- Leandro Herrero - https://leandroherrero.com -

Change management theories have only interpreted the organizational world. The point however is to actually change it.

Since we all love conceptual frames, it is not surprising that in the area of ‘change management’ there are a few of those competing with each other. Method A versus method B compete on logic but also on cost, on popularity and on outcomes.

Most of those conceptual frames were conceived at a time when the world looked and was more predictable and linear. In that world, to have ‘steps’ made sense. You do this first, then you do that, then etc. Hardly our world today where everything is non linear, non predictable and very complex and ambiguous.

When even strategy gurus declare ‘the death of strategic planning’ in the sense of similar, linear long term planning,  it makes no sense to have ‘change management methods’ that use a logic of linearity and somehow  predictability.

In fact, the ‘change management method’ is dead. We need (mobilizing) platforms that ‘when installed’ create the conditions for any change and the execution of any strategy. It is change-ability that matters, a permanent state of readiness. Viral Change™ [1]  of course does precisely that.

Often when expressed this way some people think we are just changing the name, but this is far from reality. The platform, as ‘operating system’ is much more than a method to go from A to Z. It has a set of rules and principles, a logic of action, new and different players, and, in Viral Change™, the mastering of  the informal organization and a particular form of leadership that we call Backstage Leadership™.

The emphasis of the platform is a praxis, a practical application.

If we were to use a philosophical analogy, it would be Marx’s famous quote from the Eleven Thesis on Feuerback: The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it.