MGMT8270 Chap.7 Understanding and Diagnosing Change
Understanding and Diagnosing Change
What change is
Week 7 opens the change half of the course by questioning the Western view of change as episodic, linear and planned, and setting it beside traditions that see change as cyclical, collective or informed by the past.
It types change as planned or unplanned, developmental, transitional or transformational, and material or discursive.
Models, stakeholders and diagnosis
The chapter surveys models of planned change, from Lewin's three stages to Hiatt's people-first ADKAR, and an integrated sequence that combines them. It classifies stakeholders by formal and informal role and by power, legitimacy and urgency.
It then compares problem-centric diagnosis, such as action research, with dialogical diagnosis, such as Appreciative Inquiry, and works through how to choose between them for a real case.
Building the diagnosis for your team
The Team Presentation starts with diagnosis, and this chapter gives you the parts: a way to type the change, a model to structure it, a stakeholder analysis, and a choice between problem-centric and dialogical diagnosis.
The course asks that your choice of approach fit the change being diagnosed, not your own habits, so justify it from the features of the case.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Western and other perspectives on change
- 02
Planned and unplanned change
- 03
Developmental, transitional and transformational change
- 04
Material and discursive change
- 05
Lewin's model and ADKAR
- 06
Formal and informal stakeholders
- 07
Power, legitimacy and urgency
- 08
Action research and Appreciative Inquiry
Worked example · free
Typing a change three ways
- 1It is planned change, because it arises from the council's intentional effort rather than outside forces.
- 1Moving building and adopting a new system is transitional change towards a known future state, and it is material, because it changes operations.
- 1Calling residents customers is discursive change to language and narrative, which can be superficial if practice does not change with it.
Key terms
- Discursive Change
- Change to language and narratives intended to shape culture and perceptions, which can be superficial if practice stays the same.
- ADKAR Model
- Hiatt's people-first change model of awareness, desire, knowledge, ability and reinforcement.
- Change Agent
- A person appointed to lead a change effort and steer the organisation towards the change vision.
- Action Research
- A collaborative, cyclical method that tests possible fixes to a real problem and learns from each round of action.
- Appreciative Inquiry
- A dialogical method that diagnoses by building on what works well rather than on what is broken.
- Stakeholder Legitimacy
- A general judgement that a stakeholder's actions are desirable, proper or appropriate.
- Dialogical Diagnosis
- Diagnosis that develops understanding through conversation among those involved rather than a fixed problem-solving sequence.
Understanding and Diagnosing Change FAQ
What is Lewin's change model?
A three-stage model: unfreeze, by making sure people are ready for change; change, by carrying out the intended change; and refreeze, by making the change permanent. The course notes that it is not iterative, while real implementation usually loops back.
When should I use action research rather than Appreciative Inquiry?
Lean problem-centric, as with action research, when the issue is shared, stable and measurable. Lean dialogical, as with Appreciative Inquiry, when it is ambiguous or contested, when meaning and culture matter, and when lasting buy-in outweighs speed.
Who counts as a stakeholder in a change?
Anyone with a formal role, such as decision-makers, influencers, change agents and recipients, and anyone with an informal role, such as opinion leaders, champions and resistors, who can influence the change or be affected by it.
What does the ADKAR model add to Lewin's model?
ADKAR focuses on the people experiencing the change. It moves through awareness of why change is needed, desire to take part, knowledge, ability, and reinforcement that builds the change into processes, whereas Lewin's three stages describe the organisation-level sequence of unfreezing, changing and refreezing.
Assessment move
Take a change you have lived through, classify it on the three typologies, list its formal and informal stakeholders, and decide which diagnostic approach would have suited it best. Add a short note on which stakeholders hold power, legitimacy and urgency in that change, and whom you would involve first.
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