In an earlier post, I wrote about scholar Karl Weick's observation that "sages tell stories". There are lots of people in different professions who tell stories -- journalists, educators, and marketing managers, to name just a few. What makes scholars different is that they tell stories that explain *why* and *how* things work the way they do.
Steven Kelman's book, Unleashing Change: A Study of Organizational Renewal in Government, is a great example of a scholarly story. Dr. Kelman served as Administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy in the Office of Management and Budget between 1993 and 1997. During that time, he played a lead role in the effort to "reinvent government." At the same time, he gathered data from frontline employees, via a survey of 1593 contracting employees at 19 buying offices. He also conducted in-person interviews with over 200 civil servants (both frontline employees and their leaders) with the help of a research assistant.
Throughout the book, Kelman contrasts previously existing theories of organizational change with what the data analysis suggested was really happening in the procurement offices to change the behavior of frontline employees. He categorizes three theories of change: the Lewinian persuasive discussion theory, the burning-platform theory, and the leader-pressure theory. None of the three theories did a good job of explaining how procurement reform was initiated successfully.
He develops an alternative theory of initiating change that is called the theory of activating the discontented. Chapter 6 in the book spells out the implications of his theory, and argues that "discontent is likely to be present wherever rules, hierarchy, and specialization are central features of organization design." His theory illuminates a different role for leaders in initiating change -- not persuading, pressuring, or scaring employees, but focusing instead on providing "the opportunity for already-existing supporters to move" (p. 99).
The second half of Kelman's book focuses on how to consolidate change. He demonstrates how positive feedback can allowing a change initiative to grow by "feeding on itself". He also provides evidence about how the change in policies in the procurement offices had deepening effects on employees over time. The new policies became not just a matter of reducing the burden of paperwork for employees and for those they serve, but also a platform for innovation in delivering services.
I recommend Unleashing Change to any reader in search of a good scholarly story about a successful organizational change.
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