Change Management

Structural Organisational Development

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Based on the ground Breaking work of Robert Fritz

The Basic Principles

These are some of the principles upon which our work is based. For a more in-depth understanding of these ideas we recommend reading one of Robert Fritz's books or joining one of our programs

Structure
Oscillation or advancement?
The creative process
Tension seeks resolution

 

Some of these principles are the actual mechanics of the creative process, other principles are about your orientation as a creator of an organisation, while others are about the guiding spirit that sparks the direction the organisation takes.

Your organisation is a structure, and as all structures, it will have certain ways it will act, behave and work. Certainly a car works differently than a rocking chair. A building works very differently than does a human body. Your organisation may work very differently from how other organisations work.

There are two basic structural patterns people and organisations have: advancing and oscillating. Advancing is a structure in which the success you have achieved becomes the platform for future success. You can build momentum over time and the sum total of your organisation's experiences leads you forward. In an oscillating structure the success you have created is neutralized. Each step forward is followed by a step backward. Within this structure, success cannot succeed long term. If you try to change the organisation and you are in an oscillating structure, success will only be temporary.

Oscillation or advancement?

The structure at play in an organisation causes one of two types of behaviour - oscillation or advancement.

With oscillation, the tendency is to swing back and forth between competing goals such as change and stability or short- and long-term growth. If there is advancement, the tendency is to consistently move forward with each achievement serving as a foundation for further achievements.

By examining the structures in play and utilising the creative process, you can replace your oscillating structures with advancing ones

The creative process

You can create the organisation in the same way an artist develops a work of art. When you begin to approach organisational development from that orientation, the company is transformed. You become more directly involved in the organisational development process, you create more of what you truly want, and you broaden the quality of the organisation and the quality of life of the people working within it.

You can conceive of the organisation you want to bring into being as an artist conceives of a painting, take strategic actions to build such an organisation as the artist takes all the necessary actions to create the painting, and inhabit the organisation you want to create as the artist may hang the painting on the wall to experience it.

Tension seeks resolution

A basic principle found throughout nature is this: Tension seeks resolution. From the spider web to the human body, from the formation of the galaxies to the shifts of continents, from the swing of pendulums to the movement of wind-up toys, tension-resolution systems are in play.

Robert Fritz calls relationship between the vision and current reality structural tension. During the creative process, you have an eye on where you want to go, and you also have an eye on where you currently are.

There will always be structural tension in the beginning of the creative process, for there will always be a discrepancy between what you want and what you have. Why? Because senior management, bring into being, organisation that does not yet exist, or not as they want it to be. Structural tension is a fundamental principle in the creative process. In fact, part of the manager's job is to form this tension.'

The ChangeKey Partnership and Organisational Structural Development

Organisational Structural Development is a discipline in which underlying structure is explored, evaluated from the standpoint of effectiveness, and changed to support desired end results. Often, small changes in a structure cause major changes in the organisation. These changes, in turn, create a rapid and permanent shift from ineffective behavior to highly effective behavior. The outcome is an enhanced ability for the organisation to achieve the desired end result. This is a method of consulting and facilitation that gets to the true reality of a situation.

We work with your management and teams to create an organisation that works on advancement and one that doesn't continually oscillate.

For more information contact us via 0115 952 3602 or our contact form