ABSTRACT
In Chapter 2 we looked at the way that change can be resisted – who resists, why they resist and how they resist change. Anticipating and managing resistance is important preparation for the implementation of change and it is to this that we now turn. Our conversation in the previous chapter with David Maclaren, the Civil Service CEO, gave us some insights into what the implementation of change looks like and feels like from the top – from the strategic apex of a large, privately owned, public service organization. In this chapter we will explore what is meant by strategy and what is involved in implementing strategy. The ability to put yourself in the place of the people affected by change is called empathy. The ability to empathize with the boss is as important as the ability to empathize with other people affected by change. We will look at the rise of strategic management and consider the benefits it held out and the problems it has brought to public services. We will describe a conversational approach to strategic change and a project management approach to operational change. We consider the feasibility and the desirability of changing the culture of public service organizations. Many approaches involve analysis, design, planning and action. Their general form is shown in Table 3.1. The sequence of tasks described in Table 3.1 is common to most rational approaches to implementing change. The structure of the chapter is shown in Figure 3.1.
