Transforming Organizational Psychology

People s attitudes and emotions vary in predictable ways depending on which of the ST _A RS situations they are experiencing. Participants in a start-up are likely to be more excited and hopeful than members of a troubled group facing failure. But at the same time, employees of a start-up are typically much less focused on key issues than those in a turnaround, simply because the vision, strategy, structures, and systems that channel organizational energy are not yet in place. Participants in a turnaround often know what the problems are, but not what to do about them.

Success at transitioning therefore depends, in part, on your ability to transform the prevailing organizational psychology in predictable ways. In start-ups, the prevailing mood is often one of excited confusion, and your job is to channel that energy into productive directions, in part by deciding what not to do. In turnarounds, you may be dealing with a group of people who are close to despair; it is your job to provide a light at the end of the tunnel. In realignments, you will likely have to pierce through the veil of denial that is preventing people from confronting the need to reinvent the business. Finally, in sustainingsuccess situations, you have to invent the challenge by finding ways to keep people motivated, to combat complacency, and to find new direction for growth ”both organizational and personal.