Culture - Intertwingled: Information Changes Everything - page 90

Levers of Change
Early in my career, I designed some fancy information architectures that were never built, and
others that failed to stand the test of time. I had a freshly minted degree in library science and
knew all sorts of ways to structure and organize information, but I didn't realize the value of the
right fit. My designs were technically elegant but culturally clumsy. I paid scant attention to
silos, subcultures, and reward-and-status systems. My clients paid the price. On the bright side,
they learned valuable lessons about change. In The Fifth Discipline, Peter Senge argues for sys-
tems thinking as the basis for learning organizations, and defines eleven laws, including:
The cure can be worse than the disease.
The harder you push, the harder the system pushes back.
The easy way out usually leads back in. cx
One of the most useful things I've learned in twenty years of consulting is that change is surpris-
ingly difficult. Most interventions fail to stick. Organizations get all jazzed up about the way
things could be only to revert to the way things are.
Figure 4-8. The power of organizational inertia.
This is discouraging, but lasting change is possible if we work to understand the source of iner-
tia. As Peter Senge explains “Resistance is a response by the system, trying to maintain an impli-
cit system goal. Until this goal is recognized, the change effort is doomed to failure.” cxi Senge
also offers a word of encouragement. “Small changes can produce big results, but the areas of
highest leverage are often the least obvious.” cxii
His insights capture my experience as an information architect precisely. In recent years, I've
learned to search for a fit and to look for the levers. I aim to align my design with culture, and to
the extent that a cultural shift is desirable, I look for sources of power while cultivating my own
humility. My approach to intervention is inspired by the wisdom of Edgar Schein.
Culture is deep. If you treat it as a superficial phenomenon, if you assume that you can manipulate it and
change it at will, you are sure to fail . cxiii
Schein warns us to “never start with the idea of changing a culture,” cxiv but to begin with busi-
ness goals and enlist culture as an ally when possible.