Page 106 - Managing Change in Organizations

CarnCh05v3.qxd 3/30/07 4:19 PM Page 89

Social movements and large-scale change
described or understood. Thus the conditions for interactive and diffusive learn-
ing are not satisfied. All too often that is the reality of change management. Thus
instability can follow. Indeed one central and practical conclusion of all of this
thinking is that the best and most effective strategy for strategic change is to make
a few changes and to ensure that they are sustained by investing in learning in
order to consolidate them throughout the organization.

Experience-based design

Certainly in the public service but also increasingly in large multinational organ-
izations there is a growing recognition that current change management models
are no longer adequate or ‘fit for purpose’. These models do not help us deliver
the pace and scale of change required. Experience-based design is one solution.
It is part of a tendency in the field of innovation in service delivery variously
labelled ‘co-design’, ‘participative’ or ‘ interactive’ design. The traditional view of
the service user as a passive recipient gives way to a view of users as co-designers
and as integral to the improvement and innovation process.
Experience-based design is a user-focused design process with the goal of mak-
ing user experiences accessible to designers in order that design focuses on the
experiences created rather than the service to be delivered. Following Bate, Bevan
and Robert (2004) this requires a focus on ‘delivery systems’, pathways and
processes. We need to identify where users come into contact with the service
and where their subjective experience is shaped. Thus ‘experience mapping’ is
different from ‘process mapping’. These authors discuss the application of this
design methodology to healthcare where it seems likely to have important appli-
cation. The key weakness of their approach is that to the extent that the effective
delivery of healthcare involves expertise (clinicians for example) which is based
on long experience, the paper is silent on how you would seek to create a proper
balance between clinicians and users where that would prove needed. By defini-
tion this is most likely in situations where it is hardest to achieve.
But clearly it is necessary to seek a balance between the professional who

delivers service and users whose needs are being addressed. Just because it is dif-
ficult cannot be a reason for not trying. In fire services, police departments, the
armed services and in education we cannot be constantly using experience-based
design. If consumer preferences and expectations change then constant adapta-
tion will be needed. If we are not careful we are designing systems for the
patients, consumers and clients of yesterday, not tomorrow. However, this can-
not be a sound basis for rejecting the experience-based perspective. Clearly it has
some value. The question is one of balance.

Social movements and large-scale change

We have already observed that the organization change literature has not really
embraced the literature on innovation until quite recently. Similarly it has not
sought to build on the ‘social movements’ literature. This is interesting because

89