| Like any group of professionals, change facilitators can | | | | waiting for a new, more change friendly, executive to |
| develop attitudes that are detrimental to their goals and | | | | take a position. On the physical end, the organization |
| professional success. The goal is helping a client to | | | | may be finishing a can't wait production run that the |
| realized organization change. Their success relies on | | | | organization change would interrupt. There are simply |
| making that happen. So what attitudes hamper | | | | too many factors at work for the assumption to be |
| achieving both the goal and professional success? | | | | made that obstruction is occurring without a good |
| One attitude is that the process would work if the | | | | reason. |
| client could just get out of the way. If the point is to | | | | Perhaps the worst assumption that can be made is |
| achieve organization change, wouldn't it be best to let | | | | that the players for the organization are not smart. |
| the expert on change utilize their knowledge to | | | | The members of upper management in a large |
| accomplish the goal? This attitude ignores a | | | | organization have their jobs because they are smart. |
| fundamental principle, which is that the change | | | | Just as the change professional is the expert on |
| professional is there to the serve the needs of client. | | | | change, a manager in an organization is the expert in |
| More to the point, it is a need which can be | | | | their own field. They understand the limits and potential |
| accomplished without the change consultant. The | | | | of their business in a way few outsiders can. The |
| consultant is there to make the change run more | | | | change facilitator needs to be aware that lacking |
| smoothly and with a greater chance of success, | | | | expertise in change is not an indication of a lack of |
| nothing more. | | | | intelligence. |
| Another wrong attitude can be that members of the | | | | Any of these attitudes can undermine the organization |
| organization are engaging in willful obstruction of the | | | | change process. The change professional must guard |
| process. What the change professional may not | | | | against hasty judgment and poor assumptions. While |
| realize is that there can be political or physical reasons | | | | the reasons for a client's behavior may not always be |
| for what appear to be obstructionist actions. On the | | | | clear, it is not an indication that those reasons do not |
| political end, the person who is obstructing may be | | | | exist or stem from a lack of intelligence. |