THINKING ABOUT ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE: TOWARDS TWO KINDS OF PROCESS INTERVENTION

An approach for thinking about, and intervening in, organizational change processes is developed which tries to achieve a balance between the naiveté of popular linear approaches to change and the complexity of metaphoric models that have been suggested in the recent academic literature. Two concepts, mind‐set and paradox, are advanced with the aim of encouraging reflective thinking among organizational members. An application of the concepts in a specific organizational setting is provided. This paper provides both researchers and managers with a renewed vocabulary, enabling them to better understand the processes that are set in motion by planned organizational change.