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Advisers as External Agents of Change.

Source: Wilson D C & Rosenfeld R H (1990) Managing Organisations; McGraw Hill

Wilson and Rosenfeld (1990) set out a long list of possible reasons for external agents of change not being successful in promoting change. It is not an easy process but neither is it impossible. The following lists gives some of the ways in which an external agent of change has advantages over someone on the inside. External Agents can:

act as "court jesters"

They can poke fun at practices in the organization which others, who are employed within it, cannot voice without fear of repercussions for themselves or their department.

act freely, not tied to office politics

  

get access to a wider range of individuals and departments than internal people can

  

use a wider "vocabulary" than organizational members

They can express organizational events and processes in a new way, expressed in terms unfamiliar to those in the organization. This alone can be a powerful stimulant for critical thinking and a first step towards getting people to think of a different future.

send information around the organization which would be impossible or prohibited to others

  

avoid responsibility, to some extent, if things subsequently go wrong

  

The external agent of change working alone is unlikely to cause significant organizational change. The best strategy is to work with several internal agents of change who are preferably drawn from different departments within the organization. These can provide the external agent with the detailed information which is needed and they can also act as a forum for trying out new ideas. Support from the highest authorities in the school will also be required.

The task then is to mobilise the internal group so as to achieve the "critical mass" of support which will be required before the change can be institutionalised or "refreezed". This latter process can be facilitated by inventing a new vocabulary to describe what happens in the new organizational pattern.

The internal group also have the longer term task of monitoring the extent to which the change is adopted and in keeping the initiative alive so as to prevent slippage back into the old ways.

 

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