informal coalitions

Informal Coalitions is featured in the Spring 2007 editionof Cutting-Edge Global Publishingfrom Palgrave MacmillanBUY YOUR COPY OF THE BOOK ONLINEView the full catalogue (PDF File - 8 pages of A4)

The limits of rationality and the illusion of management control in organizational change

Stories abound of change efforts that have petered out, failed to deliver the expected benefits or disappointed those who were once their most enthusiastic supporters. All too often, the initial enthusiasm, intense activity and (frequently) large-scale investment are followed by disillusionment, cynicism and a feeling of wasted effort.

Can we escape from this pattern into something more useful or is it inevitable that events will take this course?

London's secret river

I run an OD network which meets regularly in London.  Today's session was led by a former Director of Arts Council England, Dawn Langley. In it, she introduced some of the arts-based practices that she uses to engage people in organizations through words and pictures.  One of these involves translating matter-of-fact articles, reports and so on into what Dawn calls "found poems".

Inspired by the creativity that network members had shown in using this technique, I thought I would while away the time on the train journey home by giving it another go.  As source, I used a fascinating article written by Valentine Low in tonight's London Evening Standard, entitled "West End's secret river".

The resulting poem uses words solely from the article itself. And, apart from some minor changes for effect, the words appear in their original order.  These were self-imposed constraints.  Dawn is much more accommodating! Her approach allows as much 'poetic licence' as needed to 'find the poem within'.

As light relief from my more serious musings on informal coalitions and all things organizational dynamics, I thought I would add the poem to the blog.  So here goes!

Who needs job descriptions?

A few years back, I was a member of a group that was looking to design the managerial roles, management systems and work processes for a new organization. We were being helped by one of the then Big Five consultancy firms. As part of this, the consultants produced a set of draft job descriptions, which included one for the role that I would be filling.

I saw the descriptions as bland, matter-of-fact and limiting.

But, when I argued that I was not excited by them, my comments were dismissed by the in-house sponsor: "Job descriptions are not meant to excite," he insisted, "Provided they set out the main activities of the role and identify what’s in and what’s not, that’s good enough for me." My continued protests fell on deaf ears. Or so I thought.

During a break, the Director chairing the meeting confided that he’d agreed with what I’d said. Of course, he couldn’t say so in the meeting itself - money had been spent on getting the experts’ advice and the ‘defender in chief’ was his right-hand man – but he asked me to send him an outline of my thoughts. And so, the Contribution Statement was born.

Stacey on Strategic Management and Organizational Dynamics

I have been a fan of Ralph Stacey’s work since I first purchased one of his early books (Dynamic Strategic Management for the 1990s) almost 20 years ago. In particular, I have been attracted by his willingness – eagerness even – to challenge conventional thinking and practice in relation to the leadership and dynamics of organizations. The latest edition of his textbook on the subject, Strategic Management and Organisational Dynamics, continues this tradition.

The “keep it simple” mantra and the complex dynamics of organizations

"Keep it Simple!" How often have you heard this phrase used to signal the need for a change in the way that business is carried out or that organizations function?

Recently, it appeared on the cover of the Chartered Management Institute's journal, Management Today. This featured two articles about, as the MT put it, "managing complexity". The first, How to Survive Complexity, charted a round-table discussion on the subject between a number of senior executives and advisory specialists. The second, Simplicity: Not as Easy as it Looks by journalist John Morrish, suggested that although "simplicity has become the modern mantra of business ... it's easier said than done."

The call for greater simplicity in organizational design, management and operation is a natural, commonsense reaction to the overly complicated nature of many modern-day organizations. However, it is misleading and unhelpful to talk of this in terms of "managing complexity".