The Forest Succession Principle

12/30/20 • 12 min

What do forests have to do with organizational change? The ecological process of forest succession shows us that new plant communities take hold when the environment is ripe for them. That each new plant community, in turn alters the environment—making it possible for another plant community to take hold. And I think that is a very useful way to think about making sustainable changes in organizations.

Previous Episode

Influence

Convincing someone to do something different isn’t easy. Especially when they’re already working long hours, and the new thing requires effort and learning. When it may not work, or isn’t directly endorsed by their boss, it gets even more difficult. But persuasion isn’t the only way to entice people to try new ideas. In this episode, I’ll explain the difference between persuasion and influence and offer eight ways to influence change.

Next Episode

Power Over | Power With

Power is ever present in organizations--and in change. Most change efforts rely on power over--the sorts of power that involve directives and rewards, and some times threats. But you'll get better results using power with. In this episode I'll talk about the sort of power most commonly used in organizations--and why you might not want to use them to accomplish change.
If you want to learn more, you read Raven and French's seminal paper, The Bases of Social Power.