The Nine Elements of Leader Sensemaking 4. Ontology: Creating Realities References 5. Storytelling: If You're Going to Tell a Story, Make It a Good One Attributions of Significance and ah-ha! Moments Tipping Points References 6. Displacement of Concepts: Paradigm Shift or Paradigm Expansion? Note References 7. Preunderstanding: A Little (or a Lot of) Knowledge Can Be a Dangerous Thing No Preunderstanding of the Methodology Second-Hand Preunderstanding Personal Experience of Engaging with the Methodology Overcoming Negative Preunderstanding - Creating a Memory of the Future References 8. Cognitive Dissonance: Burning Platform or Has Someone Burnt the Toast? The War Room The Goldilocks Principle of Cognitive Dissonance Note References 9. Commitment Compliance - A Fusion of Forced Free Will What Does 'Full Time' Mean? But We're Different Initial Commitment Compliance Does Not Guarantee Continued Compliance Note References 10. Defensive Reasoning: Rationalizing Not Rational References 11. Compresence of Opposites: And Makes More Sense than or Is It Compresence or Is It Harmony? References 12. Interpretation: Decide First, Justify Later References Part III: Post-Engagement Sensemaking Observed 13. Post-Engagement Social Sensemaking: What Is History but a Fable Agreed upon Conclusion References Part IV: Conclusion - Influencing Sensemaking 14. Sensemaking: Recipes, Plate Spinning or Web Weaving? Conclusion References Index