Fast Company, "Learning for a Change," by Alan M. Webber, May '99, pages 178-188

I liked the premise of this article on change. To change, we need to stop thinking like mechanics and start acting like gardeners. As a gardener, I was curious to find out how Peter Senge, the creator of this idea, thinks a gardener acts and how a large company can act like a gardener. He points out that human institutions are living organisms, and so are part of nature, not separate from nature. In fact, the word "company" has the same root as the word "companion" which means "the sharing of the bread."

Companies became more machine-like during the Industrial Revolution, as did the mechanical mindset for running the companies. Senge believes that instead of using a mechanical mindset to deal with change, companies need to cultivate change. As a complicated process, change requires openness and a sense of reciprocity.

People in human relations realize the importance of teamwork, trust, and relationships, but higher level executives often look at numbers, dollar amounts, and budgets. Even though we spend a lot of our time at work with machines like the computer, phone, copy machines, etc., people are essential to the success of the organization.

People in organizations who are leaders approach change as if they were growing something, rather than just changing it. They are cultivators of change. They know that something new grows, eventually taking over the old. It starts small, as in nature, with diverse forces affecting it. The leaders who realize this are not necessarily in charge. They are often not the top executives. They are talented, committed, service providers. They are good networkers. They start small, often in just their team. The change, or the seed, can grow from there. When it works, others catch on and enjoy working with it.

The obstacles to growth and change include time commitment, the seeming irrelevancy of the change to people's work, and feeling that the change doesn't matter. There are 10 challenges to growth and change that Senge refers to in the article. These challenges are very much apparent in my office. I see that we recognize the need to grow and change, but seem to face the challenge of a time and effort commitment. We began the process of strategic planning several months ago with a very enlightening meeting. I felt very ready to begin this process, but we have not continued the process. I believe it is due to lack of time, and other priorities on the part of the administration. I can see that it takes a lot of effort to get this whole office of 60+ people to embark on the strategic planning process. I can see how change in small ways could occur and then influence people little by little.

As Todd Mehrkens pointed out in his discussion of this article, people don't necessarily want to "have a vision" at work or to "conduct dialogue." "They want to be part of a team that's fun to work with and that produces results they are proud of." I agree that there are many people who are frustrated with spending time and dollars for mission and vision statements to be exactly worded. I see strategic planning as one way that our office can work together on something. Otherwise, we are always focusing on our own specializations.

Change can happen most effectively when it "grows" from within the organization, as Todd stated, and I totally agree with him that the major challenge is providing the time to allow it to happen.

-- Anonymous, June 01, 1999