Methodology
An organisation is an information network more akin to a living system than a machine. Nevertheless, much of business theory takes more of a machine-based approach to organisational management. Whereas machines can be controlled, living systems make their own choices about what to do and can only be ‘disturbed’ – influenced through impulses rather than orders. The issue in guiding such systems lies in meaning; and ensuring that individuals find their own path to meaning. Meaningful disturbances will get their attention and trigger structural changes, so by giving meaningful impulses, rather than over detailed action plans (which are alien to ‘living organisms’), Viral Change facilitates the spread of influence across a peer to peer network.
Viral Change methodology also considers what degree of collective collaboration is already present in an organisation. Collective goals, and the sharing of knowledge and learning (beyond formal job descriptions), through processes that are semi invisible and often spontaneous, leads to the development of informal communities of interest or practice. This helps the organisation move from a designed/formal structure (teams/ formal structures) to spontaneous collaborative (connections between individuals) structures.
The main components of Viral Change are Language (the framing of the direction), behaviours (the real vehicle of change), social tipping points (the sudden appearance of changes after initial imitations) and new routines (new culture, new ways of doing). The main communication and ‘currency’ of Viral Change is stories. Stories spread rapidly through the organisation and are powerful vehicles to convey that change is happening and trigger further imitation.
The viral spread of new behaviours is modelled by a relatively small critical mass of carefully chosen activists or change champions. Contact between infective and receptive people is carefully planned. To some extent the success of Viral Change in achieving change relies on the fact that human beings are natural modellers. Through these skills of unconsciously modelling (psychology) the behaviour of others, imitations and new behaviours are spread throughout the organisation and the new behaviour soon becomes the norm. The tipping point effect means that the new behaviour can appear suddenly, particularly if there are robust connections and enough ‘low threshold’ people who ‘catch’ the new behaviour.
Read more about this topic: Viral Change
Famous quotes containing the word methodology:
“One might get the impression that I recommend a new methodology which replaces induction by counterinduction and uses a multiplicity of theories, metaphysical views, fairy tales, instead of the customary pair theory/observation. This impression would certainly be mistaken. My intention is not to replace one set of general rules by another such set: my intention is rather to convince the reader that all methodologies, even the most obvious ones, have their limits.”
—Paul Feyerabend (1924–1994)