informal coalitions

Beyond Buzz - lessons for leadership communication in organizational change

"New marketing is about conversations - listening, having something new to add, and talking like we mean it instead of hiding behind pre-packaged corporate-speak."

So begins Lois Kelly's highly accessible, thought-provoking and informative book, which advocates a conversational approach to marketing in a connected world.

What she has to say about marketing goods and services to people 'outside' a business resonates strongly with the informal coalitions perspective of how change happens 'inside' organizations. And her thoughts on what managers might do from a marketing standpoint provide some equally useful pointers as to how they might lead change more effectively within their organizations.

Are organizations complex or complicated?

In an earlier post, I took issue with the tendency for many writers and consultants to confuse complexity and complicatedness when discussing the dynamics of organizations.

I was therefore pleased to come across an excellent article by Johnnie Moore that made this same point in his usual eloquent style. It formed part of a piece he had contributed to the More Space project in 2005. 

The first paragraph of his article, entitled Simple Ideas, Lightly Held, is headlined

"Life is complex, but it isn't complicated".