Unplanned change: Naturally occurring and spontaneous change that is part of a developmental process, or results from the seemingly unrelated and uncoordinated decisions and actions of many people and systems. Often the most pervasive change confronting organizations.

Planned change: An intentional process that is guided and directed by a "change agent." It is a conscious and deliberate intervention designed to alter a specific situation. Sometimes it is initiated to respond to "unplanned" changes that impact the organizations.

First-order change: incremental modifications that make sense within the organization's already accepted perspectives or frameworks for understanding.

Second-order change: qualitative, discontinuous shifts in the frameworks themselves, in the way organizational members understand significant dimensions of the organization and its work.

Projects: Specific sets of short-term, results oriented activities providing support or direct services in response to unique conditions, problems, needs, or issues in the organizational or community context.

Programs: Relatively permanent structures designed to meet the ongoing needs of clients and to carry out the policies that are intended to meet community or organizational goals.

Policies: Guidelines that govern how the organization operates. Policies can be either formal (written down and clearly specified in policy manual) or informal (implicit, unwritten rules about how the organization should operate).

Change agent: The person who feels a change it needed and takes steps to initiate the change. As a social work practitioner, YOU will likely be the change agent but not always.  Sometimes you may find yourself as part of the target system.

Action system: The people and resources you need to organize and deploy to make the change happen (including yourself).

Innovation proposal: The basic idea you want to implement.

Action plan: A detailed blueprint for how to go about achieving the desired change.

Innovation--A departure from existing practices or technologies. Often represents a significant departure from the state of the art at the time it appears. The introduction of something novel. Most often centers on production technology.

Change--Variation or alteration in form, state, quality, or essence. In organizations, change usually refers to alterations of resources, distribution of power, the internal structure and/or processes of the organization, attitudes and behaviors of organizations participants, or organizational culture (beliefs, rituals, symbols).

"Spontaneous" Contagion Model

Pà Partial Target Systemà General Target System
 

Decision making Unit Model

Pà Partial Target Systemà Decision making Unità General Target System

Setting: where the innovation will be introduced.

Innovation: a departure from existing practices or technologies

General target: the ultimate target for diffusion of the innovation

Proximate target (short-term): moderate, tangible objectives that can be attained in the short term.

Partial target: a sub-part of the general target

Transfer mechanism: how will the innovation be introduced.

Innovation: A departure from existing practices or technologies. Often represents a significant departure from the state of the art at the time it appears. The introduction of something novel. Most often centers on production technology. Types of innovation include:

• Invention of a novel tool or technology.
• Adaptation by modifying an existing tool or technology.
• Novel application of an existing tool or technology for a different purpose.
• Adoption of an existing tool or technology by a different group for the same purpose for which it was developed.

Conceptualize the macro practice environment

Macro client system

• The change agent system
• The target system
• The action system

• Size: How many members
• Who: Characteristics of members

    Good communication skills
    Ability to work with others
    Comparable power differences
    Specialized skills and/or sustained effort

Funding: How much will it cost? Do we have or can we raise the financial support?

Personnel: Do we have the human resources? Are they willing to work for change?

Physical infrastructure: Office space, building, transportation?

Commitment: Do we have support of key constituents?

Goals: Desired ends toward which organizations and their members work.

Plan: A method for achieving goals and objectives. It provides direction for the change effort.

Implementation: The process of putting a plan into action.

 Communicating with decision-makers

• Evaluation should be part of the plan

• It should be continuous

• It should focus on progress toward goals

• It should focus on effectiveness of intervention

• It should address end results

 
Depth: the level at which the change effort is focused.

• Procedural--rules and procedures

• Programmatic--services provided through programs

• Basic--core objectives of the system

• Component--individual or small group within organization

• Subsystem--entire subsystem of the organization

• System--all internal and external organizational members

  

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