Issue link: https://industrialmanagement.epubxp.com/i/656209
28 Industrial Management In one way or another, we all have heard the saying by the Greek philosopher Heraclitus that "the only thing constant is change." Change is the name of the game if you are an organization wishing to improve your production to increase revenue or achieve other organizational goals. Change to any one person can be a daunting task if that person is left alone to implement change. Small collective groups often wish for change, but many times that desire never makes it off the wish list. It is the quote by Heraclitus that brings up an interesting analogy. Think of a top, the toy that spins rapidly on flat surfaces. As portrayed in Figure 1, if you were to put some kind of marking at the very bottom where the top touches the table and spins, the marking would only rotate in place. A change in position has not occurred; it has only rotated. If a similar marking were to be placed high up on the top, the marking would change its position as it rotates. The principles of change are unchanging. They are the same principles that are causing change to happen. These principles are not particular to any one school of thought, religion or textbook, which all are sources that suggest great programs and values that can make change happen. But they all have overlapping principles that rely on each other in order for success. In light of these principles, acting principally has different meanings to different individuals. For the sake of understanding and benefits for yourself, as the reader, the meaning of principles depends on your personal ideals or beliefs. Principles themselves are also unchanging. They can be seen as funda- mental truths. To continue using the analogy of the spinning top, if we move further up the top, the rate of change increases. We can label these other points as things like strategies, goals, technology, government regulations, competition and other things that make an impact within your organization. These are things that change, but they change at different rates. Being able to The entire cultural paradigm must shift, a shift that we suggest can only be enacted through principles. understand how change occurs can be very beneficial to any group looking to improve. Only principles can shift the culture Change is not a new subject to the scien- tific world, as volumes of research have been completed in the field of organi- zational change management. Beyond the extensive years of research, organiza- tions across the world hold numerous meetings in their endeavors to change in one way or another. It would be ideal if an organization could find out that one thing it could change to grow margins, increase revenue and boost employee morale. Such results are the ideal for any organi- zation. But the knowledgeable industrial manager knows that it takes more than one change. Instead, the entire cultural paradigm must shift, a shift that we suggest can only be enacted through principles. In the last 100 years, many researchers have investigated change. Perhaps one of the most popular inves- tigations is a 1947 study by Kurt Lewin. Lewin sought an answer to social change as far as how groups of people are understood. He suggested that one first ought to distinguish the lack of change occurring and the resistance thereto. One should measure this lack of change against the background of potential change. Lewin also discovered that it usually is easier to change individuals formed into a group than to change any one of them separately. As long as the group values are unchanged, the individual will resist changes more strongly the farther he or she is asked to depart from group standards. Lewin also suggested the idea of permanency being part of the objective of change. Lewin's study is foundational but old. Since Lewin's study, many others have built upon the principles of change. Peer-reviewed journals on organiza- tional change are great places to find thousands of examples of people and organizations who have tried and imple- mented change. These journals also are a resource to find differing philosophies on implementing change in ways that make a positive impact on employees and management. A second research application is geared toward applications to addictive behaviors. The principles of change remain the same, however. Any student of business or health could recite the stages of change as explained in the 1992 article "How People Change: The Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change" by P. Mastrangelo, J. Prochaska and J. Prochaska. The stages move us through pre-contemplation of change, to maintaining the change through to preventing relapse to old ways or thinking. As the Mastrangelo paper concludes, "The stages of change PRINCIPLES ARE CONSTANT Figure 1. Like the bottom of a top spinning on a table, the principles of change don't change position. At most they rotate in place. However, your organization's needs and goals could alter what technology and strategies your enterprise uses, along with the applicable laws and regulations. Technology Goals Strategy Laws and regulations Principles