organizational metaphors

Question 1

The syllabus for this course covers just four of the nine metaphors listed, these are:

Answer 1

• Machines
• Brains
• Political Systems and
• Flux and Transformation

Question 2

The first metaphor to consider is Machines.

Answer 2

A machine has to have all the right components linked together in the right way to function correctly and can be controlled from a single point.

Similarly an organization that fits the machine metaphor is seen as a series of inter-connected units; each has to do its job properly and has to be linked correctly to the next unit.

Question 3

The second metaphor to consider is the Brain.

Answer 3

This is the intelligence led organization, it operates by retaining and reusing information, like a library or memory system.

In this paradigm, change is focused on learning from the past, using feedback loops to identify problems or opportunities and apply the acquired knowledge to solve the problems or take advantage of the opportunities.

Leadership in these organizations tends to be more diffused and knowledge based, so change is more likely to start as a local initiative that spreads through the organization affecting both what they do and how they control it.

Question 4

The next metaphor to consider is that of Political Systems.

Answer 4

As the title suggests these organization are run by the powerful.

Control is established and used by those with the power in the organization, the same is true of change.

Change is introduced as an agenda by those with the power to influence others; alliances are created to ensure the change is supported by the right groups.

Conflict is expected in this metaphor and managed to reduce its impact.

Question 5

The last of the four metaphors included with the course syllabus is that of Flux and Transformation.

Answer 5

This is essentially an example of chaos and complexity.

In this type of organization change emerges out of the process of continuous improvement and is not centrally planned or controlled.

In this sort of organization each part of the organization changes as it sees the need based on their interactions with the external and internal environment.

Leaders have to adjust to the situation of not being in control of the changes but have to try and influence the direction the changes make.

Flux and Transformation type organizations are changing all the time, awareness of desirable changes and outcomes needs to be shared using feedback loops to try and reduce conflicting changes.

Question 6

Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner described culture as being like an onion, it has layers.

They identified three layers:

Answer 6

• Surface - which describes artefacts and products
• Deeper - which is norms and values, and
• Deepest - the basic assumptions

Question 7

Surface - which describes artefacts and products

Answer 7

The surface layer covers the things that you see within the organization that demonstrate how they behave, what is appropriate.

The sorts of artefacts and products commonly experienced are office size, the number of windows a certain grade is allowed in their office, what sort of company car is allowed, the amount and sort of expenses that can be claimed.

This is the visible layer of culture and like an iceberg is often only a very small part of what makes up the culture.

Question 8

• Deeper - which is norms and values, and

Answer 8

The second deeper layer makes up the norms and values of the organization and provides a set of rules about what is right or wrong.

These can be expressed formally in company handbooks or rules or informally in terms of social behaviours.

For example dress codes, punctuality and security rules in terms of the formal and the use of first names as an informal rule.

Many of the informal social conduct rules are assumed and only remarked on when they are broken.

Question 9

• Deepest - the basic assumptions

Answer 9

The deepest layer are the basic assumptions that underpin the norms and values, these are very rarely articulated except as political slogans.

The sorts of assumptions here could be; all staff are equal, Greed is good (to quote Gordon Gecko), we value individuals.

These assumptions come from the very heart of the organization, changes to these would be fought unless presented in an appropriate way.

For example the underlying assumption of staff in a recently privatised utility was that the organization is ‘there for public health’.

All the messages that the senior management delivered regarding the need to be profitable did not agree with the basic assumption and were discounted.

When the message was changed to ‘we are here for public health, but in order to invest in public health we need to make a profit’ this linked the existing underlying assumption with the changed circumstances and prompted a change in the attitudes of the workforce.

Question 10

As well as culture we also often refer to the climate within an organization

Whereas culture is seen as long term and more stable, climate is seen as

Answer 10

short variations that can appear due to both internal and external environmental circumstances.

So if culture is the broad stream of an organization, climate is the ripples on top.

Climate can include staff feelings on how they are managed, whether this is a good place to work or how staff view their employer compared to others in the market place.

These variations may provide both resistance to some changes or drivers for change depending on the circumstances.

Question 11

If the focus area chosen is Achievement then an organization would develop values and norms around things such as

Answer 11

performance, accountability or delivery of work.

Question 12

If the focus is Customer Centric the norms would emphasise such things as

Answer 12

putting the customer first, query resolution and the external view of the organization.

Question 13

The One-team focus would result in a culture focused on

Answer 13

collaboration, internal customer service and building relationships within the organization.

Question 14

The People-first focus would encourage

Answer 14

empowerment within the organization along with development opportunities and care of staff.

Question 15

The Innovative focus would develop cultures with a push towards

Answer 15

entrepreneurship, creativity, learning and an agile approach to change.

Question 16

The second model to consider when looking at Cultural Archetypes is from Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner.

They suggested two scales that intersect and the combination of these scales gave four different archetypes.

The two scales are:

Answer 16

• Person - Task, is the importance placed on the achievement of tasks and results or on people and relationships
• Egalitarian - Hierarchical, does the organizational have a wide or narrow power and influence base

By combining these scales, the four archetypes of Incubator, Guided Missile, Family and Eiffel Tower were defined.

Incubator suggests an organization whose function is to allow for the self-expression and self-fulfilment of its employees.

As a contrast the Eiffel Tower archetype suggests an organization with a strict hierarchy which focuses on the delivery of task.

The Family suggested a hierarchical organization, but with more paternalistic tendencies, a benign dictatorship.

The opposite of Family is Guided Missile, where the focus is on teams or groups achieving the tasks ‘by any means possible’.

The purpose of these archetypes, like the metaphors we considered earlier is a shorthand way of describing and hence understanding the organization, hopefully enabling an appropriate approach to the delivery and implementation of change.

Question 17

Having looked at how the organization operates in terms of both structure and culture, we now need to consider the process of change within an organization.

There are many models available, this course covers just three: Lewin’s Three Stage Model, Kotter’s Eight Stage Model and Senge’s Systems Thinking Model.

Answer 17

Lewin’s Model looks at how to break down collective mind-sets to enable change in the organization.

Kotter’s model provides a road map for change based on common errors made by organizations when implementing change.

Senge’s model links change to learning and how learning can promote profound change.

Question 18

Kurt Lewin developed his Three Step Model in the mid twentieth century, it was first used as a model for individual change and then applied to the organizational level.

The three steps are:

Answer 18

• Unfreeze
• Change, and
• Refreeze

Unfreeze is where the existing mind-sets are broken down, inertia is overcome and the change instigated by enhancing those forces that drive the change and minimising those forces resisting the change.

Change is the period of confusion and uncertainty where the old ways of working are challenged, new ways may not be fully defined here which leads to temporary solutions, partial successes and the need for clarification.

Refreeze is where the new mind-sets and habits are developed and become established, a new equilibrium is established.

Question 19

In the unfreeze step it is important to break the inertia that holds the current state in place so that the organization can move.

Lewin suggested three activities within the unfreeze step.

Answer 19

The first of these is to clearly define the current situation; Lewin stated that this should be done collaboratively in order to build involvement and commitment to the process.

The more involved people were with this process then the fuller, the richer the picture that emerges.

Having understood where the organization is now, the second activity is to create a vision of the desired state, as with the current state, the more involved in this definition the richer and fuller the vision becomes.

This activity also has the benefit of creating commitment to the vision by those involved.

The third activity is to identify the forces that are driving the change and the forces that are resisting the change.

Once these forces have been identified the strategy is to increase those forces which drive the change and decrease those that resist.

Lewin developed a technique to illustrate this activity called ‘Force Field Analysis’.

Question 20

n order to prompt people to change, Schein built on Lewin’s model and suggested that there are three apparently conflicting activities that should be considered.

Answer 20

The first is disconfirmation, the act of creating a belief that the current situation is not sustainable and therefor something must be done.

Linked to this is the creation of guilt or anxiety, the belief that if I as an individual don’t change then I will not achieve my goals and that the consequences of this are serious.

Both of these steps are about creating Survival Anxiety within the organization which helps drive the need for change.

The third activity is slightly contradictory and is about creating a sense of psychological safety.

This links to learning anxiety and is concerned with reducing the fear people have in trying something new, so that when confronted with the survival anxiety they are not paralysed with fear but can see a safe way forward.

These activities prompt the individuals within the organization to accept the need for change and be willing to do something different.

Question 21

The second Step in Lewin’s Model is Change, taking people through the change.

Answer 21

A plan is followed, maintaining the safe learning environment so that people will try something new.

This step includes experimentation and temporary solutions to problems so that people can experience success in the process.

Lewin also advocated the use of role models that people in change can identify with and follow.

Question 22

The final step in the process is Refreeze.

Answer 22

As the title suggests this step is about turning the new work practices into the established routine, this is how we work now.

The critical element here is to ensure that the new methods and processes are sustained and that people do not slip back in to the old ways of doing things.

This is a situation called homeostasis, the proclivity for things to remain the same rather than change.

A particular element here in most organizations is to link any reward mechanisms into the new behaviours and practices.

This ensures that those who follow through with the change are rewarded and this provides another role model for others in the organization.

Question 23

One of the best known processes for planning and leading change is John Kotter’s Eight Step Method.

Kotter developed these steps over fifteen years by analysing the failures from many organizations and then prescribing the eight activities which should prevent those failures from happening.

The underlying assumption in Kotter’s work is that given the right leadership

Answer 23

, change can be planned and managed.

This assumption links Kotter’s work to the metaphors of machine, architecture and political systems as discussed earlier in this session.

We will consider each step in the process in turn and expand on what each means.

The first step in the process is ‘Establishing a sense of urgency’.

This refers to the need for change and its positioning within the organization.

If the stakeholders cannot see the need to change and the need to change now, then the change will not be started.

Creating a Guiding Coalition is about creating a team whose role is to drive the change through the organization.

The guiding coalition must have sufficient authority or political power to influence the rest of the organization.

Question 24

The next step is ‘developing a vision and a strategy’ or simply have we an agreed a clear end point for the change, do we have a clear measurable goal and a means to get there.

Answer 24

The vision should be the stated aim of the guiding coalition and the strategy a structured plan on how to achieve this vision.

‘Communicating the change vision’ brings in the subject of stakeholder engagement.

Have we communicated the vision and the need for change effectively to the people impacted by the change?

Do we have buy-in for the change from the stakeholders?

Question 25

The fifth step is

Answer 25

‘Empowering employees for broad band action’ which is about delegating appropriate authority to others in the organization so that multiple activities can be triggered rather than leave all the change in the hands of the guiding coalition.

This ensures that the change is a wide spread event and difficulties with one aspect do not prevent the whole change moving forward.

Linked to the idea of broad based action is the step ‘generating short-term wins’.

This encourages the inclusion of quick changes which generate interest, goodwill and therefore commitment to the change in the stakeholder groups.

The wins should therefore be wins in the eyes of the stakeholders, not necessarily the guiding coalition.

By providing wins, the change helps reduce the learning anxiety and gains more support.

Question 26

what are the 5 steps

Answer 26

1. create urgency
2. form a powerful coalition
3. create a vision for change
4. communicate the vision
5. empower action

Question 27

The last two steps in Kotter’s process are:

Answer 27

• Consolidating gains and producing more change, and
• Anchoring the new approaches in the culture

‘Consolidating Gains and producing more change’ is about ensuring that the changes are implemented, benefits from those changes are measured and confirmed and these are used as a springboard to trigger more changes in the organization.

This is often about confirming the effective changes and making resources available to fund the next set.

‘Anchoring the new approaches in the new culture’ is about updating systems, processes and behaviours so that the new approaches are bedded into the organization and the temptation to slip back to the old ways is reduced.

Similar to Lewin, Kotter had noted the tendency to homeostasis in organizations, this step is about preventing that happening.

As these steps were identified by analysing previous change failures Kotter suggested that by following the eight steps in the process, organizations can seek to minimise the likelihood failure of their change initiatives.

Question 28

As well as defining his eight step process Kotter also suggested a Dual Operating model that may be an effective way of enabling change within organizations.

Kotter noted that

Answer 28

traditional hierarchical organizations were optimised for the delivery of business as usual activities.

Question 29

However changes in environments like this often run out of energy as

Answer 29

managers at all levels want to be involved before decisions are escalated to the right level.

Question 30

The final model of change we are going to look at was developed by Peter Senge and described in his book ‘The Fifth Discipline’.

Senge is concerned ‘learning organizations’ and systems thinking, the fifth discipline of the title.

Senge said that,

Answer 30

‘profound change occurs when small scale initiatives are skilfully nurtured by well aligned leadership at all levels of the organization and then spread’.

He advocated that change cannot be planned in detail at the start but must grow organically through the organization and that change is only limited by constraints that cannot be avoided.

His ideas link organizations to living entities that find small initial ways of developing which then strengthen and provide the basis for the next development.

With this idea Senge is identifying with the organism, culture and Flux and Transformation metaphors discussed earlier.

Senge identified two feedback processes that could help or hinder change; Virtuous Circles and Vicious Circles.

Question 31

With a virtuous circle,

Answer 31

something new is tried, it works, performance improves and the individual or team concerned feel good about this and develop the courage to try something else.

And as long as the changes continue to provide improvements the change and growth process continues just like the organic process.

Question 32

With the vicious circle……

Answer 32

the opposite is true, a change is tried, it doesn’t work or the effect is negative, the team or individual is demotivated and therefore is more resistant to change in the future.

If this pattern continues then significant resistance to change is built up.

These feedback loops are very similar to growth in nature, growth will happen quickly under favourable circumstances and much slower or not at all in unfavourable situations.

Question 33

Senge suggested a five step approach to support this organic growth process in organizations.

Answer 33

The first step is to identify the desired behaviour, this should be linked to the overarching strategy of the change and be the behaviours and actions needed in the organization to reach that goal.

The Leaders need to compare the desired behaviour with that currently exhibited within the organization or team and try to measure the gap between what is current and what is required.

This perceived gap is the step change we wish to achieve.

The Leader should now change their behaviour to model that required and to show support for attempts in the staff to change their behaviour.

This should indicate an importance in the change and so start to adjust the priorities of the staff towards the new behaviours, moving the new behaviour up in priority in comparison to existing behaviours.

This should then, in turn prompt the staff to allocate more of their time and importance to the new behaviours, thus initiating the change.

The leader should check whether the perceived gap has been closed, if not the actions exhibited by the leaders may need to be made stronger or clearer to prompt another reallocation of priorities.

This is an example of Senge’s virtuous circles.

Question 34

Senge identified three challenges to effective and continued change, these are:

Answer 34

• Initiating Change
• Sustaining the transformation, and
• Redesigning and rethinking

The difficulties involved in initiating change stem from the usual complaints of not enough time or not my problem.

If people are under time pressure or do not see change as part of their role they will not make time for it.

Similarly if staff are not trained or coached on how to implement change in their own environment then little change is initiated.

The other common issue is management ‘talking the talk, but not walking the walk’.

If management are not seen to be introducing change themselves then staff will feel it’s not for them either.

To counter this, management have to be seen to be walking the talk and supporting their staff in initiating change by coaching, highlighting the need and enabling staff to find time for change.

This in itself could be a major change in some organizations!

Question 35

The final challenge Senge identified was of redesign and rethinking.

Answer 35

The challenges here were linked to governance, keeping things moving in the same direction, spreading best practice across an organization and underpinning both of these giving meaning to the vision and strategy of the organization.

The method of reducing this challenge is to clearly articulate the vision to all members of the organization so that they understand the organization and their part in it.

This would allow all staff members to introduce change in the knowledge that the change will fit the vision and strategy of the organization

This links back to the subjects of Stakeholder Engagement and Communication.

Question 36

When we consider change there are often considered to be three types, planned, unplanned and emergent.

Answer 36

Planned change is a deliberate choice on the part of an organization to do something different, sometimes called swift and sudden.

It can be a reaction to external events or linked to a clear strategy for change.

Projects are clear examples of this.

Unplanned change is that change forced on us, whether as the unwilling participants in someone else’s change or as a result of an external event.

An example of this would be recovery from the results of a tornado or earthquake.

The third type, emergent change links to Senge’s ideas of organic growth, developmental and deliberate work to build an organization’s capability and culture.

This sort of change cannot be formally directed, it is focused by the sharing of a vision and goals and delivered usually by the empowerment of staff.

These change types are not mutually exclusive and it is not uncommon to find them all within an organization, although often one of planned or emergent predominates.

There is also some connectedness between these types of change, as planned change by one entity may result in some emergent change in another.

Question 37

Emergent change is often quoted as an outcome of Complex Adaptive Systems.

These systems were described by Holland and try to show the behaviour within large structures, like organizations or the financial markets.

The three elements that describe Complex Adaptive Systems are:

Answer 37

• Organizations consist of many ‘agents’
• Organizations are complex
• Organizations adapt

Agents are the individuals or groups within an organization and who are interdependent.

These agents have to interact in order to share information and complete their everyday tasks.

These interactions are bounded by a set of formal rules and systems and informal social conventions.

Over time these rules, systems and cultures will evolve as pressures on the organization change, as technology develops and as events occur during the interactions which prompt a response.

This is good example of emergent change.

The analogy here is that change bubbles up from the interactions driven by the need to communicate and for the agents to work effectively together.

This assumes a level of empowerment in the agents that allows them the ability to change the interactions and/or the rules.

This analogy ties in closely with the metaphor of Flux and Transformation covered earlier in the session.

Question 38

Building on the work of Holland, Stacey then defined Complex Responsive Processes.

What happens in a complex organization when confronted with the need to change either by external pressures or from the results of change elsewhere in the organization?

Stacey identified three dynamics which occur, these are:

Answer 38

• How people relate to each other
• How aware people are of the impacts of their interactions
• How people define what is and is not acceptable in the ‘public space’ of the organization

How people relate to each other describes how the formal and informal relationships between people in the organization work, the degree of formality required and the cultural impacts of this.

Question 39

The dynamic of awareness looks at the degree to which people are conscious or unconscious of the impacts they have on each other by their interactions.

Do people see the impact they have on each other?

The last dynamic is about

Answer 39

drawing the line between what is acceptable openly in the organization and what is not, as Stacey describes them, what is legitimate and what is shadow.

Stacey describes the balance between these like gravitational pull, sometimes they’re all pulling in the same direction and so change happens quickly and covers a lot, other times they are pulling in different directions making change slower and more resisted.

In the worst case these could cancel each other out making change unlikely.

We need to be aware that all conversations and interactions could affect these dynamics having an effect on the delivery and acceptance of change.

Question 40

That doesn’t mean that managers in large organizations are powerless when trying to deliver change, it is suggested there are four steps that if implemented, often via facilitated workshops, can help define the direction that change should focus on.

Answer 40

The first step is to decide on the big picture change that would bring great rewards to the organization.

Essentially agree and clearly define a vision for the organization.

Secondly, review the organization currently and list all the consequences of that change not being a reality.

Essentially what are you not able to do, what is your current performance?

The third step is to imagine the change having been completed and list all the outcomes achieved.

This should be all the things now possible, new performance levels, attitudes, culture and so on.

The final step is to compare current to the future in all aspects, performance, culture, attitudes and knowledge.

This starts to identify and escribe not just the end point of the change in measurable terms but also the performance indicators that could be used during the change to monitor progress.

Question 41

Emergent change therefore depends on the whole organization being motivated and focused on change and willing to change and be changed.

As Leaders what should we do to encourage and nurture emergent change?

Answer 41

Be clear on and accept what we can plan and change and what we can’t.

Be aware of our limits and accept them.

Pete:
Yes and we should notice where the energy of people and systems is focused and the outcomes of this focus.

Karen:
We should also talk among the leadership community about what outcomes are desired.

Steph:
Also as a leadership community we should have one voice about the desired outcomes and consistency in the message.

Karen:
And as a community we need to keep communicating this message, to give change a high profile.

Pete:
In terms of systems and processes, what reinforcing and balancing systems are there?

Karen:
As a community we should look at enhancing the reinforcing systems and mitigating some of the balancing ones to shift the equilibrium into change mode.

Steph:
And once the organization starts changing be aware of the direction of change and support the changes that lead towards the desired outcome.

Pete:
We need to be clear as we change, on what must be changed and what we may or may not change.

What’s non-negotiable and what is.

Steph:
We should also mark and celebrate milestones in the journey.

Karen:
We should monitor the internal and external environment and identify new information that may redefine the direction or outcomes of the change.

Question 42

This brings us to the end of this session on Change and the Organization where we looked at:

• Organizational Metaphors
• Organization Culture and Change, and
• Models of Change

Answer 42

The organizational metaphors give us a short-hand method to understand how the organization operates and therefore how change may be introduced.

Organizational culture is linked to these metaphors but looks at how culture is developed and the three levels of culture, surface, norms and assumptions.

We looked at three models for change, Lewin’s three step model, Kotter’s eight step model and Senge’s systems thinking model.

We also considered emergent change with complex adaptive systems and complex responsive systems.

This concludes this session.