Think more specifically about an example of change leadership that you know.
1. What was the nature of that leadership?
2. Was the leader trusted?
3. Did he/she deserve the trust given?
4. What kind of power did the leader use?
5. How were the messages about the change conveyed? Were they believable messages?
6. Did organizational systems and processes support, or at minimum, not impair the change leader’s messages?
7. Was there a sense of continuity between the past and the anticipated future? How was that sense of continuity developed and communicated? What was the impact?
8. What can you learn about the impact of the leader on people and stakeholders as a result of your responses to the above questions?
9. What can you learn about the impact of organizational systems and processes on the people and stakeholders?
10. Talk to others about their experiences. Can you generalize? In what way? What cannot be generalized?
Exercise 7.7
This exercise will provide you with a general sense of the openness of a person to a specific undertaking.[1] Please use it to evaluate your own openness to the change.
[1] This index is not the product of empirical testing. It was created to provide you with food
for thought concerning openness to change and what may be facilitating and impairing the receptiveness that you are experiencing.
| Think about a change situation you know of or are involved with. Please rate the following factors. | Score |
| 1. Past experience with change, particularly changes similar to that advocated | Very –10 –5 0 +5 +10 Very ___Negative Positive |
| 2. Normal rate of change that has been experienced by the organization | Very –10 –5 0 +5 +10 Moderate ___Low to High |
| 3. Recipients’ general predisposition to change as reflected in their personalities | Late –10 –5 0 +5 +10 Early ___Adopter Adopter |
| 4. People believe they understand the nature of the proposed change and the reasons for it (i.e., the need for change) | Low –10 –5 0 +5 +10 High ___ |
| 5. Recipients’ personal beliefs about the need for this particular change | Very –10 –5 0 +5 +10 Very ___Negative Positive |
| 6a. Reactions of coworkers to the change6b. Strength of coworker relations (norms) | Very –10 –5 0 +5 +10 VeryNegative PositiveMultiply #6a by #6bWeak 0.1 0.3 0.5 0.7 1.0 Strong ___ |
| 7. Leader credibility | Low –10 –5 0 +5 +10 High ___ |
| 8. Leader gains compliance through fear versus gains commitment through understanding and empathy | Fear –10 –5 0 +5 +10 Support ___ |
| 9. Organizational credibility (i.e., will it follow through on commitments related to change) | Low –10 –5 0 +5 +10 High ___ |
| 10. Congruence of systems and processes with the proposed change (or confidence that they will be brought into congruence) | Very –10 –5 0 +5 +10 Very___Incongruent Congruent |
| Predisposition to Change Index:Scores can range from –100 to +100 | Overall Score ___ |
If your scores are in the +50 or greater range, you will likely be quite open to change and ready to cope. Negative scores would suggest the opposite, while scores in the middle range (+50 to –50) point to increasing ambivalence. What do the scores tell you about what might be done to increase your openness to the change?
Critical Thinking Questions
Consider the questions that follow.
See “Terranova Consulting: Building Community” at the end of the book. Consider the following questions:
· What is the need for change at Terra Nova?
· What are the cultural barriers to change?
· What are the political barriers to change?
· What alternatives does O’Reilly face?
· How should O’Reilly go about making desired changes?