Consistency and Sympathy

Abstract

In the previous two chapters we have seen how a person’s values are underlain by a dense thicket of beliefs and connecting attitudes, possessing a felt relationship rather than a logically based one. It became apparent that standard models of organisational change will not work directly where values and attitudes are concerned, mainly because the issues are too complex. Insofar as most organisational change involves values to a greater or lesser extent, this is bad news for the would-be engineer of business processes. There were hints, however, that change is possible via other routes. In this chapter we shall explore one pair of interlinked means for value change. These take explicit account of the paradox of value change, and show how it is circumvented. They also, in their complementary ways, take implicit account of the supporting platforms that underpin values. Consider the scenario outlined in Box 7.1.