03 Jun Who said bureaucrats can’t dance?

The rhythms of change are a changing.

Do you know a manager in a large organisation who needs to learn to dance? Once upon a time, we imagined mid-level bureaucrats as conformists, protectors of the process, and guardians of stability. That world was upended by just a few waves of technology. Theories of change are being upended too.

Change theory is struggling to make sense of the new pace of change within bureaucratic firms. There may be planned change in the strategic apex, but all pretence is overthrown in the middle-layers where last year’s changes are still integrating, and this year’s system changes in all major functions are getting started.

Old metaphors imagined strategy as a paintbrush, and structure as the paint. Each strategic move laid down another layer of paint. Today it is possible that five major processes shift at once. And there is no real alternative – the once stable bureaucratic world is dancing to a new beat.

Change agents, once expected to guide their colleagues through a step-change process, are now important for their ability to manage the language of the moment, using dialogue to reframe and reposition, and to tap into multiple change dynamics that are already flowing about the organisation. They explain the currents, they distinguish smaller changes within bigger trends, and they help those around them to locate themselves. There are no step-change processes when five artists work on one canvas – there is only some form of in-the-moment collaboration.

The most powerful change intervention is most often an ordinary, every-day conversation. As Quinn said as far back as 1996 – “in the context of strategic change … good conversation is vocal, reciprocating, issues-oriented, rational, imaginative, and honest.” (In Weick, 1999, Organizational Change and Development). In your organisation, in the bureaucracies around you, are the most influential, positive, powerful change agents the people with the plan in the boardroom, or the people with the cup of coffee in a corridor?

At WorldsView, we work on the alignment of strategy, organisation design, leadership, and teams – and we help you to prepare for and work with the resulting changes that ripple through the organisation. Follow us on LinkedIn or register to attend our next free online Conversation Café.