Strategies For Implementing Change: An Experiential Approach
An attitude survey and role-playing scenario were used to identify the approaches people use to implement important changes in organizations. The typical strategy, suggested or used by over 90% of the subjects, was not successful in producing change in any of the fourteen role-playing trials. However, with ten minutes of instruction in the “Delta Technique,” 86% of the subjects were successful in introducing change in another fourteen role-playing trials. [Excerpted from record]
This article focuses on an experiential approach to strategies for change, and discusses two strategies for change; one most commonly used, and the Delta Technique.
An attitude survey and a role-playing experiment showed that the typical approach to change is the “rational” approach, where “rational” is defined from the change agent’s viewpoint. The rational approach implies that the target of the change is irrational.
The Delta Technique removes outside forces on the client and assists the client in going through the “unfreezing” (creates stress to examine one’s current beliefs), “changing” (where the change agent should assist the client in developing a low-risk approach to change), and “refreezing” phases (once change is accomplished, the new behavior should be rewarded).
The Delta Technique can also help identify possible change projects and in the implementation of useful change. It is appropriate in cases where management sees a problem, but the desired change conflicts with current beliefs, and it is unnecessary where change is consistent with an organization’s perceptions of its mission.