In this paper, the author is going to look at the different perspectives on change. He is trying to link them with his work experience as a change agent in the field of education and family counselling. He looks at the role of different disciplines in achieving change and evaluates the implications for a personal practice. He concludes the assignment with guidelines to act as an effective change agent. Those implications will show the complexities of the different aspects of change.
Although most of the models are focused on management and business we can see, that there are many interesting similarities to the process of change in family structure. Names of models and exponents may be different but the nature of change stays the same. What the author takes out of this consideration is that change is a continuous process that goes through a series of phases. Every phase means a challenge with new experiences and new opportunities to learn. As learning is an individual process and individuals are responsible for controlling and managing their own process of change.
With the tendency to measure and to analyse all appearances in the world (processes of change included) we always react on the surface of the world. We are in danger to neglect the immeasurable aspects like feelings, attitudes and values, culture and norms. Different and contrasting perceptions of the reality are possible and correct. The either-or mentality is no longer valid and must be replaced by the “as well as” approach. Between the sky and the earth there exist unexplainable things of which we probably will never know how they work. Nevertheless we can use different approaches.
Contents
Introduction
Different pe1rspectives on the nature o f change
The role of different disciplines in achieving change
Change in family structure
Guidlines for change agents in families
Reflexion of the implications for personal practice
Conclusion
References
Process of Change within family structures
Introduction
During module 5 of this programme we have been offered opportunities to discuss and critique change concepts, tools and techniques. I came across different perspectives and learned that there is a huge variety of ways to look at Processes of Change. As a matter of fact, all the examples were business linked and found evidence in big companies. As my background is a pedagogy one I soon started to question whether those perspectives were applicable to my work field as well. In my professional life I am often confronted with change and processes of change within families. Most often they are connected with splitting parents, divorce and handling conflicts with children. Whereas change in companies means maximising profit and return on investment, change within family structures means improving family life to the better of all its members. Although both systems (families and companies) are driven by goals, the nature of their goals is dissimilar. Organizations tend to emphasize tasks rather than relationships. Whereas tasks in organizations often are formally proscribed or defined, there is much greater emotional interdependency in families than in the workplace. Emotional expression tends to be expected rather in families than organizations. Brotherige (2006, 145) points out the durability of membership as a distinguishing feature of families: “People can enter a family only by birth, adoption, or marriage and even though they can be shunned, estranged or expelled form their family or experience divorce, they truly only leave by death. (…) the permanency of family membership is contrasted with the voluntary and more transient nature of organizational membership.”
When I am now going to look at the different perspectives on change I am trying to link them with my work experience as a change agent in the field of education and family counselling. I look at the role of different disciplines in achieving change and evaluate the implications for my personal practice. I conclude my assignment with guidelines to act as an effective change agent. Those implications will show the complexities of the different aspects of change.
Different pe1rspectives on the nature o f change
It is said that there is nothing as stable in life as change. Change accompanies us for a life. It is inevitable, it happens. Like the philosopher Heraclitus said 2,500 years ago, “Everything flows and everything is constantly changing. You cannot step twice in the same river, for other waters are constantly flowing on.”
We need to recognise that change is a natural process – everything is always changing and growing, we as human beings, society, culture, nature and of course companies and family structures too. Change occurs when something passes from one state or phase to another. It is a relational difference between states before and after some event. Change can be seen as the result of alteration or modification. Often the word “change” evokes both pleasant and unpleasant feelings depending on our personal experience and our attitude towards alterations. Elderly people often see changes as modifications to the worse. The tendency to glorify the good old days contrasts at times with the will and power of an upcoming young generation that wants to change the world to the better.
We can look at change from an arts subjects perspective (philosophically, sociologically, psychologically[1]) or from a scientific point of view. The arts approach uses hermeneutics, dialectic and phenomenology to understand and interpret the nature of change. The scientific approach on the other hand uses methods to explain a phenomenon (e.g. surveys, interviews, tests or experiments). The phenomenon of divorce and its implications to its members of the family for example we can understand or we can explain it. If we have personal experience in such an existential event we probably know what it means and we would understand (without explaining). If we look at it scientifically we would explain it and found out different phases, learned something about coping strategies, had figures about the repercussion on economics and efficiency at work or would maybe know something about the hormonal implications. We could comfort ourselves by the findings that 50 % of all marriages end in a divorce and so on… Just, the meaning of a divorce would still be unique for the person that is experiencing it.
A good example to of the scientific approach is Kotter`s strategic eight-step model for transforming organisations. According to Mento (2002) Kotters`s model was developed after a study of over 100 organisations.
“(…) Kotter couched his model as a way of avoiding major errors in the change process. “ He describes two key lessons learned from the model and claims that the change process goes through a series of phases, each lasting a considerable amount of time. As a second learning he points out, that critical mistakes in any of the phases can have a devastating impact on the momentum of the change process. (see Mento, 2002)
An approach that tries to combine arts and science we find in Jick`s tactical ten-step model for implementing change (1991). For him implementing change is an “ongoing process of discovery, with thoughtful questions continually being asked throughout the change journey.” (Mento, 46) The way how a manager implements change is for him as important as what the change is. “How well one does in implementing a particular change depends ultimately on the nature of the change, on how sensitive the implementers are to the voices in the organisation, and on the recognition that change is a continuous, not a discrete process” (Mento, 46).
Whatever approach is taken, the question arises if processes of change can be consciously planned, cognitively managed and rationally altered. Taking the stance that every change is predestined and we are only marionettes in a play we could stop here and end with a narrow “evolutionary” fatalistic position. In this view change is predominantly something that happens to us, it is driven by features that are external to human will and intent. It suggests there are natural forces that individuals cannot control.
If we believe in free will and think we are not delivered to the mood of nature or fate, it would be of great interest to find out how we can influence the process of change.
One way lies in reading situations and discovering the sub-text. The quality of the intervention of a change agent depends on his or her ability to think about situations from a different standpoint. Whittington (2005, 117) argues, that “the differences between the (…) approaches to strategy do matter. With their different perspectives on both human action and environment, they provide radically opposed recommendations for managers and governments alike.”
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[1] It is to say that sociology or psychology also could be seen as disciplines of natural-science. According to Watson (1913), “Psychology as the behaviourist views it is a purely objective, experimental branch of natural science. Its theoretical goal is the prediction and control of behaviour. Introspection forms no essential part of its method”. It is interesting that Watson believed a major goal of psychology was to control behaviour—it helps explain the emphasis that behaviourists placed on investigating learning rather than other aspects of psychological functioning. If you want to change someone’s behaviour, it is necessary to provide the appropriate learning experience.
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