CONTINUOUS CHANGE

Reporter: Monet Ordiz

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

To understand OD interventions
that enable organizations to 2

continuously change
 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

To compare and contrast three different

types of OD interventions aimed
developing organizations capable of
3
continuous change interventions: self-
designing organization interventions,
organization learning and knowledge
management interventions, and built to
change organization interventions
Self-Designing Organizations

▹ Systemic change process altering most

features of the organizations
▹ process is ongoing, never finished - 4

continuous improvement and change

▹ Learning as You Go - on site innovation
▹ Need support of multiple stakeholders
▹ All levels of the organizations adopt
new strategies and change behaviors
 Self-Design Strategy

Laying the Foundation

Acquiring Knowledge 5

Designing Implementing
and
Assessing
Diagnosing Valuing
Self-Design Strategy

▹ Is applicable to existing
organizations needing to
change themselves, as well as 6

to new organizations.
▹ It is also applicable to
changing the total organization
or only some subunits
Organization Learning & Knowledge
Management

▹ Organization Learning interventions

emphasize the structures and social
processes that enable employees 7

and teams to learn share knowledge

▹ Knowledge Learning focuses on
the tools and techniques that
enable organizations to collect,
organize, and translate information
into useful knowledge
 Organization Learning:
An Integrative Framework
Organization Competitive
Knowledge Management
Learning Strategy

Organization Organization Organization Organization 8

Characteristics Learning Processes Knowledge Performance
-Structure Discovery Tacit
Information Invention (understood/
Systems Production implied without
-HR Practices Generalization being stated)
-Culture Explicit (stated
-Leadership clearly and in
detail)
 Characteristics of a Learning
Organization

▹ Structures emphasize teamwork, information

sharing, empowerment
▹ Informations systems facilitate rapid
acquisition and sharing of complex information 9

to manage knowledge for the competitive

advantage
▹ Organization culture promotes openness,
creativity, innovation/experimentation
▹ Leaders model openness and freedom to try
new things while communicating a compelling
vision
 Organization Learning Processes

Single loop learning

• Focused on improving the status
quo 10

• The most prevalent form of learning

in organizations and enables
members to reduce errors or gaps
between desired and existing
conditions
 Organization Learning Processes

Example:

The sales managers described above 11

engaged in single-loop learning when

they looked for ways to reduce the
difference between current and
desired levels of sales.
 Organization Learning Processes

Double loop learning/ generative learning

• Aimed at changing the status quo
• Operates a more abstract level than 12

does single-loop learning because

members learn how to change the
existing assumptions and conditions
within the single loop learning operates
 Organization Learning Processes
Example:

The sales managers may learn that projections are

based on faulty assumptions and models about
future market conditions. This knowledge may result
in na entirely new conception of future markets, with 13

corresponding changes in sales projections and

product development plans. It may lead to managers
to drop some products that had previously appeared
promising, develop new ones that were not
considered before, and alter advertising and
promotional campaigns to for the new conditions.
 Organization Learning Processes

Deuterolearning
• Learning how to learn
14
 Organization Learning Processes

Example:

The sales managers might periodically

examine how well they perform the 15

processes of discovery, invention,

production, and generalization. This
could lead to improvement and
efficiencies in how learning is
conducted throughout the
organization.
 OD Practitioner
These interventions are relatively new
in OD and do not follow a common
change process, they tend to focus on
cognitive aspects of learning and how
16
members can become more effective
learners.
 Discover Theories in Use

• Dialogue
• Action Maps 17

• Left-Hand, Right-Hand Column

• The Ladder of Inference
 The Ladder of Inference

Describes the thinking

process that we go through, 18

usually without realizing it,

to get from a fact to a
decision or action.
The Ladder of Inference

19
 The Ladder of Inference
Our beliefs have a big effect on how we select from
reality, and can lead us to ignore the true facts
altogether. Soon we are literally jumping to
conclusions – by missing facts and skipping steps in
the reasoning process.
20

By using the Ladder of Inference, you can learn to get

back to the facts and use your beliefs and experiences
to positive effect, rather than allowing them to narrow
your field of judgment. Following this step-by-step
reasoning can lead you to better results, based on
reality, so avoiding unnecessary mistakes and conflict.
 Knowledge and Performance

▹ Organization knowledge must be

relevant and applied effectively to
the competitive strategy 21

▹ Link organization learning

processes to organization
performance
▹ Growing emphasis on the value of
intellectual assets and services
 Knowledge Management
Interventions

Generating Knowledge
• Identify knowledge for competitive
strategy (a long term plan of a 22

particular company in order to gain

competitive advantage over its
competitors in the industry)
• Develop ways to acquire or create
that knowledge
 Knowledge Management
Interventions

Organizing Knowledge
• Put knowledge into a usable form
• Codification and personalization 23

Distributing Knowledge
• Making knowledge easy to access,
use and reuse
 Built-To-Change Organizations

▹ Organizations are designed with

the ability to change constantly to
create the best sustainable source 24

of competitive advantage.
▹ Organizations operate in complex
and rapidly changing environments
 Built-To-Change Guidelines

▹ Management Talent
▹ Reward System
▹ Structure 25

▹ Information and Decision

Processes
▹ Leadership
 Built-To-Change Application Changes

▹ Create a Change-friendly Identity

▹ Pursue proximity
▹ Build an Orchestration capability 26

▹ Establish strategic adjustment a

normal condition
▹ Seek virtuous spirals
27