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McCalman, Paton and Seibert do an admirable job of packing this text with change management concepts that cover the full gamut of current socio-technical studies. It is a refreshing departure from “positivists’ change manuals” insofar as it deals with the validity of competing narratives, as well as the politics and ethics of change. The book serves students and practitioners, outlining technical tools and techniques as well as offering people management and organizational development philosophies.
This book will appeal to aspiring executives from technical fields, newly minted professionals and experienced consultants with various specialties, and people leading as well as experiencing change in organizations. For example, the aspiring executive may be drawn to the discussion of leadership in Chapter 4, where McCalman et al. (2016) indicate that “leaders initiate and build culture; managers maintain culture […] leaders are social construction; managers are given the position by the organization” (p. 67), “leaders are focused on changing the meaning system and cultural themes of the organization to frame and define the reality of others, changing how [they] talk about things” (p. 71), as well the opportunity to assess themselves against the “characteristics of transformational leaders” (p. 79). The aspiring management consultant and the change agent in situ may be drawn to Chapters 2 and 5, filled with deliberations on the responsibility to add value to the organization and the internal vs external change agent...