13.3 Managing Change and some Transparency

In chapter 11, Cheney et al, discuss the management of change. They talk about the Adaptive Approach to creating change in an organization. Scholar Michael Beer and his colleagues recommended five steps to effective change in management: 1. Mobilize a commitment to change; 2. Develop a shared vision; 3. Spread revitalization to all departments; 4. Institutionalize revitalization through formal policies; and 5. Monitor and adjust strategies.

President-Elect Obama and his transition team have carefully orchestrated an impressive example of Beers five steps to effective change in the current economic crisis:
1. He was elected into office with 'change' as the motto of his campaign
2. He has repeatedly stated that his concern is for 'main street' and that the middle class need help
3. He has swiftly mobilized an impressive team of economic advisors and cabinet members to focus on the economic crisis
4. He has either proposed or commented on policies that will or should be enacted in the near future
5. He has stated many times that he is in constant communications with the current administration and that he and his team will be ready to act when he begins his presidency in January

Another aspect to this presidency that I have come to admire is the appearance of transparency. In my project for this course I wrote about the transparency of organizations. The Obama team has been utilizing the web not only for garnering millions of dollars in donations, but they have interacted with their constituents by asking them to make phone calls and coordinate informational meetings in their neighborhoods (before the election). I still receive emails from the campaign and visited the web site today. It was a call to action for me to view the latest press conference by President-Elect Obama. What was interesting about this link was not this particular video, but the other videos that were available for me to view. I spent another 15 minutes watching at least three other video clips. One of them showed a meeting of advisors from the transition team discussing issues of energy and the environment. The ability to listen to this person and hear the philosophies of the team leaders was very impressive. Take a look at the video here.