Success Talk: Narrative Accounts of Organizational Change

Abstract

Based on evidence from narrative accounts of organizational change, the potential of dialogic approaches that privilege joint construction of both change challenges and interventions appears very promising. This evidence also demystifies the notion of “well-planned” change, may further strengthen moves away from n-step programmatic approaches to change intervention, reminds readers of the importance of procedural fairness, and invites further research in terms of collective leadership. Where retrospective stories through which participants distinguished perceived success and failure provide the data for analysis, it is important that findings are understood within a narrative rather than an objective frame of reference.