Making Sense of Change

Making Sense of Change Management
book by Esther Cameron and Mike Green

“I balance on a wishing well that all men call the world.
We are so small between the stars, so large against the sky,
and lost amongst the subway crowd I try and catch your eye”
L. Cohen

This book is about making sense of change.

The world we live in continues to change at an intense rate. Not a day goes by it seems, without another important discovery or boundary pushing invention in the scientific fields; the economics of globalisation seems to dominate much of our political and corporate thinking, whilst the shadow side of globalisation – refugees, exploitation, terrorism and the like – develops at an equally alarming pace.

The rate of change and discovery outpaces our individual ability to keep pace with it. The organisations we work in or rely on to meet our needs and wants are also changing dramatically, in terms of their strategies, their structures, their systems, their boundaries and of course their expectations of their staff and their managers.

Who is this book aimed at?

Making Sense of Change Management is aimed at anyone who wants to begin to understand why change happens, how change happens and what needs to be done to make change a more welcoming concept. In particular we hope that leaders and managers in organisations might appreciate a book that doesn’t give them the one and only panacea, but offers insights into different frameworks and ways of approaching change on an individual, team and organisational level.

We are mindful of the tremendous pressures and priorities of practising manager – be they in the private or public sectors – and Making Sense of Change Management is our attempt at making their lives that little bit easier. It is also our attempt at convincing them that addressing the issues which cause change to be so poorly managed in organisations will lead not only to more satisfying experiences for them, but to more fulfilling lives for their staff.

Students of learning – be they MBA or MSc programme members or individuals who just want to do things better – will hopefully find some models, tools and techniques which bridge the gap between the purely academic and the more pragmatic aspects of management theory and practice. The intention is to help them to make sense of the changes that they will undergo, initiate and implement.

What’s the basic content of the book?

We focus our attention on individual, team and organisational change with good reason. Although many readers will be grappling with large scale change at some point, which might be departmental, divisional or whole organisational change, the people on the receiving end are individual human beings. Without looking at the implications of change on individuals we can never really hope to manage large scale change effectively.

In addition, one of the themes of organisational life over recent years has been the ascendancy of the team. Much of today’s work is organised through teams and requires team collaboration and team working for it to succeed. Very little has been written about the role of teams in organisational change and w have attempted to offer some fresh ideas mixed with some familiar ones.

A thread running through the book will be the crucial role of leadership. If management is all about delivering on current needs, then leadership is all about inventing the future. There is a specific chapter on leadership, but you will find the importance of effective leadership arising throughout.

In some respects the chapters on individual, team and organisational change, together with the chapter on leadership of change are freestanding and self-contained. We have also included application chapters where we have chosen a number of types of change some of which, no doubt, will be familiar to you. These chapters aim to provide guidelines, case studies and learning points for those facing specific organisational challenges. Here the individual, team and organisational aspects of the changes are integrated into a coherent whole.

Making Sense of Change Management by Esther Cameron and Mike Green
What the experts say…….. [published Feb 2004, Kogan Page]

“I commend this book highly. It has a good coverage of relevant theoretical work while at the same time giving plenty of practical examples. It is written in an accessible style that engages the reader and it is full of useful ideas without being overly prescriptive or formulaic.”

Philip Sadler CBE, business educator, consultant and Vice-President of Ashridge Business School

"There has long been a need for a readable, practical but theoretically under-pinned book on Change which recognised a multiplicity of perspectives. By combining the behavioural, humanistic, organizational and cognitive perspectives and by helping the reader make sense of what each perspective brings to understanding Change, this book should help students and practitioners. By linking in work on personality tests such as MBTI the book breaks new ground from a practitioner point of view not least because these tests are widely used in practice. I thoroughly recommend it."

Professor Colin Carnall, Associate Dean, Executive Programme, Warwick Business School , University of Warwick

"If you're interested in successfully managing and leading change, then read this book! It not only covers change from both the individual and organisational perspective, but also increases the number of options available to you."

Judi Billing, Director of IDeA Leadership Academy
Improvement & Development Agency

“Change is a huge thing wherever you work. The key is to make change happen, and make it happen well - with everyone on side, and everyone happy. This book provides an extremely stimulating and accessible guide to doing just that. There are a few people at the Beeb who could do with this. I' ll definitely be placing copies on a couple of desks at White City.”

Nicky Campbell , Presenter Radio Five Live and BBC1's Watchdog

“This book is a great resource for managers thrown into the midst of change, who need to gain understanding of what happens when you try to make significant changes in a business, and how best to manage people through it. The authors have tackled a complex topic in a lively and engaging way, leading readers through the maze of theory available and offering just the right amount of practical advice."

Andy Newall, Organisational Effectiveness Director, Allied Domecq plc

“This impressive book on change is an essential read for any professional manager who is serious about getting to grips with the important issues of making change happen.”

Dr Jeff Watkins, MSc Course Director, Management Research Centre, University of Bristol

"I really enjoyed this book. I like the straightforward approach, the inclusion of the author's opinion and the insight provided by the case studies. This book will be very useful for those business managers in my organisation who need to prepare themselves for tackling major organizational change."

Andy Houghton, Head of Organization Development, Retail Direct, Royal Bank of Scotland Group

“This is a book which lives up to its title. By combining a guide to the ideas of key thinkers on change and useful tips for making change happen, it really does provide a toolkit to help us to make sense of change. It is useful to see a focus on the individual, team and organistational levels, and in particular, on the role of the leader in the change process. It is written in a way that makes the book interesting to read both at length as well as to dip into.”

Richard McBain, Director of Studies Distance Learning MBA, Henley Management College