When our organizations change, most of us experience both emotional and political concern– often coming on us in a rush, at other times in a gradual anxiety for established routines and agreements. We can feel uncertain about how to influence effectively what is happening. Increasingly, executives and managers use organisational development methods asking our opinions or involving us in implementing changes. Then, we have the tension of cooperating with something about which we have outright disagreements or growing worry. If we are in a change management role or happen to be in favour of changes, we face the challenge of providing opportunities for others to legitimately work through disagreements while also addressing emotional concerns. Paradoxically, resulting dynamics can force underground the very thoughts and feelings that could usefully improve organisational changes for all concerned.
In this presentation Dr Jean Neuman will be exploring these issues. She cares deeply about ‘good’ organisational change and has completed over 400 projects with organisations willing to engage fully with the complexity and contradictions of such changes.
Jean serves both as Director of Studies for The Tavistock Institute’s Advanced Organisational Change and Consulting (AOC) programme and as an organisational consultant. In private practice, Jean provides professional advice and development for managers, consultants and other change agents. Her publications aim to improve the quality and integrity of organisational consultancy and change management available within organizations and amongst related social systems.
