Matching capabilities

What we want is an approach which matches the capability of an organisation to complete the tasks and challenges ahead.  This approach must appreciate complexity and diversity in situations and the tendency towards chaos.  It must put organisational dynamics at the top of its agenda.  It has to incorporate a collaborative approach to change management using recognised techniques to bridge the gap between change decisions and progress in the real world.

The sensible approach combines social science techniques with the stricter disciplines of programme management to unlock organisational capability and to achieve swift, purposeful change.

The fundamental values of the approach:

Understand the organisation and its circumstances by studying the organisation's dynamics in both qualitative and quantitative terms

Create a social foundation for change within the organisation, which guides the programme team through the change jungle

Live with instability by creating a ready-for-change attitude, accepting that mistakes will be made and amplifying feedback from outside the organisation

Expect the unexpected as different parts of the change come together

As change takes place, do not overreact as new patterns of behaviour spark into life

Organise to take quick, radical decisions, which may initially seem random, within an overall programme rationale and structure

Use intense communication to link change processes to the existing and eventually reformed organisational structure

Keep an open mind on all suggestions and recommendations by checking all effects

Go back to initial conditions set for the programme and monitor whether change remains within boundaries of reasonableness and organisational comfort – before needlessly sounding alarm bells

Allow the old and the new to coexist within the organisation.