Chapter 2: The nature of planned change
Theories of planned change
Lewin’s change model:
- Modificatoo of forcesi keepiog a siysitem’ssi behaviour sitable. A siet of behaviour io aoy tm’e isi
the resiult of two group forcesi. thosie waotog to m’aiotaio sitatusi quo aod thosie pusihiog for
chaoge. Wheo equal curreot behavioursi are m’aiotaioed io “quasii-sitatooary equilibrium’”.
Suggesited isi that decreasiiog the forcesi m’aiotaioiog sitatusi quo producesi lesisi teosiioo thao
iocreasiiog forcesi for chaoge.
Three sitepsi:
1. Uofreeziog; iovolvesi reduciog forcesi m’aiotaioiog orgaoizatoo behaviour at itsi presieot level.
Som’etm’esi dooe by iotroduciog ioform’atoo sihowiog disicrepaociesi betweeo desiired behavioursi aod
behavioursi curreotly exhibited
2. Moviog; sihifsi behaviour of orgaoizatoon departm’eotn or iodividual to oew level. Iovolvesi
ioterveoiog io the siysitem’ to develop oew behavioursin valuesin aod attudesi through chaogesi io
orgaoizatooal sitructuresi aod procesisiesi.
,3. Refreeziog; sitabilizesi the orgaoizatoo at a oew sitate of equilibrium’n ofeo accom’plisihed through
the usie of siupportog m’echaoisim’si that reioforce the oew orgaoizatooal sitate like culturen rewardsin
aod sitructure.
Action research model:
- Focusiesi oo plaooed chaoge asi a cyclical procesisi where ioital resiearch about orgaoizatoo
givesi iofo to guide actoo. Resiultsi of actoo are asisiesisied to provide m’ore iofo to guide
further actoo (iterate). Iovolvesi collaboratoo betweeo orgaoizatoo m’em’bersi aod
orgaoizatoo developm’eot practtooersi. Em’phasiisi: data gatheriogn diagoosiisi prior to actoo
plaooiog aod im’plem’eotatoon careful evaluatoo of resiultsi. Dual focusi: helpiog sipecific
orgaoizatoosi im’plem’eot plaooed chaoge aod develop m’ore geoeral koowledgen hasi beeo
adapted by OD practtooersi to have plaooed chaoge asi m’ajor em’phasiisi.
Eight sitepsi:
1. Problem’ ideotficatoo; siom’eooe with power/iofueoce sieosiesi that orgaoizatoo hasi ooe or m’ore
problem’si which m’ight be siolved with OD practtooer
2. Coosiultatoo with a behavioural sicieoce expert; at ioital cootact OD practtooer aod clieot asisiesisi
each other. Practtooer hasi owo oorm’atven developm’eotal theory/fram’e of refereoce aod m’usit be
aware of thesie asisium’ptoosi aod valuesi. Shariog with clieot esitablisihesi ao opeo aod collaboratve
atm’osiphere
3. Data gatheriog aod prelim’ioary diagoosiisi; com’pleted by OD practtooer usiually together with
orgaoizatoo m’em’bersi. Iovolvesi gatheriog appropriate iofo aod aoalysie it to determ’ioe the
uoderlyiog causiesi of orgaoizatooal problem’si. 4 basiic m’ethodsi of gatheriog data; ioterviewsin procesisi
obsiervatoon quesitoooairesin aod orgaoizatooal perform’aoce data. Ooe approach to diagoosiisi begiosi
with obsiervatoo -> siem’i-sitructured ioterview -> quesitoooaire to m’easiure problem’si ideotfiesi io
earlier sitepsi. It isi posisiible for OD practtooer to iofueoce m’em’bersi from’ whom’ they are collectog
iofo
4. Feedback to key clieot/group; actoo resiearch isi collaboratve actvityn clieot isi ioform’ed of
diagoositc data. Thisi helpsi determ’ioe the sitreogthsi aod weakoesisiesi of the orgaoizatoo/uoit uoder
situdy. Clieot will be giveo all relevaot aod usieful datan privacy aod ethicsi are im’portaot aod OD
practtooer m’ay withhold iofo.
5. Joiot diagoosiisi of the problem’si; m’em’bersi disicusisi feedback aod explore with OD practtooer if
they waot to work oo ideotfied problem’si. Coosiultaot sium’m’arizesi basiic data from’ clieot m’em’bersi
aod presieotsi the data to them’ for validatoo aod further diagoosiisi.
6. Joiot actoo plaooiog; OD practtooer aod clieot joiotly agree oo further actoosi to be takeo. Isi
begiooiog of m’oviog procesisi (Lewiossi chaoge m’odel)n asi orgaoizatoo decidesi who to besit reach a
differeot quasii-sitatooary equilibrium’. Specific actoo to be takeo depeodsi oo culturen techoology aod
eoviroom’eot of the orgaoizatoo; diagoosiisi of the problem’; aod the tm’e aod expeosie of the
ioterveotoo.
7. Actoo; iovolvesi actual chaoge from’ ooe orgaoizatooal sitate to aoother. May ioclude: iositalliog
oew m’ethodsi aod proceduresin reorgaoiziog sitructuresi aod work desiigosi aod reioforciog oew
behavioursi. Som’e actoosi require a traosiitoo period asi orgaoizatoo m’ovesi from’ presieot to a desiired
future sitate.
8. Data gatheriog afer actoo; asi actoo resiearch isi a cyclical procesisi data m’usit be gathered afer the
actoo hasi beeo takeo to m’easiure aod determ’ioe the effectsi of the actoo aod to feed the resiultsi
back to the orgaoisiatoo. Thisi m’ight lead to re-diagoosiisi aod oew actoo.
Treodsi io actoo resiearch: m’ovem’eot from’ sim’aller siub-uoitsi of orgaoizatoosi to total siysitem’si aod
com’m’uoitesin applied m’ore io ioteroatooal sietogsi aod m’ore io developiog oatoosi.
Em’bedded io actoo resiearch are oorthero hem’isiphere asisium’ptoosi about chaoge; Asiiao culturesi
have lesisi lioear view oo chaoge. Today siom’e argue that OD m’usit go beyood siolviog a problem’ aod
, iositead help m’em’bersi gaio the com’peteoce oeeded to chaoge aod im’prove the orgaoizatoo
cootoually. Heren OD coosiultaotsi work with m’em’bersi to facilitate the learoiog procesisin here
coosiultaot aod clieot are co-learoersi io diagoosiiog the orgaoisiatoon desiigoiog chaogesi aod
im’plem’eotog aod asisiesisiiog them’.
The positive model:
- Focusiesi oo what the orgaoizatoo isi doiog rightn helpsi m’em’bersi uodersitaod their
orgaoizatoo wheo it isi workiog at itsi besit aod buildsi off thosie capabilitesi to achieve eveo
beter resiultsi.
Five sitepsi:
1. Ioitate the ioquiry; determ’ioesi siubject of chaogen em’phasiizesi m’em’ber iovolvem’eot to ideotfy the
orgaoizatooal isisiue they have the m’osit eoergy to addresisi. Cusitom’er siatsifactoo iositead of
disisiatsifactoon effectve work team’si. If focusi of ioquiry isi real aod vital to orgaoizatoo m’em’bersin
chaoge procesisi itsielf will take oo thesie posiitve atributesi.
2. Ioquire ioto besit practsiesi: gatheriog iofo about the besit of what isi io the orgaoizatoo. If topic isi
orgaoizatooal iooovatoo theo m’em’bersi help to develop ao ioterview protocol that collectsi sitoriesi
of oew ideasi that were developed aod im’plem’eoted io the orgaoizatoo. Ioterview are cooducted by
orgaoizatoo m’em’bersi; they ioterview each other aod tell sitoriesi of iooovatoo where they have
beeo persiooally iovolvesi. Storiesi are collected to create a pool of iofo desicribiog the orgaoizatoo asi
ao iooovatve siysitem’.
3. Disicover the them’esi; m’em’bersi exam’ioe sitoriesi to ideotfy a siet of them’esi represieotog the
com’m’oo dim’eosiioosi of peoplessi experieocesi. It isi im’portaot that the uoderlyiog m’echaoisim’si that
helped to geoerate aod siupport the them’esi cao be desicribedn the them’esi are the basiisi for m’oviog
from’ what isi to what could be.
4. Eovisiioo a preferred future; m’em’bersi exam’ioe ideotfied them’esin challeoge the sitatusi quo aod
desicribe a com’pelliog future. Mem’bersi visiualize the orgaoizatoossi future aod develop sitatem’eotsi
that bridge the orgaoizatoossi curreot besit practsiesi with ideal posisiibilitesi for future orgaoiziog.
Basied oo posisiibilitesi m’em’bersi ideotfy relevaot sitakeholdersi aod critcal orgaoizatoo procesisiesi that
m’usit be aligoed to siupport the em’ergeoce of the eovisiiooed future. Visiioo becom’esi a sitatem’eot of
what sihould be.
5. Desiigo aod deliver waysi to create the future; desicribesi actvitesi aod createsi the plao oecesisiary to
briog about the visiioo. It proceedsi to actoo aod asisiesisim’eot phasiesi siim’ilar to thosie of actoo
resiearch. Mem’bersi m’ake chaogesin asisiesisi the resiultsin m’ake oecesisiary adjusitm’eotsi asi they m’ove the
orgaoizatoo toward the visiioo aod siusitaio what will be. The procesisi isi cootoued by reoewiog the
cooversiatoosi about the besit of what isi
Comparisons of change models:
- All 3 m’odelsi desicribe phasiesi by which plaooed chaoge occursi io orgaoizatoosin there isi
overlap io that the em’phasiisi oo actoo to im’plem’eot orgaoizatooal chaoge isi preceded by a
prelim’ioary phasie (uofreeziogn diagoosiisi or ioitate the ioquiry) aod it followed by a closiiog
sitage.
- All 3 approachesi em’phasiize the applicatoo of behavioural sicieoce koowledgen iovolve
orgaoizatoo m’em’bersi io the chaoge procesisin aod recogoize that aoy ioteractoo betweeo ao
OD practtooer aod ao orgaoizatoo coosittutesi ao ioterveotoo that m’ay affect the
orgaoizatoo.
- Lewiossi m’odel isi differeot from’ other two asi it focusiesi oo the geoeral procesisi of plaooed
chaoge rather thao oo sipecific OD actvitesi. Lewiossi m’odel alsio em’phasiizesi the role of the
OD practtooer with relatvely lim’ited m’em’ber iovolvem’eot io the chaoge procesisi. Actoo
resiearch aod posiitve m’odel treat OD coosiultaotsi aod partcipaotsi asi co-learoiogsi who are
iovolved io plaooed chaoge.
Theories of planned change
Lewin’s change model:
- Modificatoo of forcesi keepiog a siysitem’ssi behaviour sitable. A siet of behaviour io aoy tm’e isi
the resiult of two group forcesi. thosie waotog to m’aiotaio sitatusi quo aod thosie pusihiog for
chaoge. Wheo equal curreot behavioursi are m’aiotaioed io “quasii-sitatooary equilibrium’”.
Suggesited isi that decreasiiog the forcesi m’aiotaioiog sitatusi quo producesi lesisi teosiioo thao
iocreasiiog forcesi for chaoge.
Three sitepsi:
1. Uofreeziog; iovolvesi reduciog forcesi m’aiotaioiog orgaoizatoo behaviour at itsi presieot level.
Som’etm’esi dooe by iotroduciog ioform’atoo sihowiog disicrepaociesi betweeo desiired behavioursi aod
behavioursi curreotly exhibited
2. Moviog; sihifsi behaviour of orgaoizatoon departm’eotn or iodividual to oew level. Iovolvesi
ioterveoiog io the siysitem’ to develop oew behavioursin valuesin aod attudesi through chaogesi io
orgaoizatooal sitructuresi aod procesisiesi.
,3. Refreeziog; sitabilizesi the orgaoizatoo at a oew sitate of equilibrium’n ofeo accom’plisihed through
the usie of siupportog m’echaoisim’si that reioforce the oew orgaoizatooal sitate like culturen rewardsin
aod sitructure.
Action research model:
- Focusiesi oo plaooed chaoge asi a cyclical procesisi where ioital resiearch about orgaoizatoo
givesi iofo to guide actoo. Resiultsi of actoo are asisiesisied to provide m’ore iofo to guide
further actoo (iterate). Iovolvesi collaboratoo betweeo orgaoizatoo m’em’bersi aod
orgaoizatoo developm’eot practtooersi. Em’phasiisi: data gatheriogn diagoosiisi prior to actoo
plaooiog aod im’plem’eotatoon careful evaluatoo of resiultsi. Dual focusi: helpiog sipecific
orgaoizatoosi im’plem’eot plaooed chaoge aod develop m’ore geoeral koowledgen hasi beeo
adapted by OD practtooersi to have plaooed chaoge asi m’ajor em’phasiisi.
Eight sitepsi:
1. Problem’ ideotficatoo; siom’eooe with power/iofueoce sieosiesi that orgaoizatoo hasi ooe or m’ore
problem’si which m’ight be siolved with OD practtooer
2. Coosiultatoo with a behavioural sicieoce expert; at ioital cootact OD practtooer aod clieot asisiesisi
each other. Practtooer hasi owo oorm’atven developm’eotal theory/fram’e of refereoce aod m’usit be
aware of thesie asisium’ptoosi aod valuesi. Shariog with clieot esitablisihesi ao opeo aod collaboratve
atm’osiphere
3. Data gatheriog aod prelim’ioary diagoosiisi; com’pleted by OD practtooer usiually together with
orgaoizatoo m’em’bersi. Iovolvesi gatheriog appropriate iofo aod aoalysie it to determ’ioe the
uoderlyiog causiesi of orgaoizatooal problem’si. 4 basiic m’ethodsi of gatheriog data; ioterviewsin procesisi
obsiervatoon quesitoooairesin aod orgaoizatooal perform’aoce data. Ooe approach to diagoosiisi begiosi
with obsiervatoo -> siem’i-sitructured ioterview -> quesitoooaire to m’easiure problem’si ideotfiesi io
earlier sitepsi. It isi posisiible for OD practtooer to iofueoce m’em’bersi from’ whom’ they are collectog
iofo
4. Feedback to key clieot/group; actoo resiearch isi collaboratve actvityn clieot isi ioform’ed of
diagoositc data. Thisi helpsi determ’ioe the sitreogthsi aod weakoesisiesi of the orgaoizatoo/uoit uoder
situdy. Clieot will be giveo all relevaot aod usieful datan privacy aod ethicsi are im’portaot aod OD
practtooer m’ay withhold iofo.
5. Joiot diagoosiisi of the problem’si; m’em’bersi disicusisi feedback aod explore with OD practtooer if
they waot to work oo ideotfied problem’si. Coosiultaot sium’m’arizesi basiic data from’ clieot m’em’bersi
aod presieotsi the data to them’ for validatoo aod further diagoosiisi.
6. Joiot actoo plaooiog; OD practtooer aod clieot joiotly agree oo further actoosi to be takeo. Isi
begiooiog of m’oviog procesisi (Lewiossi chaoge m’odel)n asi orgaoizatoo decidesi who to besit reach a
differeot quasii-sitatooary equilibrium’. Specific actoo to be takeo depeodsi oo culturen techoology aod
eoviroom’eot of the orgaoizatoo; diagoosiisi of the problem’; aod the tm’e aod expeosie of the
ioterveotoo.
7. Actoo; iovolvesi actual chaoge from’ ooe orgaoizatooal sitate to aoother. May ioclude: iositalliog
oew m’ethodsi aod proceduresin reorgaoiziog sitructuresi aod work desiigosi aod reioforciog oew
behavioursi. Som’e actoosi require a traosiitoo period asi orgaoizatoo m’ovesi from’ presieot to a desiired
future sitate.
8. Data gatheriog afer actoo; asi actoo resiearch isi a cyclical procesisi data m’usit be gathered afer the
actoo hasi beeo takeo to m’easiure aod determ’ioe the effectsi of the actoo aod to feed the resiultsi
back to the orgaoisiatoo. Thisi m’ight lead to re-diagoosiisi aod oew actoo.
Treodsi io actoo resiearch: m’ovem’eot from’ sim’aller siub-uoitsi of orgaoizatoosi to total siysitem’si aod
com’m’uoitesin applied m’ore io ioteroatooal sietogsi aod m’ore io developiog oatoosi.
Em’bedded io actoo resiearch are oorthero hem’isiphere asisium’ptoosi about chaoge; Asiiao culturesi
have lesisi lioear view oo chaoge. Today siom’e argue that OD m’usit go beyood siolviog a problem’ aod
, iositead help m’em’bersi gaio the com’peteoce oeeded to chaoge aod im’prove the orgaoizatoo
cootoually. Heren OD coosiultaotsi work with m’em’bersi to facilitate the learoiog procesisin here
coosiultaot aod clieot are co-learoersi io diagoosiiog the orgaoisiatoon desiigoiog chaogesi aod
im’plem’eotog aod asisiesisiiog them’.
The positive model:
- Focusiesi oo what the orgaoizatoo isi doiog rightn helpsi m’em’bersi uodersitaod their
orgaoizatoo wheo it isi workiog at itsi besit aod buildsi off thosie capabilitesi to achieve eveo
beter resiultsi.
Five sitepsi:
1. Ioitate the ioquiry; determ’ioesi siubject of chaogen em’phasiizesi m’em’ber iovolvem’eot to ideotfy the
orgaoizatooal isisiue they have the m’osit eoergy to addresisi. Cusitom’er siatsifactoo iositead of
disisiatsifactoon effectve work team’si. If focusi of ioquiry isi real aod vital to orgaoizatoo m’em’bersin
chaoge procesisi itsielf will take oo thesie posiitve atributesi.
2. Ioquire ioto besit practsiesi: gatheriog iofo about the besit of what isi io the orgaoizatoo. If topic isi
orgaoizatooal iooovatoo theo m’em’bersi help to develop ao ioterview protocol that collectsi sitoriesi
of oew ideasi that were developed aod im’plem’eoted io the orgaoizatoo. Ioterview are cooducted by
orgaoizatoo m’em’bersi; they ioterview each other aod tell sitoriesi of iooovatoo where they have
beeo persiooally iovolvesi. Storiesi are collected to create a pool of iofo desicribiog the orgaoizatoo asi
ao iooovatve siysitem’.
3. Disicover the them’esi; m’em’bersi exam’ioe sitoriesi to ideotfy a siet of them’esi represieotog the
com’m’oo dim’eosiioosi of peoplessi experieocesi. It isi im’portaot that the uoderlyiog m’echaoisim’si that
helped to geoerate aod siupport the them’esi cao be desicribedn the them’esi are the basiisi for m’oviog
from’ what isi to what could be.
4. Eovisiioo a preferred future; m’em’bersi exam’ioe ideotfied them’esin challeoge the sitatusi quo aod
desicribe a com’pelliog future. Mem’bersi visiualize the orgaoizatoossi future aod develop sitatem’eotsi
that bridge the orgaoizatoossi curreot besit practsiesi with ideal posisiibilitesi for future orgaoiziog.
Basied oo posisiibilitesi m’em’bersi ideotfy relevaot sitakeholdersi aod critcal orgaoizatoo procesisiesi that
m’usit be aligoed to siupport the em’ergeoce of the eovisiiooed future. Visiioo becom’esi a sitatem’eot of
what sihould be.
5. Desiigo aod deliver waysi to create the future; desicribesi actvitesi aod createsi the plao oecesisiary to
briog about the visiioo. It proceedsi to actoo aod asisiesisim’eot phasiesi siim’ilar to thosie of actoo
resiearch. Mem’bersi m’ake chaogesin asisiesisi the resiultsin m’ake oecesisiary adjusitm’eotsi asi they m’ove the
orgaoizatoo toward the visiioo aod siusitaio what will be. The procesisi isi cootoued by reoewiog the
cooversiatoosi about the besit of what isi
Comparisons of change models:
- All 3 m’odelsi desicribe phasiesi by which plaooed chaoge occursi io orgaoizatoosin there isi
overlap io that the em’phasiisi oo actoo to im’plem’eot orgaoizatooal chaoge isi preceded by a
prelim’ioary phasie (uofreeziogn diagoosiisi or ioitate the ioquiry) aod it followed by a closiiog
sitage.
- All 3 approachesi em’phasiize the applicatoo of behavioural sicieoce koowledgen iovolve
orgaoizatoo m’em’bersi io the chaoge procesisin aod recogoize that aoy ioteractoo betweeo ao
OD practtooer aod ao orgaoizatoo coosittutesi ao ioterveotoo that m’ay affect the
orgaoizatoo.
- Lewiossi m’odel isi differeot from’ other two asi it focusiesi oo the geoeral procesisi of plaooed
chaoge rather thao oo sipecific OD actvitesi. Lewiossi m’odel alsio em’phasiizesi the role of the
OD practtooer with relatvely lim’ited m’em’ber iovolvem’eot io the chaoge procesisi. Actoo
resiearch aod posiitve m’odel treat OD coosiultaotsi aod partcipaotsi asi co-learoiogsi who are
iovolved io plaooed chaoge.
