Why Organizational Change Fails

Organizations change. And sometimes they don’t change – at least not exactly as we would like them to. This usually prompts people to initiate a new change or adopt a different approach. It rarely gives cause to reflect on why things have remained as they were, or on why they have not changed in the way we would have liked them to.

This book is about the boundaries of changeability, or the unchangeable side of organizations. What is it that makes organizations resistant to change? What role do people play in this process? What does power do in all this? Which system characteristics protect that which is in place? And, at the same time, does unchangeability serve a purpose – does it have value?

To answer these and other questions, the authors derive inspiration from essays by leading scientists from nine other fields of knowledge, including biology, linguistics, architecture and philosophy. The authors arrive at the conclusion that the unchangeable side is necessary for the survival of organizations and that respecting this unchangeable side will serve change agents better than holding on to the illusion of unbounded malleability.