Classic Change Theories

When, if I get time- will run a broad crit of conventional "change theory"... DOI etc.

It seems like a lot of the literature on "change management" is connected to the medical field. If anyone else has done research on managing change, then any links or forked ideas would be welcomed. Anything on strategic planning, leadership, and higher education would be most welcomed. IT-related software/hardware transitions are not as useful as anything having to do with training or professional learning.

Interesting to note that people once thought "e-mail blasts" worked. At one point, perhaps they did. That seemed to have ended when people got forward crazy. Instead of composing emails they would just forward things they thought were interesting. Only they usually weren't interesting.

Also interested in policy-related "change management."

Could be a good band name "Change Management" as in, I saw Change Management's second set last night and it's been on my mind for days...or not.

See also Link Mistakes I Made At Work by Jess Bacal and Julie Zeilinger "Why Millenial Women Do Want To Lead Link

1. Lewin was the first to develop the notion that change should be planned rather than allowing unintentional or accidental processes to occur, and he first described three levels of change: unfreezing, changing, and refreezing (Lewin, 1951). This classic theory still guides many planned organizational processes with great success. (p.9)

2. To make the new changes stick, leaders must reinforce and encourage the new behaviors and practices and reward and recognize those who are early adopters of the new way of doing things. (p.10)

3. Another important theory for planning change to organizational processes and culture that result from the design and construction of a new building is Ajzen’s theory of reasoned action and planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991, 2002). This theory proposes that the rate of change acceptance and adoption is related to an individual’s perception of being engaged in the process and the sense of internal and external control over the opportunities, resources, and skills needed for the change. (p. 10)

4. Everett Rogers’ diffusion theory (Rogers, 2003) speaks to the attitudes of those affected by change and categorizes them as innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards. Leaders must develop strategies to address the diffusion of innovation (rate of acceptance of change). By leveraging the enthusiasm and wisdom of innovators and early adopters as change champions, the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of those most resistant to change (the late majority and laggards) can be managed. (p.10)

5. Not all change is successful, and Kotter is most noted for a classic article in the Harvard Business Review that describes why change efforts often fail (Kotter, 1995). Kotter provides words of wisdom to prevent the negative attitudes and the poor adoption of change described earlier in this article. Kotter indicates the necessity of (1) creating a sense of urgency about a project; (2) forming a powerful coalition to guide the process (change champions and leaders); (3) developing a compelling vision and guiding principles to guide the design and organizational change process; (4) communicating the vision throughout the entire organization; (5) engaging and empowering individuals to act on decisions that support the vision; (6) measuring and celebrating short-term wins that sustain the gains (milestone charts, e-mail blasts, other visual indicators); (7) consolidating improvements that support the vision (changing processes, policies, beliefs, behaviors, and operations); and (8) communicating and integrating the connections among the new behaviors, processes, and structure to the overall success of the organization, to patient care, and to enhanced work environments for healthcare professionals. (p.11)

In Rolling With the Punches, at Any Stage of Life Link Alina Tugend cites an editorial that is more interesting than the original article itself.

She cites "Adapting to Change" by Jill Stichler Link which gave the reader pause because of the lead sentence: "It has been said that the only people who like change are babies with wet diapers."

An alternative model of innovation and diffusion is James Fleck's Innofusion within the broad church of Science and Technology Studies.

Hacking in the form of skilled individual initiatives has become a model for change agents, especially among those with visions larger than their means. See Hacking Social Impact