From Self‐defeating to Forward Moving Structures : Is Your Organization Like a Rocking Chair or a Car?

Reviews the ideas of Robert Fritz and discusses their implication for the practice of organizational change. The importance of “structure” is emphasized, which can give rise to two types of behaviour within the organization; “oscillation” and “resolving”. Oscillation is brought about by tensions in the structure, and mitigates against the resolution of organizational problems. Tension is largely due to conflict between the “desire for change” and the “desire for stability”. The application of these ideas is illustrated by an organizational change intervention, where the tension and oscillation was related to differing preferences for a “short‐term” versus “long‐term” focus on results. Only after these tensions had been resolved could a “creative” solution to the organization′s strategic problems be arrived at.