“Blindsided by that one” and “I saw that one coming”: The relative anticipation and occurrence of communication problems and other problems in implementers' hindsight

Abstract

While the change literature is rife with cautionary notes about the potential problems associated with change in organizations, and some reasonably well‐developed theoretical explanations for their existence, we lack an empirical description indicating the relative frequency with which implementers recognize a variety of problems. This article presents results from a study of eighty‐nine implementers from organizations that are widely geographically dispersed and from a range of sectors. Findings suggest that among the challenges faced by implementers, problems centrally concerned with communication rank among some of the most problematic. The study also found that implementers, on average, over‐anticipate problems and associate perceived accuracy and over‐anticipation with success. Further, these data are suggestive of implementers’ views that participation in implementation decision‐making by lower‐level staff is desirable, but perhaps not critical to success.

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