People who strive to set things in motion within corporations and
organizations, be it as managers or consultants, encounter stubborn
resistance. Even though new strategies have been adopted, the desired
changes do not materialize. A reorganization that was intended to
finally produce clarity, creates only a new round of confusion. Wolfgang
Schnelle, co-founder of the consulting firm Metaplan, learned from four
decades of experience in the field that it pays to think of
organizations and strategy within the context of opinions, interests,
and power and trust relationships. His approach draws on organizational
sociology and helps to shed light on the diverse realities of the
players involved. If anything is to be accomplished, these realities
must be moved toward convergence. Organizational and strategy
consultants using a discursive approach think of themselves as leaders
of processes that create shared understanding. This approach allows them
to spot resistance early and overcome it through argumentation and
discourse. New and often surprising opportunities for action emerge. The
new concepts can then be implemented faster, because thought processes
have taken place in the minds of those who will subsequently perform the
actions.
