Week4

This week’s topic was on the drivers of changes and change management. When it comes to change, everyone is clear that change is constant and nothing will remind the same. Change can be a result of scientific discovery and technology innovation. It can also be due to the increasingly competitiveness among organizations, societies and countries. There is never a clear cut on which specific factor leads to a particular transformation. This is because there is no individual in the world context. Everyone and everything is part of the construction. One changes, the other follows/reacts. Every entity plays a part.

Change may be either evolutionary or revolutionary. Examples of evolutionary change are the increased bacterial resistance and natural selection. These changes are in the course of nature. Revolutionary change, on the other hand, changes the market place and the ways thing is done in a rapid motion by human’s self-interest. It can be disruptive but can sometimes turn out to be in a good cause. We could not stop evolutionary changes. Instead, we can rethink the current strategy to tackle revolutionary changes.

Session Rating: 8/10

During the reading discussion, the issue on food security was brought up. It set me thinking about the debate of genetic modified food. With the boost of genetic engineering in recent years, there are controversies from different stakeholders with regard to the transgenic plant products. The inception of GM food is to eradicate world hunger. However, the creation of GM food is embedded with the risks of health such as gene transfer and human exposure to pesticides. In the meantime, to meet the demand for food in the developing countries, the use of GM crops is increased. Policies are made and mandatory of labeling is legislated in certain places such that consumers are notified of the choice of their food. The emerging changes could not be stopped and so is the revised strategy to be carried out.

“Who moves my cheese?” is a very interesting story illustrating how different people react to changes differently and their preparation for change is. When watching the video, we were rational enough to determine who makes the brightest choice in the face of changes. The essence of being adaptable to change has rooted deeply into us. Often, it is easy to be a critic. In today’s society with much better education, we are already nurtured to have the realization of responding to change. However if we are going to talk the talk, we have got to walk the walk. The crucial part is who can create the framework/paradigm and who can realize the framework and ensure that it is achieved. This is why leader and manager are seemed to be playing a critical part nowadays in the arena of commerce or politics.

Generally there are three attitudes towards change – creating change, ostrich approach and no sense of what is going around. There is no definite right or wrong with these three attitudes. “It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory”- an interesting quote from W. Edwards Deming. Yes! Not everyone wants to change. There are people who are just willing to be falling stars as they are not interested in the competiveness around them. Therefore, they choose to ignore the transformation happening. Instead of criticizing how wrong/right individual/organization is towards change, we should scrutinize and figure out those who are grumbling about the unfairness of life and how things do not go according to their way. Because those are the ones who need to learn that we should adaptable to changes around us.