On Drivers and Obstacles to Changes in Organizations

Drivers for changes within organizations are many. They can be broad, such as an upturn or downturn of the economic situation, technological or technical improvement, social or cultural shift, etc., or more discrete, such as political influences within and around organizations, process improvements, mistakes made by employees, etc.

At the same time, there is only one major obstacle to changes. It is people working in organizations, no matter whether they fill managerial or operational positions. Their mindsets, developed within a specific organizational culture and ingrained in the trajectory set by historical heritage, foster stability in order to get predictability, thus creating routines and rigidity as a result.