Transformational Change requires Personal Transformation
February 29, 2004 by admin
There is a really interesting book by Robert E. Quinn, Deep Change. Figure 14.1 on page 123 is very interesting. Read the book to see Quinn's insights on these three paradigms. It sure puts a lot of things into understandable context. The bold highlights are mine.
| Individual Contributor: | Manager: | Leader: | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Three Paradigms of Organizational Life: | Technical paradigm | Transactional paradigm | Transformational paradigm |
| First objective | Personal survival | Personal survival | Vision realization |
| Nature of organization | Technical system | Political system | Moral system |
| Source of power | Technical competence | Effective transactions | Core values |
| Source of credibility | Technical standards | Organizational position | Behavioral integrity |
| Orientation to authority | Cynical | Responsive | Self-authorizing |
| Orientation to elite | Rational confrontation | Compromise | Complex confrontation |
| Orientation to planning | Rational-tactical | Rational-strategic | Action learning |
| Communication patterens | Factual | Conceptual | Symbolic |
| Strategic complexity | Simple | Complex | Highly complex |
| Behavior patterns | Conventional | Conventional | Unconventional |
| Ease of understanding | Comprehensible | Comprehensible | Nearly incomprehensible |
| Source of paradigm | Professional training | Administrative socialization | Personal rebirth |
Please understand that transactional paradigm includes the technical paradigm and that the transformational paradigm includes both the technical and transactional. Developmentally the technical paradigm comes first and is not necessarily accompanied by the transactional or transformational wisdoms.
If deep or transformational change requires commitment to realizing a vision (that does not exist in reality yet), if it requires “action learning” (something poorly understood generally), if it requires highly complex strategy (when highly simplistic strategy is the best one commonly sees), and if it requires “personal rebirth” something usually left to religious and spiritual realms… well there is work to do.
