1st Edition
Effective Organizational Change Leading Through Sensemaking
Organizations are constantly evolving, and intelligent leadership is needed during times of transformation. Change leaders must help people become aware of, understand and find meaning in the new things which arise — they must oversee a sensemaking process.
Addressing this need, Effective Organizational Change explores the importance of leadership for organizational change based on sensemaking. Combining a theoretical overview, models and conceptual discussions rich with in-depth examples and case studies, this book uncovers what it is that leaders actually do when they lead change through sensemaking. It presents the most current sensemaking research, extends earlier work by developing the concept of ‘landscaping’, and provides guidelines on how leaders can drive sensemaking processes in practice.
This book is for undergraduate, postgraduate and MBA students of organizational change, as well as managers embarking on change projects within their organizations.
1. Introduction Part I: Theory 2. The Theories of Change 3. Making Sense of Sensemaking Theory 4. Deciphering Some Sources of Sensemaking Cues 5. Leadership and Sensemaking Part II: Practice 6. Landscaping: Leading Through Sensemaking 7. Exploring Landscaping in Practice 8. Summary, Lessons Learned and Concluding Thoughts
Biography
Einar Iveroth is Associate Professor at the Department of Business Studies, Uppsala University, Sweden. He is an expert in organizational change and IT-enabled change and has published widely in leading journals such as the California Management Review, Journal of Change Management, Journal of Environmental Management, European Management Journal, and Health Care Management Review.
Jacob Hallencreutz PhD is a Change Expert in one of Scandinavia’s leading management consultancies. He has 25 years of experience of leading change in both manufacturing and service organizations, including some of the largest in northern Europe. Jacob is also a leading researcher and has published in a number of international scientific journals.
‘I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘Effective Organizational Change: leading through sensemaking’. Einar and Jacob have done a brilliant job in bringing the challenge of organizational change alive through their focus on individuals, personal realities, and sensemaking. The ability to understand (not necessarily agree with) and act on the very personal realities of others is crucial when initiating and leading organizational change. Indeed, a focus on people rather than on strict rules and structure is what will enable successful change. This view is not only embraced but strengthened through this work, and Effective Organizational Change is an essential read for both scholars and practitioners.’ - Professor Rune Todnem By, Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Change Management, and co-author of Managing Change in Organizations, Staffordshire University Business School, UK
‘There are many books on organizational change, but this one renews and transcends the genre! This book proposes an engaging view of how change leaders can travel inside "the spiral of sensemaking". I enjoy reading this book because it intelligently demystifies why most organizational changes fail and translates a decade of practice-based research into a set of reflexive tools for practitioners.’ - Linda Rouleau, Professor of Organization Theory, Professorship in Strategy Organization and Social Practices, HEC Montreal, Canada
‘This book is a successful combination of academic excellence and in-depth practical experience. The landscaping metaphor gives a breath of fresh air to a field that for too long has been dominated by superficial how-to handbooks and "best practice"statements. This is indeed a really important and needed contribution in a time of uncertainty and rapid change.’ - Jerry Karlsson, CEO, Swedish Institute for Quality
‘By combining theory and practice, the authors have produced an excellent, informative and insightful book which addresses key issues in leading change, especially the vital role played by sensemaking processes.’ - Professor Bernard Burnes, Chair of Organisational Change, Stirling Management School, University of Stirling, UK
‘This is not just another text book on organizational change. Instead of presenting a bunch of old and new theories about change, the authors have written a testimony that really captures the challenges of leading change in an imperfect world. It is obvious that they have been out there in the trenches. To put it simple: this is a must-read-book that really makes sense.’ - Anders Mellberg, former CEO, Agria Insurance
