7 Psychology of Change

Question 1

What are the stages of organisational change?

Answer 1

1. Create urgency: Highlight the negative consequences of not changing and the positive outcomes of embracing change.
2. Build a coalition: Form a strong team of committed, influential stakeholders from across the hierarchy.
3. Develop a vision: Craft a clear, simple vision that aligns everyone’s actions with the desired change.
4. Communicate the vision: Use every opportunity to ensure the vision is shared and understood by all employees.
5. Enable action: Remove barriers (e.g., outdated rules) to make it easier for employees to take action.
6. Generate short-term wins: Celebrate both small and large successes to boost morale and reinforce progress.
7. Sustain momentum: Monitor and fine-tune the change to keep it moving forward.
8. Anchor the change: Embed the change into the organizational culture for long-term success.

Question 2

What are the 3 steps of Lewin’s change model?

Answer 2

1. Unfreezing: The current behavior or structure is made unstable. Employees are encouraged to see the need for change, often through highlighting problems with the status quo or benefits of the new approach.
2. Moving: The actual change is implemented, whether it’s a new behavior, process, or structure.
3. Refreezing: The new changes are solidified. Employees adapt to the new ways, ensuring the change is sustained over time.

Question 3

What is the Transtheoretical Model of change by Prochaska and DiClemente?

Answer 3

1. Precontemplation: Individuals recognize problems but are not yet ready to change.
2. Contemplation: They consider change, weighing pros and cons without taking action.
3. Preparation: A decision is made to change, and plans are formulated.
4. Action: The change is implemented and becomes visible.
5. Maintenance: Efforts focus on sustaining the new behavior and preventing relapse.
6. Termination: The new behavior is fully integrated, and the change is complete.

TTM applies to individuals and organizations, providing a step-by-step framework for understanding change processes. However, it assumes change happens linearly and overlooks emotional or cognitive influences. This limits its ability to predict specific outcomes.

Question 4

Explain the social cognitive theory.

Answer 4

Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), developed by Albert Bandura, explains behavior through the interaction of three key factors:

1. Behavior: A person’s actions.
2. Social Environment: Other people serving as models to learn from.
3. Cognition & Personality: How individuals process and understand behavior.

People learn by observing models, which are individuals they relate to, such as managers or colleagues. This learning process involves paying attention to the model, processing and storing their behavior, reproducing it, and assessing success. Motivation, including the model’s success and the observer’s belief in their ability (self-efficacy), plays a key role in whether the behavior is repeated.

Question 5

What is the thought behind the Self-Determination Theory by Deci & Ryan?

Answer 5

Motivation theory that identifies three basic psychological needs that drive human motivation:

1. Autonomy: The need to feel in control of one’s actions. When people feel autonomous, they are more likely to be intrinsically motivated.
2. Competence: The need to feel capable and skilled. When people feel competent, they are more likely to be self-driven and perform tasks independently.
3. Relatedness: The need for meaningful connections with others. Positive social relationships increase motivation and well-being.

In the workplace, meeting these needs fosters intrinsic motivation, which is more sustainable than extrinsic motivation (e.g., rewards or punishments). Intrinsically motivated employees are driven by their own internal desires, making them more likely to engage in beneficial behaviors without needing external incentives.

SDT is useful for organizational change because it helps managers understand how to motivate employees by supporting these three needs.