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The Meaning of Change
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Change is about alteration, difference, innovation, metamorphosis, modification, mutation, permutation, revolution, transformation, transition, transmutation, conversion, substitution, and exchange.
Change means making things different. Smit & Cronje define organisational change as ‘a process through which any organisation takes on new ideas to become different’.
The reality is that organisations undertake change in response to changes in the environment. Regardless of the scope and magnitude of change, most organisations experience change in a negative way first. We often hear the following phrases in boardrooms and corridors:
- 'They will resist it.'
- ‘This is going to be disruptive and will cost us a lot of money.’
- ‘It might just turn out worse than what we have now.’
- ‘We’re just not sure if this is right thing to do.’
- ‘Even if we do OK with this change, we just know there’ll be another one coming soon.’
In the next paragraphs we will explore factors that cause organisations to change, whether in reaction to or in anticipation of, as well as the nature and types of change.