Stanleigh, M. (2008). Effecting successful change management
initiatives. Industrial and Commercial
Training, 40(1), 34-37. doi:
10.1108/00197850810841620
In any review of thinking and research on a topic, some
representation of articles from trade periodicals is important as they often
contain articles that while not particularly scholarly, have a value through
their framing of a topic and pricing an outline for methods and actions. The caveat is that the author should be a
recognized practitioner or academic, and the periodical should be one that is
accepted as reputable and critical (and not just a vehicle for self-promotion).
Stanleigh’s article may fit this criteria and be worth a
reading. His credentials are that of
business writer, consultant to an impressive list of international business and
governmental clients (listed at www.bia.ca), and university academic at
Memorial University. Industrial and Commercial
Training is an Emerald Insight publication, and I would accept that as an
indication of some editorial responsibility.
Stanleigh lists change drivers and modes of failure across
change initiatives. When exploring
change failures, the “secret sauce” emerges that genuine engagement of organizational
members and a patient reliance on time for individuals to grow to accept change
are vital ingredients. Among the ten
measures Stanleigh sets-forth to apply to a change situation, I found that the
several that I need to be watchful for in other readings—to verify that they
withstand the test of rigorous research—are incremental change; a guiding
leadership coalition; shared vision; communication; capture of short-term wins;
and, institutionalization of new approaches.
Again, a good list to watch-out for to see if they are more than just
intuitive, but research-verifiable.
This is a helpful outline.
But, again, I recognize the shortcomings of this article: it is experiential, not research-based;
contains no primary research and no bibliography; and, does not comprehensively
leverage others’ research but contains only the briefest of mentions of work by
John Kotter and Peter Senge, and that of McKinsey and Arthur D. Little on
change management. Nonetheless, it was a
useful outline to help frame current thinking on the change management topic.
