Informal Coalitions: Mastering the Hidden Dynamics of Organisational Change

Citation

Murphy, A. (2007), "Informal Coalitions: Mastering the Hidden Dynamics of Organisational Change", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 28 No. 5, pp. 483-484. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437730710761760

This book is organised into a preface, eight chapters and a postscript, and has notes, a bibliography and an index. The author, Chris Rodgers, according to the dust cover, works as an independent consultant and business coach in the areas of leadership, change management and organisational dynamics, and is a member of the Complexity Society. He worked with UK National Power during its move to privatisation and in a range of public and private sector contexts.

The aim of the book claims to be to provide managers and leaders with schemas and practical tools to theorise and understand the underlying dynamics of organisations before planning or implementing any programme for change management. Rodgers argues in the preface that this particular book is justified because current models of organisational change are inadequate with regard to how they conceptualise the formal and structural elements of organisations. He argues that current models ignore the real world, underlying cultural dynamics of organisations in general and the shadow‐side dynamics of power‐politics cultures in particular. The book is aimed at line mangers in all types of organisations as well as at external consultants and human resource practitioners. In particular it is aimed at managers in leadership roles who really need an understanding of the complex dynamics of the a‐rational dynamics within their own organisations. It recommends that change leaders think and talk before taking action on the basis of standard paradigms and offers analytical tools, or sense‐making frameworks, to enable the complexities of organisational dynamics to be articulated.

The first chapter presents variations on three conventional ideas about how change happens in organisations: management edict, education and training, and joint problem solving. It argues that these frameworks are inadequate to capture the range of informal coalitions that create particular cultures and power blocks within organisations where political accommodations and social networks are often more influential than management edicts. Rodgers support his arguments with a series of useful diagrams and illustrations that indicate how the paradigm of informal coalitions needs to be added to the three standard views, not to create four discrete paradigms, but to indicate the complexity of relationships between them as they uncover the overlaps in the messy dynamics of any particular organisational context.

The second chapter offers more in‐depth analysis of the ideas presented in the first chapter. The remaining six chapters explore six aspects of what is presented as a new change leadership agenda informed by an informal coalitions view of organisational dynamics. The six elements are presented as: reframing communications, thinking culturally, acting politically, building coalitions, embracing paradox, and providing vision.

The postscript summarises the six aspects of organisational change detailed in the preceding chapters and reinforces the central argument that change programmes in organisations always depend on local interpretations and personal commitment, and that leaders need to proactively engage with the dynamics of coalition formation if they are to understand the paradoxes within organisations. The final message is that managers and leaders should stop using dead‐end traditional rational and structural model of organisational change and instead actively engage with the hidden and messy aspects of informal leadership dynamics.

Generally, the book is written in a highly accessibly style with a genuine effort at clarity of thinking and clarity of presentation. The challenge of representing complexity in flat images is obvious, but good use is made of lists, arrows and overlapping sets. The notes at the end are a useful devise to try to clarify the meanings of terms such as “metaphor”, “paradox”, “patterns”, “mission‐making” and “meaning‐making” in relation to how organisations function. The bibliography is useful for readers who wish to pursue the theoretical underpinnings of the book's argument.

Certainly, this is a worthwhile book for those of us who prefer complexity theory to simplistic reductionism, and it will appeal to the leader reluctant to accept the unquestioned assumptions of traditional change management practice.