Creating the conditions for change a cybernetic participatory framework

Change in organisations is inevitable, especially in challenging economic times. Recognising that we need to engage our people in change initiatives not only facilitates buy in, it can also enable us to use the knowledge and insights that our people have to identify and embrace new ideas for transformation leading to long term viability. The literature is awash with models and theories of change, but few explain how to create and embed the conditions for change that enable stakeholder engagement, coordination of initiatives and sustainability of the management of change within organisations. Managerial cybernetics is the science of effective organisation, but little work has been undertaken to utilise managerial cybernetics in the design of change intervention which both engages those affected or embraces creativity techniques as part of the cybernetic change framework. Using action research, this thesis explores a number of organisational situations and the framework for cybernetic participatory intervention that engages stakeholders both in the design and implementation of change. The framework is refined and used within increasingly complex situations involving multiple change initiatives, multi company initiatives and cross industry initiatives. The framework embeds creativity tools to both engage stakeholders and enhance understanding of the situational context, allowing for new and enhanced situations to emerge. The thesis describes the application of the cybernetic participatory intervention framework in five specific contexts and goes on to present the framework as a model for others to use for the design of change interventions for their own situation.