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p.541 This article extends the understanding of producing intentional change by developing a framework for considering change as a communication-based and communication-driven phenomenon. More specifically, it focuses on the types of conversations that managers use to create, sustain, focus, and complete a change. We assert that this framework provides a new perspective for understanding change and the change process... and an increased likelihood of producing successful intentional changes in the workplace.
p.542-543 Producing change is not a process that uses communication as a tool, but rather it is a process that is created, produced, and maintained by and within communication (Donnellon, 1986)
In this article, we seek to firmly establish communication as the very medium within which change occurs... we propose that four different types of conversations are pivotal in producing intentional changes and that each type of conversation plays a distinctly different role in advancing the change process... It is our assertion that intentional change is produced through the development of these conversations and that a change agent's effectiveness in producing an intentional change can be increased through the effective application of these conversations.
p.546 An initiative conversation relies on assertions, directives, commissives, and declarations to focus listeners' attention on what could or should be done.
p.548 Conversations for understanding are generally characterized by assertions (Scherr, 1989) and expressives; that is, claims are made, evidence and testimony given, hypotheses examined, beliefs and feelings explored, and contentions maintained. Through these conversations, people seek to comprehend the situation and determine cause-effect relationships (Mintzberg et al., 1976); work to make sense of the issue, problem, or opportunity; and move the matter forward (Dutton & Ashford, 1993)... Problems are formulated, alternatives are generated and evaluated, and choices are made in both a linear and nonlinear fashion
p.548 Conversations for understanding produce three important by-products for the change process. The first and most substantive byproduct is the specification of the conditions of satisfaction for the change. These conditions... define the intended end point of the change... Without conditions of satisfaction, it is not possible to evaluate progress during the subsequent phase of change... A second by-product of conversations for understanding is some degree of involvement, participation, and support on those engaged in the change... A third by-product is decision makers' interpretations... they allow decision makers not only to make sense of what has been learned, but also to determine what changes can or should be produced next or in the future
p.549 Conversations for performance include... conversations for action, which are networks of speech acts with an interplay of directives (requests) and commissives (promises) spoken to produce a specific result... Conversations for performance focus on producing the intended result, not on the transmission of a request.
p.551 Conversations for closure... are characterized by assertions, expressives, and declarations to bring about an end to the change process... Closure... involves both a letting go of what no longer works and a continuation of what does... there are now new possibilities and new futures that did not exist prior to the efforts of those engaged in the change.
p.552 Initiative conversations are considered the starting point of each intentional change. They are essentially proposals, and whether they are honored is a function of the relation among the speaker and listener..., the issue being raised, the context in which it occurs..., and the adherence qualities of the conversation itself
p.556 The dynamics of communication in a change process entail transitions among the four distinct types of conversation... A change agent, therefore, must be aware of the different types of conversations and how these contribute to the change process.
p.556 We propose that the problems of change may be addressed if one considers that conversation produces change and that specific conversations produce specific aspects of change.
p.560 producing an intentional change is a dynamic, fluid phenomenon... the production of an intentional change requires a person to move among conversations for initiative, understanding, performance, and closure as conditions and circumstances warrant.
p.560 We propose that communication is the generative mechanism of change that gives people the reality in which they live (Giddens, 1984) rather than serving as simply a tool for representing and transmitting people's understanding or knowledge... we believe that change is created, sustained, and managed in and by communications. Further... changes emerge through the diversity and interconnectedness of many microconversations, each of which follows relatively simple rules (Waldrop, 1992).
p.561 Producing intentional change in organizations now becomes a matter of creating and shifting conversations rather than bringing about an alteration in objectlike attributes, traits, conditions, or circumstances.
p.566 The production of change is work, and there is no simple formula or methodology for it. However, if change is seen as occurring in communication, then the management of change can be understood to be the management of conversations.
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