- This topic has 13 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 2 months, 2 weeks ago by Change Consult Ltd.
-
AuthorPosts
-
-
October 7, 2020 at 12:42 pm #12866Change Consult LtdKeymaster
Now, have a think about your organisation:
Q1: What metaphor(s) are prevalent there?
Q2: What implications does this have for leadership and change initiatives?
-
April 22, 2021 at 10:07 am #13136Brigitte ClausenParticipant
Q1) The Organisations as Machines metaphor is prevalent in my organisation
Q2) Implications are the change can be slow as it takes time to set up initiatives and execute according to plans that need bureaucratic review and sign off from leadership. The benefit is that there is generally a standard to follow for landing change with a good level of control, disbenefit of this is that it it can stifle creativity and innovation in change initiatives. Employees are also not often feeling like they have been part of collaboration process, the change is ‘being done to them rather than with them’ which can make for slower adoption rates. -
August 15, 2022 at 4:00 am #14903KIM YAN CHENParticipant
Q1: My organization is functioning as Political System – Autocracy.
Q2: The key implications would be that time required for initiating the change would be fast and with adequate support since it is more a top down approach to drive for any changes. However, the negative impacts would be that if the change may sometimes be not a right direction and bringing several poor consequences, then it would be very difficult to make correction due to the strong authority and power of the MD from time to time.
-
September 5, 2022 at 9:29 pm #14953Michael GillParticipant
Q1: I’ve just changed company and its the end of Day 1. Hence, I have had very little exposure so far. However, my guess is for the Machine metaphor.
Q2: It’s quite autocratic with the leaders planning, forecasting and exercising a lot of comamnd and control. There is autonomy but it is quite constrained. Change management appears to be system/process driven with minimal consideration for the people being changed. They get trained or get moved.
-
September 23, 2022 at 4:57 pm #14971Patrícia PiresParticipant
Q1: The company I’m currently working for had a prevalent Culture metaphor. Unfotunately over the course of last year, it has been changing into a Political Systems kind of metaphor.
Q2: Changes were a lot easier to implement while on a culture metaphor. Since there was a vey open communication and great work relationships, everyone felt part of the organisation and would gladly change and push the change themselves. Howeve, upon the transformation, a lot of resistance has been noticed to change, which bring a lot of challenges to the leadership.
-
October 29, 2022 at 8:12 pm #14996Roberto AsensioParticipant
Q1: What metaphor(s) are prevalent there?
Political system
Q2: What implications does this have for leadership and change initiatives?
Changes need to be agreed in advance with everyone in a leadership position.
Change pace depends at anytime on the situation/context.
It is not always clear why something is not progressing as expected -
January 11, 2023 at 12:21 pm #15180Joel OsborneParticipant
1) In my last org, the prevalent metaphors were Political, Psychic Prison and Machine
2) Change needs to move quickly and demonstrate small wins to secure buy-in from key leaders/ stakeholders.
-
January 11, 2023 at 8:08 pm #15184Change Consult LtdKeymaster
Joel,
Thank you for your contribution!
Organisations can have more than one metaphor in action so thank you for identifying the three in your last organisation.
Psychic Prisons can be quite damaging to organisational life and can eventually lead to its demise so swift action is usually suggested for organisations with this metaphor.
-
-
March 15, 2023 at 9:53 am #15218Alan DunlopParticipant
Q1: What metaphor(s) are prevalent there? Machine & Train
Q2: What implications does this have for leadership and change initiatives? Emphasis on process & learning but challenge on adapting.
-
July 9, 2023 at 10:21 am #15259Change Consult LtdKeymaster
Thank you for your contribution Alan!
Adapting will be difficult indeed! Having leaders bought into the change is of the utmost importance and that should be the focus. Change agents can also help but for the machines metaphor, the leaders need to steer the change.
-
-
June 19, 2023 at 10:47 am #15245Joly BabuParticipant
Q1. The metaphors most prevalent in my last company going through Change were Flux and Transformation, with some aspect of Brain. Mainly because there was an emphasis on data being the driver for change – which makes sense. And with new leaders coming in Change was expected, however, there was a disconnect between drivers and management of Change, hence a lot of anxiety or abdication of support from managers due to loss of leveraging the strengths of a Brains organisation.
Q1. Implications therefore are to support the management with understanding the benefits and purpose of Change, understand and mitigate any anxiety, so that there is alignment and buy-in from the people those Managers lead.
-
July 9, 2023 at 10:22 am #15261Change Consult LtdKeymaster
Thank you for your contribution Joly!
The drivers for change (the WHY?) should be at the forefront of all comms and the change strategy.
Supporting management and reminding them of the ‘WHY’ of the change is important as you so rightly pointed out and has far reaching effects throughout the organisation.
-
-
July 5, 2023 at 11:55 am #15255Maggie ElstobParticipant
1) The metaphors most prevalent in my organisations are somewhere between machines and brains.
2) We use information to make decisions, and are often led by goals and objectives. We do also function fairly democratically, so when a change is made, the opportunity is usually given by leadership to be consulted on the matter and feel that their voice is being heard.-
July 9, 2023 at 10:08 am #15257Change Consult LtdKeymaster
Thank you for your contribution Maggie!
The Brains metaphor may be slightly stronger in your organisation as there is a level of democracy and consultation. Many organisations today are drifting towards this setup where there is a structure in place (machines) but staff who are experts (brains) have a say in matters.
-
-
-
AuthorPosts
You must be logged in to reply to this topic. Login here