Changing Conversations in Organizations
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Review
Must of the thinking about orgazational change suggests that we can choose and design new futures for our firms. Questioning this idea, this book also describes an approach to change and development informed by a complexity perspective..
Product Description
Drawing on the theoretical foundations laid out in earlier volumes of this series, this book describes an approach to organizational change and development that is informed by a complexity perspective. It clarifies the experience of being in the midst of change. Unlike many books that presume clarity of foresight or hindsight, the author focuses on the essential uncertainty of participating in evolving events as they happen and considers the creative possibilities of such participation.
Most methodologies for organizational change are firmly rooted in systems thinking, as are many approaches to process consultation and facilitation. This book questions the suggestion that we can choose and design new futures for our organizations in the way we often hope. Avoiding the widely favoured use of two by two matrices, idealized schemas and simplified typologies that characterize much of the management literature on change, this book encourages the reader to live in the immediate paradoxes and complexities of organizational life, where we must act with intention into the unknowable. The author uses detailed reflective narrative to evoke and elaborate on the experience of participating in the conversational processes of human organizing. It asserts that possibilities are perpetually sustained and changed by the conversational life of organizations.
This book will be valuable to consultants, managers and leaders, indeed all those who are dissatisfied with idealized models of change and are searching for ways to develop an effective change practice.
Most methodologies for organizational change are firmly rooted in systems thinking, as are many approaches to process consultation and facilitation. This book questions the suggestion that we can choose and design new futures for our organizations in the way we often hope. Avoiding the widely favoured use of two by two matrices, idealized schemas and simplified typologies that characterize much of the management literature on change, this book encourages the reader to live in the immediate paradoxes and complexities of organizational life, where we must act with intention into the unknowable. The author uses detailed reflective narrative to evoke and elaborate on the experience of participating in the conversational processes of human organizing. It asserts that possibilities are perpetually sustained and changed by the conversational life of organizations.
This book will be valuable to consultants, managers and leaders, indeed all those who are dissatisfied with idealized models of change and are searching for ways to develop an effective change practice.
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First Sentence
I began to ask myself what kind of work I was doing as an organizational consultant, when I found that from time to time I was being accused, albeit with curiosity, of not being a 'proper' consultant, or coach, or facilitator. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
I began to ask myself what kind of work I was doing as an organizational consultant, when I found that from time to time I was being accused, albeit with curiosity, of not being a 'proper' consultant, or coach, or facilitator. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Change that recognises the messiness of real people,
This review is from: Changing Conversations in Organizations: A Complexity Approach to Change (Complexity and Emergence in Organizations) (Paperback)
At last, recognition that real change doesn't happen purely because of top-down, management dictats, but is embodied by real people having real conversations that are not structured by clear objectives, goals and processes. Inherently scary for all those who rely on management as a control process in their organisations and change as a corporately-guided process, this instead looks at the informal organisation and how creating spaces for conversations between like-minded change agents can be the most effective.This veers slightly too far into complexity and informal processes only for me - I believe that a balance is required between formal change and informal conversations, but this is still an important broadening of the discussion on corporate change.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A completely different perspective on the role of the change agent,
This review is from: Changing Conversations in Organizations: A Complexity Approach to Change (Complexity and Emergence in Organizations) (Paperback)
Patricia Shaw wrote a great book because it gives a completely different view on the contribution of the "change" consultant to organizational change. Don't introduce models and schemas but initiate and fuel conversations in the organization not as a planned event but as a way of working. The strong point of this book is that Shaw lets the reader look into her consultant kitchen and takes you along with her "discoveries". It is a must read for every consultant with an urge to initiate all kind of change initiatives in organizations. And it is the most concrete example of the where the complexity 'school' from Ralph Stacey stands for I could find.
I have only one objection to this otherwise fantastic book. Shaw finds it necessary to set herself aside from all the other alternative change approaches in her last chapter. I would have liked this book even more if she just had skipped that chapter.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.7 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews) 5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A completely different view on the role of the change agent,
By G. de Groot - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Changing Conversations in Organizations: A Complexity Approach to Change (Complexity and Emergence in Organizations) (Paperback)
Patricia Shaw wrote a great book because it gives a completely different view on the contribution of the "change" consultant to organizational change. Don't introduce models and schemas but initiate and fuel conversations in the organization not as a planned event but as a way of working. The strong point of this book is that Shaw lets the reader look into her consultant kitchen and takes you along with her "discoveries". It is a must read for every consultant with an urge to initiate all kind of change initiatives in organizations. And it is the most concrete example of the where the complexity 'school' from Ralph Stacey stands for I could find.
I have only one objection to this otherwise fantastic book. Shaw finds it necessary to set herself aside from all the other alternative change approaches in her last chapter. I would have liked this book even more if she just had skipped that chapter. 3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A formal meeting will never quite be good enough ever again,
By H. Rawlinson - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Changing Conversations in Organizations: A Complexity Approach to Change (Complexity and Emergence in Organizations) (Paperback)
I really enjoyed this book. It is very readable and very practical. I have a Masters Degree in Complexity Theory and this book beautifully complimented my understanding of the power of conversations to get to the deeper complexity of issues and the limitations of our traditional workplace meetings. I have been pushing for a conversational structure to my meetings at work (I work in organisational development), discussion and development groups that I run outside work and in my interpersonal relationships.
0 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Arrived on time and in great condition!,
By D. V. Hernandez - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Changing Conversations in Organizations: A Complexity Approach to Change (Complexity and Emergence in Organizations) (Paperback)
The book arrived on time and in great condition! I was very pleased with the purchase and price.
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