20) 4. Ongoing sense-making

Ongoing sense-making will require Boeing's leaders to learn from the cues they have previously extracted, and apply what they have learned to change initiatives in the future. For example, if turns out that their new global product strategies are causing frustration and resentment among employees because they require extra work with no extra compensation, then they will need to learn from this mistake and make efforts to circumvent problems like this in the future. Change is an ongoing process and so is learning.

5. Retrospection

In order to make sense of certain situations -- especially those that involve uncomfortable or unfamiliar changes -- people often take a retrospective approach to how they view the situation. In other words, they look back at how similar situations have been handled in the past, and what the outcomes were, and apply those to what is happening in the present. For example, they may remember that the last time Boeing replaced many of its top executives, company morale and production improved dramatically. Remembering this can help them feel less anxious about the fact that their own supervisor has just been replaced.

6. Plausibility

Executives do not want to lie to their employees or shareholders,...

At the same time, they need to sound believable or they will lose trust. It is a fine line between sugar-coating a situation to make it more palatable and drowning it in sweetness to the point that it bears no resemblance to the truth.
7. Enactment

This is where sense-making becomes an action rather than simply an ideal. Implementing change is a complex and challenging process that requires a great deal of preparation. But once the preparations are made, it is time to put them to good use and make things happen.

8. Projection

This final element requires managers to use their leadership power to project sense-making onto the situation in such a way that they are able to shape perceptions. Boeing has used this element to its advantage in the way it has presented its internal upheaval as a step toward positive change.

References

"Boeing Commercial Airplanes Leadership to Focus on Execution Today and Into the Future" (2010, January 28) CNNMoney.com. Retrieved 2 February 2010 from http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/SF45809.htm

Helms-Mills, J., Dye, K. & Mills, A.J. (2008) Understanding organizational change, Taylor & Francis