Swartz workshop attendees develop principles for complex change

Participants in an OSR Alumni workshop came together at Seattle University over the weekend of October 18th to talk, learn and develop key principles for dealing with complex change in organizations. The workshop was led by OSR founder, Don Swartz (pictured below), and co-facilitated by alumni from several cohorts: Michelle Alverson, Lucy Garrick, Marilyn Ferguson-Wolf, David Kleweno, Colleen Ponto and Dee Endleman.

On Friday night, Don set the stage for the weekend by providing an overview on the unique issues associated with what he termed "transformational change."

Drawing from the diverse experiences of workshop managers and consultants who work in/with systems ranging from metropolitan school districts to health care, human resources, computer technology, state agencies, financial services, engineering firms, non-profits and public libraries, over 40 complex change dilemmas were identified and grouped in to six key themes:

1.    Setting up change for success
2.    Designing, planning and implementing change while doing daily work
3.    Sustaining the commitment to the change effort
4.    The impact of leaders on change efforts
5.    Preparing ourselves to be change agents
6.    Building relationships to design, implement and sustain change

Working together, participants shared stories, expertise and insights to illuminate dozens of key principles for dealing with complex change. Sharing experiences and expertise across a wide diversity of organizational experience revealed common issues and opportunities.

At one point Don advised the group,  "Beyond what and why, principle-based change should drive 'how-to' solutions for change. Principles of involvement are the same, but how you get there can be different depending on culture, context, country, etc."

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