Two Dimensions -- Organizational change can be thought of in two dimensions: the scope of the change and the temporal positioning of the change.

The Scope of the Change:

• Changes focused on individual pieces or components, with the goal to maintain or regain congruence, may be called incremental changes (made within the frame of the current set of organizational strategies and components).

• Changes addressed to the organization as a whole -- to most or all of the organization's components, including strategy -- may be called strategic changes. These changes frequently involve breaking out of the current pattern of congruence and helping the organization move to a completely new configuration.

The Temporal Positioning of the Change Relative to Key External Events:

• Anticipatory changes are made toward external events that may occur in the future.

• Reactive changes occur in response to an event or series of events.

Four Types of Change

• Tuning - Incremental changes made in anticipation of future events; seeking to find ways to increase efficiency but not in response to immediate need or problem.

• Adaptation - Changes in reaction to external events that make response necessary, but incremental: the response does not require fundamental change across the organization.

• Reorientation - Changes involving fundamental re-direction where external events were anticipated; frequently emphasize continuity with the past (especially past values); major change without sharp break from existing frame.

• Re-creation - Strategic changes in response to external events, often life threatening to the organization, necessitate radical departure from existing frame, including shifts in leadership, strategy, culture.

Other Key Points

In the short term, congruence of organizational elements seems to be related to effectiveness and performance. A system with high congruence, however, can also be resistant to change. A core problem is how to maintain congruence in the system while implementing change, or how to move to a whole new definition of congruence.

The following principles appear to lead to effective change management:

• It's necessary to either focus people on potential sources of pain or create a sense of urgency around the changes.

•  For a change to engage the organization, it needs to be clearly and obviously linked to core strategic issues.

• It's necessary to identify a limited number of themes that serve to communicate and embody the changes.

• A leader is needed who's able to serve as a focal point and carries some special feel or magic. Such leaders: 

  • engage in envisioning and energizing,

  • create a sense of urgency,

  • are uncompromising in providing direction yet participative in getting people involved,

  • are tenacious in keeping everyone's attention on the themes over a period of years, and

  • fulfill the need for leadership while allowing the organization to grow beyond that need (continued dependence on the leader can lead to the death of the change).