Changing Conversations in Organizations: A Complexity Approach to Change by Patricia Shaw (2002)

The book "Changing Conversations in Organizations" by Patricia Shaw explores a complexity-informed approach to organizational change that focuses on the self-organizing and emergent properties of conversation. Shaw suggests that real change happens through the ongoing, everyday conversations and interactions between people in organizations rather than through structured change programs or interventions designed and controlled by management.

The book illustrates, through detailed stories and reflections from Shaw's consulting practice, how shifts in conversation patterns—including the themes, power dynamics, relationships, and meanings that arise—are vital transformational processes in organizations. Shaw encourages staying with the paradoxical and unpredictable nature of conversational processes, acting as a participant rather than an objective observer or controller.

Overall, the book advocates for a participative and improvisational approach to change work that taps into the ordinary yet powerful conversational life of organizations. It challenges systemic models of change in favor of engaging with the complex social processes of human relating and meaning-making in the present.

Resources

• PDF: Changing Conversations in Organizations: A Complexity Approach to Change by Patricia Shaw

 
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