Leadership, Organizational Change and Sensemaking (Routledge Studies in Organizational Change & Development)

Organizational change literature often focuses on the leaders role in giving sense to others of the need for change and there is a plethora of models and recipes on how to influence employees thinking about change, organizational design and performance. Notwithstanding this ready supply of advice, research has shown that up to 90% of change programs fail to deliver their expected outcomes. One of the reasons for this which has been neglected in the literature is that successful change in thinking starts with how leaders first make sense of the need for change and the challenges this poses to their own thinking. This book surfaces the elements behind leader sensemaking that add to or detract from their ability to critically question their current thinking. Leaders and interventionists have lacked practical and pragmatic advice on how to influence the process. This book is the culmination of 10 years of research spent working with leaders in organizations as they interpreted the need for change and made choices about engaging, or not, with transformational change methodologies. It reveals nine elements of sensemaking displayed by organizational leaders as they grapple with challenges to their current orthodoxies about how to lead and organize in times of change. The book shows the latest state of knowledge on the topic and will be of interest to researchers, academics, practitioners, and students in the fields of leadership, change, and organisational development. Leadership, Organizational Change and Sensemaking Cover -1 Half Title 2 Series Page 3 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 Introduction 10 Why This Book? 10 Summary of contents 11 Summary of Conclusions 12 Reference 13 Part I: Leadership, Organizational Change and Sensemaking Introduced 14 1. What Are Leadership and Organizational Change? 16 Leadership 16 Leadership Traits 16 Behavioral Leadership 17 Situational/Contingency Leadership 18 Process Theories of Leadership 18 Approaches to Change 20 Nature of Change 23 A Postmodern Perspective on Organization and Change 24 References 26 2. What Is Sensemaking and How Can You Observe It in Practice? 30 Qualitative Research 32 References 34 3. Epiphanies and Crossing the Rubicon: The Drama of Moving from Old to New Realities 37 The Impact of Experience on My Thinking 37 The Drama of the 'ah-ha!' Moment 40 Oxymorons 44 It's Lonely Being the Hero 46 It's a One-Way Trip: You Can't Go from Knowledge Back to Ignorance 48 Conclusions 49 Note 50 References 50 Part II: The Nine Elements of Leader Sensemaking 54 4. Ontology: Creating Realities 56 References 67 5. Storytelling: If You're Going to Tell a Story, Make It a Good One 69 Attributions of Significance and ah-ha! Moments 71 Tipping Points 73 References 77 6. Displacement of Concepts: Paradigm Shift or Paradigm Expansion? 79 Note 85 References 85 7. Preunderstanding: A Little (or a Lot of) Knowledge Can Be a Dangerous Thing 86 No Preunderstanding of the Methodology 87 Second-Hand Preunderstanding 89 Personal Experience of Engaging with the Methodology 93 Overcoming Negative Preunderstanding - Creating a Memory of the Future 99 References 100 8. Cognitive Dissonance: Burning Platform or Has Someone Burnt the Toast? 102 The War Room 105 The Goldilocks Principle of Cognitive Dissonance 112 Note 113 References 113 9. Commitment Compliance - A Fusion of Forced Free Will 115 What Does 'Full Time' Mean? 117 But We're Different 120 Initial Commitment Compliance Does Not Guarantee Continued Compliance 122 Note 126 References 126 10. Defensive Reasoning: Rationalizing Not Rational 127 References 135 11. Compresence of Opposites: And Makes More Sense than or 136 Is It Compresence or Is It Harmony? 138 References 139 12. Interpretation: Decide First, Justify Later 140 References 146 Part III: Post-Engagement Sensemaking Observed 148 13. Post-Engagement Social Sensemaking: What Is History but a Fable Agreed upon 150 Conclusion 164 References 165 Part IV: Conclusion - Influencing Sensemaking 166 14. Sensemaking: Recipes, Plate Spinning or Web Weaving? 168 Conclusion 171 References 173 Index 174 Employee,Engagement;,Business;,Management;,Leader,Sensemaking;,Social,Sensemaking;,Defensive,Reasoning;,Commitment,Compliance;,Cognitive,Dissonance;,Storytelling;,Ontology; Employee Engagement,Business,Management,Leader Sensemaking,Social Sensemaking,Defensive Reasoning,Commitment Compliance,Cognitive Dissonance,Storytelling,Ontology "Organizational change literature focuses on the leaders role in giving sense to others of the need for change and there is a plethora of models and recipes on how to influence employees thinking about change, organizational design and performance. Notwithstanding this ready supply of advice, research has shown that up to 90% of change programs fail to deliver their expected outcomes. One of the reasons for this which has been neglected in the literature is that successful change in thinking starts with how leaders first make sense of the need for change and the challenges this poses to their own thinking. This book surfaces the elements behind leader sensemaking that add to or detract from their ability to critically question their current thinking. Leaders and interventionists have lacked practical and pragmatic advice on how to influence the process. This book is the culmination of 10 years of research spent working with leaders in organizations as they interpreted the need for change and made choices about engaging, or not, with transformational change methodologies. It reveals nine elements of sensemaking displayed by organizational leaders as they grapple with challenges to their current orthodoxies about how to lead and organize in times of change. The book shows the latest state of knowledge on the topic and will be of interest to researchers, academics, practitioners, and students in the fields of leadership, change, and organisational development"-- Provided by publisher employees thinking about change, organizational design and performance. Notwithstanding this ready supply of advice, research has shown that up to 90% of change programs fail to deliver their expected outcomes. One of the reasons for this which has been neglected in the literature is that successful change in thinking starts with how leaders first make sense of the need for change and the challenges this poses to their own thinking. This book surfaces the elements behind leader sensemaking that add to or detract from their ability to critically question their current thinking. Leaders and interventionists have lacked practical and pragmatic advice on how to influence the process. This book is the culmination of 10 years of research spent working with leaders in organizations as they interpreted the need for change and made choices about engaging, or not, with transformational change methodologies. It reveals nine elements of sensemaking displayed by organizational leaders as they grapple with challenges to their current orthodoxies about how to lead and organize in times of change. The book shows the latest state of knowledge on the topic and will be of interest to researchers, academics, practitioners, and students in the fields of leadership, change, and organisational development"-- Providedby publisher