Handbook for Strategic HR

CHAPTER 52

The Tao of Change Redux

Robert J. Marshak

Re-Introduction

In 1993-1994, following a series of business trips to Korea and subsequent self-study of traditional Chinese philosophy, I wrote two articles suggesting that organizational change might usefully be thought of as a cyclical and continuous process rather than a linear and episodic one (Marshak, 1993b & 1994). At the time I was noticing shifts in the tempo and demands for change in the organizations I consulted with and found the Lewinian model of change still useful, but somehow limited. I was also intrigued by my Korean experiences with the possibility that the change models used in OD practice might be more culturally bound then recognized at the time. I further wished to raise ...