Changes and Principles of Adaptation Essay

Abstract

There is a sudden embracing of change in every sector in our life. Global warming, corporate change in the advent of technology and change in the cultural setup of people. All these have begged many questions regarding dynamism. This paper tries to analyze the diverse perspectives regarding the change. Whether it brings about adaptation is one of them. It also looks at principles of effective change brought forth by different people and makes comparisons.

Introduction

Change has become the norm everywhere; people, organizations, governments, activists and even individuals are adapting to the dynamism that is everywhere. Glover, et al.(2002) in their contribution to the Organization Development Journal give principles of being adaptive and argue that change is not enough. This paper tries to analyze their arguments on this topic with comparison to others.

Change is Insufficient

Changing is one thing, adapting to it is another thing and coping with the overall transition presents an even bigger challenge. This seems to be the bottom line of part one of the Organization Development Journal by Glover, et al. (2002). They believe that some change initiatives are maladaptive than adaptive. A U.S Navy officer who underwent training of different kinds but saw no change is one perfect example. In their book, Leicester and O’hara (2009) argue, on the contrary, that change will bring adaptation. Once the change is there adaptation will present itself unknowingly or coercively. Global warming is one particular example. Since most people cook using firewood in third world countries, the vagaries of global warming are going to force a change or there will be no firewood anymore and unknowingly people are going to start using other forms of energy.

The advent of the failure of some American companies has brought about the debate on conceptual emergency. The argument put forth by Leicester and O’hara (2009) is that changing the ownership of the companies and nationalizing them will make no difference because adaptation will present a whole new challenge. The people affected do not have to avert their investment orientations since adaptation to a new environment is a challenge (Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner, 2001).

Principles of Adaptation

Glover et al. (2002) put forth four principles of adapting to a new environment. Knowledge management is one of them is the process of identification, creation and representation strategies and practices. These are ways of doing things adopted in an organization to help them cope with the changes that may come their way and help new employees acclimatize (Northouse, 1997). They also suggest that being aware of the cultural setting is another tool for adapting to a new environment. For instance, it is illogical to sell pork in a Muslim environment. Therefore to be able to survive in a new setting the issue of the beliefs of the people must be considered, whether you are an individual or an organization that seeks to engage in business (Haeckel, 2002).

To be an effective leader a person has to have the power to reap the best from the setting that he finds himself in as much as it is filled with multiple and diverse people. Reaping the best from diversity is the pillar upon which a prolific leader is founded. A country like Kenya has so many tribes and only one tribe from the Rift Valley province produces the glory that Kenya always basks in at the Olympics and other track events. Others have the capacity to do other things only if not led to disintegration like the one witnessed after the country’s general election in 2007 (Leicester and O’hara, 2009).

An effective leader should also be able to see beyond the obvious and what is normal to everyone and scan the horizon for more. This is termed as adaptive vision and is argued by Glover, et al. (2002). This entails waiting for and predicting future conditions that affect the sustainability of the present or the future.

References

1. Glover, J. et al. (2002). Adaptive leadership: when change is not enough: Four principles of being adaptive. Organization Development Journal, 20(7), 1-34.
2. Haeckel, S. (2002). Adaptive Enterprise. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
3. Leicester, G., and O’hara, M. (2009). Ten Things to do in a Conceptual Emergency. London: Oxford Press.
4. Northouse, P., (1997). Leadership: theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
5. Trompenaars, F., and Hampden-Turner, C. (2001). 21 Leaders for the 21^st century. Oxford: Capstone.