It’s an annoying job. Assessing a plan that someone else has made. The master plan for strategy implementation. The grant application for the regional partnership. The sheets about the Transformation Roadmap. How can you see if such a plan is good? Especially when it concerns a complex change? And even if it is written in
They are everywhere. Whiners. Criticasters. Denigrators. What do you do with them?
The term organic change can be heard regularly in many organisations. This of course has a lot to do with the fickleness and complexity that is typical of contemporary change. What’s so hard is that the term is also a rich source of Babel-like confusion, which only increases the complexity of change. So I wondered
There are few people who never experience a period when life hurts. One piece of advice these people often get is that they should ‘give it time’. And for this month’s blog I wondered whether this is true. The question ‘does time heal all wounds?’ can be asked in two ways. The first one is
Some time ago a manager came to me after a lecture. I had talked about change strategies and he was wondering where humour fits in. We had a pleasant talk about this. And then the cogwheels continued to turn about this. In this month’s blog I would like to share my progressing insight with you.
In a previous -dutch- blog I have called denial for agents of change an even greater challenge than resistance, if possible. This did not end my fascination with this phenomenon. For this month’s blog I have, on the basis of my own observations in countless organizational changes, searched for manifestations which denial can assume in people
“I always follow my heart” said the swimming champion to the reporter. In the background her coach is standing with a stopwatch in his hand. As it seems she also makes decisions based on the facts. However she values her feelings higher than her reasoning. It reflects the spirit of the times. Emotion is hot,
‘But with the greatest respect, I found your feedback unsubtle to say the least’ ‘Sorry, but I’ve done my best to derive something positive from your proposal.’ You’ll recognise the situation: the conversation is polite. You don’t raise your voice and he doesn’t start swearing. Nobody needs to dial 911. But you know your relationship
I have two guests. A white one and a flecked one. They are residing in a small hutch. I can’t bear to see it. I go to the DIY store and buy a folding rabbit-run. I assemble it, attach it to the hutch and open the small hutch door. Nothing happens. Every now and then
Not so long ago I came across this sentence in a management book: “People are generally opposing their own ideas far less frequently” I let this sink in for a while. Now I realise what was disturbing me. Firstly It’s just wrong! I can name any number of my own ideas that have floundered due
It’s an ambition you regularly encounter in organisations: being the best. Ranking highest on the list. Reaching the Champions League. I grant any organisation the feeling of euphoria if they are recognised as being the best. But I wouldn’t easily advise people to choose this as the ambition to change. This is because of the following
‘Never Judge a Man Until You’ve Walked a Mile In His Shoes, sang Elvis in 1968. If this was true, I might as well close my business. Because I have made it my business to help top and middle managers but have never been one myself. So, how literally should we take these words from