Change management 3, Organizational learning

The 3rd change management seminar was held in Zeist. This time André Wierdsma was our lecturer.
André studied business administration and organizational design at Nyenrode and clinical psychology at Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam.
He works at Nyenrode and teaches within the field of ‘management and organization’ with focus on organizational dynamics.
He is a guest lecturer for various domestic and international Executive and MBA programs and is responsible for ‘in-company’ programs.
He is co-author of the book ‘Op weg naar een lerende organisatie’ (‘Becoming a learning organization’) and `Co-creatie van veranderingen’(‘Co-creating Change’).
‘Lerend organiseren’ (Organizing while learning ) is his latest book.

A lot of what Wierdsma told us, I could link to several well-known theories or methodologies from experts. In this blog I will make a note like this …//name// in this blog when I come across one of them.
One of the leading thoughts in his presentation was that

• organizing and changing is inspiring and meaningful for people if they have been part of the process of meaning creation and envisioning //Senge//
• changes are implemented in roughly 2 ways: the well planned & upfront designed ‘travel’ and the ‘going on an excursion’.

He emphasizes that these ways to change (the chosen strategy to change) are parallel to the two ways in which organizations are managed (the chosen strategy to manage). E.g. by position (legal power) or transactional (personal influence).
He suggests that the essence of any organization can be found in its rules, insights and principles.
Rules are all the explicit and implicit instructions that affect the desired behavior. They indicate how the organization should behave.
The way stories are told and the language spoken within management levels, and between managers and ‘workforce’ is an important reason why people don’t adopt proposed changes and collective learning isn’t facilitated. The latter being a philosophical theory //Wittgenstein?//

Organizational learning is a collective learning process that results in a change in organizational behavior. The organization learns when the change in one person’s behavior influences the behavior of others, leading to mutual behavior change. Collective learning aims to increasing the collective competence of the organization’s members. He told us about learning loops. Single loop, double loop and triple loop learning and to what extend /what level it influences change and organizations.

The way to change:
The travel way – forced by positional management – assumes the world as is, assumes on context-free truths, thinks in subject – object and transfers the meaning and reason for change.
The excursion way – forged by transactional management - assumes the world as to be, contextual (multiform, several) truths, thinks in object – object and is about to meaning creation to change.

Traveling gives a blueprint for change and the excursion co-creates change.
Organizing by position – thru legal power – is done by the manager, top-down, whom can delegate on the basis of his or hers expertise and overview and insight. The transactional manager organizes on the basis of the decision-making process, creates conditions for limited self organizing abilities (facilitates) and balances power.

André confirms that management practices today are still mechanical and bureaucratic but because of value chain thinking // Porter// and a shift towards the network society, the world gets flat. These are changes I discover in more fields, disciplines and dispositions. He explained that ‘scientific management‘ masters complexity by dividing work into specialized tasks //Mintzberg// performed by specific persons. To master cognitive complexity in dependent value chains, relational complexity must also be taken into account. In inter-dependent networks complexity comes from many sources, they are emergent and chance plays a even larger role. Mastering complexity in such an environment asks for another approach, he argued.

The thing I agree upon most is the understanding that the old way of changing is not appropriate (anymore / in changing environment), change programs based on the old change (travel) paradigm showed to be unsuccessful and that developments and behavior of people are irreversible, uncontrollable, unforeseeable and indefinite. The ability of an organization to adapt to change in a continuous changing, unpredictable business environment is called Agility. //amongst others Agile Manifesto//

That’s why managers should no longer believe in the myth that the organization / people can be man-molded into whatever shape, by using force and disciplinary measurements and they can no longer govern on the basis of their position (formal power). And especially, if they want to stimulate changes the have to get rid of their old paradigm, their old ‘culture of language’ (memes) and gain another change proficiency. E.g. competencies to cause and deal with change.

A lot has been said and presented in highway speed so it’s almost beyond of what I can grasp. :)
I must say that it was a sparkling meeting what has a lot to do with the way André shared his opinions and information with us. He jumped regularly up and on the podium, stimulating questions from the audience (and vice-versa). He highlighted his questions and answer with, sometimes, hilarious practical cases and with a generous laugh. Next to the hand-out of the presentation itself, we received a number of articles which he has written. In the meanwhile the book ‘Organizing for learning’ is in my possession. With this material I can reflect sufficient on André’s interesting views.
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