Instead of choosing one of the provided blog posts, I reflected on a personal experience of organizational change. None of the posts captured the complexity of the challenges I faced when my former manager, Leon, attempted to merge instructional designers in Canada and Poland at a large international telecommunications company. This situation demonstrated how poorly managed change can fail when workplace settings and cultural dynamics are mishandled.
Leon’s mandate was to unify our teams, but instead of fostering collaboration, he deepened the divide. He went so far as to call the Polish instructional designers “a bunch of impostors who know neither Photoshop nor Articulate Storyline.” Worse, during meetings, he humiliated their team leads by cutting them off and refusing to listen. This destroyed psychological safety, making team members afraid to raise concerns or ideas—conditions crucial for successful change (Weiner, 2009).
Leon failed to consider the experience gap between the Polish and Canadian teams. For organizational change to succeed, leaders must understand and respect local work environments and cultures (Biech, 2007). According to Weiner (2009), readiness for change arises when employees feel safe to voice their views and confident in handling new challenges. Leon’s authoritarian style led to distrust and disengagement, stalling progress entirely.
These barriers often occur when change types and methods don’t align. Al-Haddad and Kotnour (2015) emphasize that “effective change management demands strategies tailored to the specific nature, scale, and scope of the change.” A more structured approach, such as Kotter’s Eight Steps—focusing on communication, teamwork, and early wins—could have improved the outcome.
Way Forward
To address these challenges, leaders should:
- Adapt to Workplace Settings: Organizations like Johnson & Johnson have demonstrated that culturally sensitive workplace strategies improve productivity and trust (Biech, 2007). Leon could have fostered inter-regional collaboration by building cultural understanding.
- Prioritize Psychological Safety: Leaders must support open communication by ensuring employees feel respected and heard. Facilitative strategies that emphasize shared responsibility and collaboration would have created a more supportive atmosphere (Biech, 2007).
Had Leon focused on these enablers, such as training and mentorship, he could have strengthened both skillsets and confidence across teams (Al-Haddad & Kotnour, 2015). By addressing these barriers, leaders can build cohesive, global teams and ensure readiness for change.
Organizational change requires strategies aligned with both the local context and employee needs. Prioritizing psychological safety, collaboration, and tailored training can transform challenges into opportunities and drive success.
Thank you, Marion, for sharing such a personal experience. It resonated with me as I too have experienced a harrowing change project within a large non-profit organization. From start to finish, it took 7 years to fully live into the ambitious strategic plan. I now see that they invested time into creating a vision, working with change management and developmental evaluation consultants, choosing a model of change management (ADKAR), encouraging staff participation in townhalls and prototyping committees. They created communities of practice and invested considerable resources in coaching (actually, in partnership with Royal Roads). Even with all these efforts, it was an incredibly difficult process full of conflict, role changes and even voluntary and forced departures. I’m curious what kind of pre-planning, training and preparation for the change you think happened in advance of the project start, or strategies that were offered throughout to support the change process at individual or organizational levels?
Thank you for sharing such a personal experience. It sounds like this would have been a very upsetting and stressful experience for all team members, especially those who were being made to feel less valuable or capable. Blending teams never seem to go smoothly; conflict and confusion often exist.
Your two points to allow this change to move forward were fantastic.
– Adapting to Workplace setting: Focusing on how the teams can collaborate would have allowed all staff to learn from one another. It also would have encouraged colleagues to learn more about each other over time and build stronger connections. This would have resulted in a more cohesive and collaborative team
– Prioritizing Psychological Safety: No one enjoyed feeling unsafe or targeted, and it is so sad to hear that this happened within your workplace. Many companies and organizations have policies about workplace bullying, but it can seem like an uphill battle if you ever need to hold someone accountable for their actions or inaction. Finding a way to ensure psychological safety would help to foster a better workplace, as staff would feel safe and protected.
For real change to happen, we can’t stop at the plan and strategies. There needs to be an opportunity to check in and evaluate how the process is going. Had there been a chance for team members to voice their concerns about how Leon was treating the teams, I would assume that many people would have voiced their concerns. Do you feel this would have happened and would have helped support the teams in blending properly? What other strategies would you consider to ensure any issues or setbacks during a significant change?
Thank you again for sharing your experiences – Lauren