ABSTRACT
In the management of organisational change it has often been said that deciding what the state of the future organisation should be is the easy part: 90 per cent of the problem is how to get there. This is an exaggeration perhaps, but none the less a salutary reminder. It seems perfectly rational to start by defining the desired outcome - the task for which consultants are often hired - and then to plan the requisite steps for implementation. Managers tend to discover, however, that the planned route is littered with unforeseen obstacles - not least, resistance to change - and all too often the result falls far short of expectations.
