How Does Organizational Change Happen?
We often use two metaphors in describing the change process.7 These two metaphors represent distinctly different approaches to understanding and responding to change. Let’s take a closer look at each one.
1 What is the “Calm Waters” Metaphor?
The “calm waters” metaphor envisions the organization as a large ship crossing a calm sea. The ship’s captain and crew know exactly where they’re going because they’ve made the trip many times before. Change appears as the occasional storm, a brief distraction in an otherwise calm and predictable trip. Until recently, the “calm waters” metaphor dominated the thinking of practicing managers and academics. The prevailing model for handling change in such circumstances ...
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