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Catalyzing Transformation

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Catalyzing Transformation

Making System Change Happen

BEP,

15 min read
10 take-aways
Audio & text

What's inside?

Use transformation catalysts to organize self-aware systems that can handle complex challenges.

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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Bold
  • Visionary

Recommendation

Business strategy professor Sandra Waddock presents innovative processes for changing overall organizational systems. She explains the role of transformation catalysts — leaders, groups, and organizations that help systems change to enable them to tackle complex challenges. Though her scope may be somewhat theoretical or even idealistic, she outlines solid change processes, including connecting (making sense of the system), cohering (creating mutual goals and plans), and amplifying (carrying out, measuring, and polishing transformative action). Waddock sets out strategies that incorporate sustainability to help organizations accomplish the scale of transformation needed to meet their goals.

Summary

Economies must shift away from a singular focus on growth.

Changing economies to embrace stewardship and shared well-being instead of pursuing growth is a daunting challenge. It calls for mustering the tools of systemic transformation, including systems thinking, creativity, collaboration, and new knowledge and skills.

Due to the ongoing “polycrisis” of climate change, natural disasters, and the lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, humanity faces an urgent need to redo its economic approaches. A future of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) triggers human psychological reactions, including “brittleness, anxiety, nonlinearity, and incomprehensibility” (BANI). To guide a steadier path into the future, leaders must develop practical strategies for systemic change, even though it is difficult. Overarching change requires understanding, planning, and executing major shifts within organizations, communities, institutions, and societies.

People and nations should pursue collective benefits, such as a healthy environment.

Prioritizing the good of all living things and the planet itself demands a new cultural framework centered around...

About the Author

Sandra Waddock, PhD, holds the Galligan Chair of Strategy at Boston College’s Carroll School of Management. She has written several other books, including Healing the World: Today's Shamans as Difference Makers and Intellectual Shamans: Management Academics Making a Difference.

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    A. C. 2 weeks ago
    No me gusto tanto. No estoy de acuerdo del todo con el palnatamiento, no obstante tiene temas por rescatar.