Planned Change: Prospects for the 1980s

The objective of this paper is to suggest some directions in the 1980s for the development of the theory and practice of planned change. The author makes two basic assumptions in approaching this objective. First, the two fields most widely associated with planned change, organization development and planning, are increasingly addressing similar or related problems and, as a result, offer significant opportunities to contribute to the development of the other. Second, we will not learn very much about directions for the field of planned change if discussion proceeds without consideration of the kinds of concrete problems we will likely face in the 1980s. The opportunities suggested in the first assumption will become clear by presenting some illustrative problems to be faced in the 1980s.

The illustrative problems presented are highly interdependent. Organizations which attempt to solve these problems will find that many of their goals compete with or facilitate the goals of other organizations. Such problems and organizational consequences cannot be readily dealt with through central, comprehensive planning. An alternative is to create forums within and between organizations which include representation from all parties with an affected interest in the problems at issue. Action research is proposed as a problem-solving mode appropriate to such forums. It is a mode of problem-solving which searches for common values underlying different interests and encourages commitment to solving jointly defined problems.