How have the theories/models for change adapted to take into consideration our current technological, economic and societal contexts?Where I think the biggest shift has occurred when considering the current technological, economic, and societal contexts, is the overarching alteration from organizational development to change management. Al-Haddad (2015) states that change management takes into consideration both the human and business needs when it comes to change. With what we know of our current context and the importance of taking a human-centric approach to design and management (Mattelmaki, Vaajakallio & Koskinen, 2014), it is necessary for organizations to move from the one size fits all approach to change and “unfreeze mindsets and create a motivation to change” (Weiner, 2009, p.2).
Which theories/models do you think best align with your own approach to leadership? Do these approaches align with your organizational context?When examining my personal approach to leadership, change management as a whole aligns best. Elements of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling (Al-Haddad, 2015) all parallel how I operate and lead my teams through smaller scaled change. When I consider this approach with relation to whether or not it aligns in my organizational context as a whole, I believe it does (kind of). I have very recently been a bystander to a complete corporate overhaul. When I began working for my organization, it was a casual, laid-back business that made decisions based on “gut feels”. In recent months, a structured leadership team has since taken over and the elements of planning, organizing, and controlling have become paramount in the way they are managing and leading this corporate change (Al-Haddad, 2015). For myself personally, as a training manager for a corporate retailer, I believe the structure I have within my leadership style specifically, aligns well with the very tumultuous retail industry. I am encouraged to see that structure, direction, and clarity are now core values held by the new executive leadership team going forward. Ultimately allowing our organization to effectively tackle the uncertain future of bricks and mortar retail better than ever.
What role does leadership play in managing change?One of the simplest yet profound statements within the article from Al Haddad (2015) was that organizations and leaders must work to remove destructive barriers to be able to effect change. Leaders who can identify these barriers and move past the status quo will be instrumental in leading and managing change. From my experience, leaders set the tone within an organization, and if they can successfully instill confidence in their people and create a buy-in for all to have a common vision to see through the change, then the role of the leader will be the most important factor when going through organizational change.
Al-Haddad, S., & Kotnour, T. (2015). Integrating the organizational change literature: a model for successful change. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 28(2), 234-262.
Mattelmäki, T., Vaajakallio, K., & Koskinen, I. (2014). What happened to empathic design?. Design Issues, 30(1), 67-77
Weiner, B. J. (2009). A theory of organizational readiness for change. Implementation Science, 4(67).