Discussion of a framework that consultants can use to asset the health of an organization.
Clients often don’t want to change as much as they thought they did when they engage and organizational consultant. One tool that consultants can use to help clients overcome their resistance to change is an organizational health framework.
Resistance to change.
What is the source of the resistance?
- There is a natural resistance to change that happens. Change creates disequilibrium and we naturally don’t like to be out of balance.
Another explanation in organizational context
- Organizational dysfunction: The organization isn’t able to change because of the problems that are at the heart of how the organization function.
Organizations operate by the same principles that Humans do in their development.
The Living Company by Ari De Geus
De Geus studied companies that lasted over 100 years. He found that organizations that lasted over 100 years viewed themselves as a living organism, which embraced change.
Where organizations are effective, they are healthy.
When organizations are not effective, there is dysfunction somewhere.
Reframing Organizations by Lee Bolman & Terrence Deal
Frames outlined in Reframing Organizations
- Structure (how an organization is organized)
- People (human Resource)
- Organizational Politics (decision making)
- Symbolic (meaning symbols, stories, rituals, activities, logos, etc.)
- Process (how things are done)
- Soul (mission, purpose, values, vision=essences of organization)
Each frame can be functional or dysfunctional. It’s the role of a consultant to help the organization identify where health and dysfunction is in these frames.
Built to Last Jim Collins and Jerry Porras
Organizational Health must look at each one of these frames. Status of health will have a direct impact on the success (or lack there off) of any consulting work.
What do we need to pay attention to?
Intuitive Questions that a consultant would ask about an organization:
- Are they clear about their identity?
- Are there issues about how they are doing things?
Organizational Decision Making (Clue to Organizational Health)
- To what extent is the way the organization makes a decision (or anyone of the organizational health framework) congruent with organizational values?
- Most organization decision making is personality centered rather than organizational centered which results in no accountability.
- Most Organizations practice the golden rule: who has the most gold, rules.
Organizational Framework is an important tool for consultants to help create better results.
The guiding question for consultants:
- What is the status of their health? (However, you define that)
- If I engaged with them, to what extent can I help them to increase their health, rather than enabling their disfunction.
Intuition Questions:
- What do I know?
- What am I going to do about it?
The most dangerous thing for a consultant is to be in denial about the health of the organization.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Reframing Organizations by Lee Bolman & Terrence Deal
Built to Last Jim Collins and Jerry Porras