Hi, Mark, it sounds as though you are well on your way to a shared
experience rather than an imposed one...
The one thing that jumped out for me in your description of the three
teams you are developing is that the emphasis is clearly on moving the
transformation through the organization. What occures to me is that you
may want to specifically task one or these teams--probably the third one
as I look at it--with the responsibility for insuring information and
input from those who are _not_ comfortable with the process reaches back
to the core of the other teams.
In other words, rather than focusing on and emphasizing each team's roll
in _implementing_ change, you make sure that employees have (and
recognize!) a "place" they can go when they feel a need to adjust or
"resist" the changes that are occuring. I think sometimes we may create
some "undiscussables" (to use Argyris's term) and force important data,
insight, and experience outside of the feedback loop if all of our energy
is designed or designated as "change-oriented."
Having people who look for and at "resistance" as a source for valuable
information can reduce the need for the natural homeostasis of an system
go underground, become unconscious, and remain undiscussed. I'm not sure
that a team known as "change agents" will be regarded as that sort of
channel. Since their role is not so defined as yet, perhaps another
designation will make what they do more valuable to _all_ employees rather
than just those who sign on for the trip.
Keep us posted on how this goes...
On Tue, 8 Aug 1995, Mark Feenstra wrote:
> I am presently working with a private sector corporation which is
> presparing itself for a transformative change process. Rather than simply
> importing some ready made theory from outside we have been largely
> developing it internally. While this has been expensive and messy the
> level of ownership and understanding seems to more than offset the
> downsides.
>
> The four domains we have been exploring are why change, to what to change
> to, how to make change work and the process of managing change.
[...quote of prev msg trimmed by your host...]
-- Tobin Quereau Austin Community College Austin, Texas quereau@austin.cc.tx.us