Real Estate

Active research in organizational change

An essential part of Edgar Schein’s process consulting practice model (which is discussed in depth in my book) is the use of active inquiry. A guiding assumption in active investigation is that an insecure customer will not reveal essential facts about the organization’s situation. Without these essential facts, the Organizational Change (OC) consultant is in a position to guess. The consultant is then forced to rely on the dubious practice of projecting his previous experiences onto the client’s current situation.

There are four essential elements in active research:

1. Build customer status and trust.

2. Gather as much information as possible.

3. Involve the client in the diagnosis.

4. Create a safe situation to share both facts and feelings.

Schein describes three levels of Active Inquiry: pure inquiry, exploratory / diagnostic inquiry, and “confrontational” inquiry. It is important that the CB consultant uses the appropriate level at particular points in the process. The type of data being sought should determine the level of investigation.

Pure inquiry, the first level, is designed to stimulate full disclosure. The consultant is simply trying to present the story as objectively as possible. At this level, the “who” and “when” questions are appropriate; The “why” questions are not.

Exploratory / diagnostic inquiry, the second level, is appropriate after all the “factual” history is recorded. The consultant now redirects the client’s focus with questions like:

“How did you feel about that?”

“Why do you think he did that?”

“What will you do next?”

The exploratory / diagnostic inquiry causes the client to explore at a deeper level. At this level, feelings, hypotheses, cause-and-effect relationships, and planned actions can be discussed. This level reveals the expectations, perceptions and values ​​of the members of the organization and the customer.

The “confrontational” (not “confrontational”) inquiry, the third level, should not occur prior to the pure inquiry or the exploratory / diagnostic inquiry. At this level, the consultant intersperses his ideas about the situation. The goal here is to move client members from unproductive thinking to creative and critical thinking about the current situation.

Schein’s model gives the OC consultant a lot of information on how to approach clients in a constructive and helpful way. The other important parts of Schein’s process consulting model are discussed later in my book, “Strategic Organizational Change.”

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