How to Change an Organization Without Blowing It Up

There is a middle ground between wholesale change and tentative pilot projects — and it could allow your organization to operate far more effectively.

BY KAREN GOLDEN-BIDDLE

TOO OFTEN, conventional approaches to organizational transformation resemble the Big Bang theory. Change occurs all at once, on a large scale and often in response to crisis. These approaches assume that people need to be jolted out of complacency to embrace new ideas and practices. To make that happen, senior management creates a sense of urgency or takes dramatic action to trigger change. Frequently, the jolt comes from a new CEO eager to put his or her stamp on the organization. Yet we know from a great deal of experience ...