Diagnosis

profileamdavies

 

Step 1: Assess the current state of your organization

Prepare a short note that  describes your organization (either the total organization or an  important unit that you are familiar with) and assess or diagnose its  current state. Make reference to the issues you feel require attention,  which could be problems or opportunities. If you feel there is a need  for some kind of change to ensure that these issues will be managed more  effectively, justify this view. Do not explain the kinds of  interventions you think may be necessary to bring about any required  changes. The aim of this exercise is to diagnose the current state of  the organization (and assess whether it is and will continue to perform  effectively), not to provide a prescription of actions required to  improve matters.

Step 2: Identify the information you used to make this assessment

Think about the things you  considered when making your assessment in the first step of this  exercise. Identify and list the “kinds of information” that you  considered. Focus on the information that you actually  considered. Try not to let the kind of information you think you  “should” have considered influence your list. Identify, if possible, at  least 25 different bits of information and record them in a table. Table  7.1 provides some examples of the types of information that people  might consider when assessing the state of their organization. These are  only offered as examples to stimulate your thinking; your own list may  contain none of these.

Step 3: Developing categories for organizing your diagnostic information

Some of the types of information you used to make your assessment  might be related and it might be possible to group them together into a  number of more inclusive categories. These categories reflect the main  elements or variables of your diagnostic model.

  • Group related information in the category  boxes in a table (use exercise 7.1 for format). Typically, people  identify 4-12 categories, but there are no restrictions on the number of  categories you might identify.
  • When you have categorized your information, describe the rationale you used for including information in each category.
Step 4: Specifying relationships between categories/elements

The categories identified in Step 3 reflect the elements of your  implicit diagnostic model. Step 4 of the model-building process focuses  on interdependencies and causal relationships between the elements.  These can be identified by considering whether a change in any one  element will have an effect on any other element:

  • Using the format of Table 7.3, list the  elements (categories) identified in Step 3 down the left-hand column and  across the top of the table.
  • Take each element down the left-hand  column in turn and assess the impact a change in this element might have  on every other element, using a three-point scale, where 0 = no or  slight impact; 1 = moderate impact; and 2 = high impact.
  • Sum the scores for each row.
  • Rank the scores (1 = highest). The rank order of the elements indicates your assessment of the key drivers of performance.

After completing Step 4, explain the challenges associated with the  diagnostic model you have completed. What does this tell you about the  system you work within and the need for alignment when addressing the  change initiative?

    • 3 years ago
    • 10
    Answer(0)