Wendy, great post. If you don't mind I am going to link it to some work I amdoing as a coach. Many of my clients beleive themselves stuck between two different steady states, and that the current "difficulty" they are in will subside. Your post captures what I have been trying to say better than I have been able to say it, so I will use it with credits. Thank you.
Richard
Couple of thoughts for you Wendy:
1. I agree with your points about the word “change” becoming a confluence of thoughts and meanings. In fact, in my clients, the word “change” has become a brand for business chaos and downsizing. Negative branding around the concept of change has disempowered both the individual and the organization because both are often driven by fear vs. future opportunity.
2. In terms of “flow”, I agree here. I think that the specific competency needed for change professionals is the ability to “live in the moment of the organization’s dynamic”. In other words, a programmatic approach to change or “change management” is not realistic anymore and will probably be unsuccessful because the business environments are causing too much deviation from the plan. The challenge here is that the project management mindset applied to change management no longer works. By definition, change is dynamic and unplanned. A skilled change professional needs to stay grounded in the flow of the change dynamic and anticipate its implications for the business. The consistent language of business planning does not account for the ambiguity of change.
3. To me, words are words. The power of change can also be in bringing your argument forward at a client and then using it as an example of where the gaps are to move work forward.
wendy,
i wonder if by offering the word "flow" as an alternative we might find ourselves a few years from now saying "Flow is Dead!"? and then eventually we'll say "Language is dead!" ? And then "Death is dead" and then "Long live death!" ??
isn't change flow, after all?
eris 4evr,
wroffi
Very timely thoughts. However, by too eagerly trying to rebadge "change management" - used in more and more organisations - don't we introduce yet another change? It is true, as you suggest, that "ever-emergent flow" sits better in the body. It may be a while before Ever-Emergent Flow Management is incorporated into the corporate lexicon. But decreasing the use of, and emphasis on, the "change" word may lessen change-fatigue reactions, eg why do I need to change? What's wrong with me? And I don't have time/ inclination/ energy to change.
Commenting by HaloScan
