Cracking The Code Of Change Leadership Analysis

In today’s global environment, businesses are becoming rapidly complex and changing the fundamental way their companies operate. Subsequently, businesses need to constantly redevelop how their workforce and strategy to stay relevant. However, the vast majority of change initiatives in organizations dramatically fail. This can directly be attributed to the lack of understanding of how change initiatives must be conducted by organizations’ leadership teams. The article, Cracking the Code of Change, written by Nitin Nohria and Michael Beer, discusses the two main change management philosophies of Theory E and Theory O. These theories help business leaders fully implement change initiatives which will drive the success of the organization for …show more content…
The strategy behind Theory O encompasses nurturing the corporate culture and providing individualized opportunities. These transformational experiences encourage a culture of feedback, which creates an atmosphere of open dialogue. When executives take the Theory O approach to change, they are investing in the current employee base by fostering a multi-beneficial relationship with employees to drive engagement, satisfaction, and motivation. Throughout a company’s lifetime, there will be scenarios when Theory E is the preference, and others when Theory O is the preferred method. According to the article, Cracking the Code of Change, the authors describe six dimensions of change: goals, leadership, focus, process, reward system, and use of consultants. Further, Nohria and Beer describe how Theory E and Theory O individually relate to the dimensions of change. There are certain conditions which Theory E and Theory O are best aligned to the critical dimensions of …show more content…
This gives employees the opportunity to become emotionally connected to the organization, ultimately improving the business’s performance. This type of change initiative could be used in an organization which constant innovation is necessary. For example, many technology organizations in Silicon Valley are looking for the next best thing. By embracing this type of leadership, subordinates can feel free to express their opinions and ideas to contribute to the greater good of the company. Even though Theory E and Theory O are in-nature opposites, managers can successfully and simultaneously implement both theories of change. Leaders must always be thinking of the future, and theorize how the decisions they make today will impact the business tomorrow. The best leaders always have a strategy in mind, and if that strategy fails are agile enough to change course to develop a stronger approach. At the end of the day, the best leaders are those who integrate Theory E and Theory O to find the optimal level for their