The first and only guide to diagnosing and dealing with the hidden or covert factors that can ruin even the most meticulously planned change processes.
Organizational change initiatives often fail because they focus exclusively on the rational, overt aspects of change, overlooking the powerful role played by concealed or irrational factors. It s well known that these covert processes such as hidden agendas, blind spots, office politics, tacit assumptions, secret hopes, wishes and fears frequently sabotage change efforts, but up until now nobody has offered a rigorous, consistent way of identifying and dealing with them.
Drawing on over thirty years of experience as an organizational change consultant to global corporations and government agencies, Robert J. Marshak shows precisely how to bring these hidden processes to light and deal with their negative impact. Marshak identifies five different dimensions of covert processes, presents an integrated model to explain the ultimate source of all of them, and shows how to diagnose whether any covert processes might be at work in your organization. He then offers specific tools and techniques for engaging and managing these under-the-table processes and for creating the kind of organizational environment in which such hidden dynamics are unable to flourish. Covert Processes at Work is a comprehensive and practical guide that managers, leaders, and consultants can use to deal with the hidden dynamics that are often at the root of many organizational problems.
Adding these tools will take both your practice and your clients to a whole new level of capability and impact. Karen Boylston, PhD, Managing Director, Duke Corporate Education
Organizational change initiatives often fail because they focus exclusively on the rational, overt aspects of change, overlooking the powerful role played by concealed or irrational factors. It s well known that these covert processes such as hidden agendas, blind spots, office politics, tacit assumptions, secret hopes, wishes and fears frequently sabotage change efforts, but up until now nobody has offered a rigorous, consistent way of identifying and dealing with them.
Drawing on over thirty years of experience as an organizational change consultant to global corporations and government agencies, Robert J. Marshak shows precisely how to bring these hidden processes to light and deal with their negative impact. Marshak identifies five different dimensions of covert processes, presents an integrated model to explain the ultimate source of all of them, and shows how to diagnose whether any covert processes might be at work in your organization. He then offers specific tools and techniques for engaging and managing these under-the-table processes and for creating the kind of organizational environment in which such hidden dynamics are unable to flourish. Covert Processes at Work is a comprehensive and practical guide that managers, leaders, and consultants can use to deal with the hidden dynamics that are often at the root of many organizational problems.
Adding these tools will take both your practice and your clients to a whole new level of capability and impact. Karen Boylston, PhD, Managing Director, Duke Corporate Education
As a large-scale change consultant who has used the insights and tools from the Covert Processes Model for over a decade with many Fortune 100 companies, I know that adding these tools to your change management toolkit will take both your practice and your clients to a whole new level of capability and impact.
Karen Boylston, PhD, Managing Director, Duke Corporate Education
This is a rare book from a grandmaster of OD. Marshak combines scholarship with unrivalled field experience, addressing universal, persistent, but usually ignored issues in organizational change and development. This is an invaluable book for students, theorists, and practitioners of this field; it is destined to become a classic.
Dr Loizos Heracleous, Official Fellow of Templeton College, Oxford University
Marshak has written a book that provides framing and perspectives with moral intricacies. It is a must-read for understanding the realities of organizational change.
Brenda B. Jones, Coeditor, The NTL Handbook for Organization Development and Change, and former Board Chair, OD Network
Karen Boylston, PhD, Managing Director, Duke Corporate Education
This is a rare book from a grandmaster of OD. Marshak combines scholarship with unrivalled field experience, addressing universal, persistent, but usually ignored issues in organizational change and development. This is an invaluable book for students, theorists, and practitioners of this field; it is destined to become a classic.
Dr Loizos Heracleous, Official Fellow of Templeton College, Oxford University
Marshak has written a book that provides framing and perspectives with moral intricacies. It is a must-read for understanding the realities of organizational change.
Brenda B. Jones, Coeditor, The NTL Handbook for Organization Development and Change, and former Board Chair, OD Network