Activity Tracks

An alternative to working through stages is to think of change proceeding along activity tracks. We can imagine that most of our actions and reactions during change implementation run along three “meta-tracks” that account for our attention and the attention and energy of others who are effected by change. These three tracks each compete for our analytical concentration, emotional investment and preoccupation, and behavioral focus at any given time, and are defined and discussed in this chapter as managing meaning, managing network, and managing practice.

In managing meaning, as we discussed in Chapter 8, both implementers and stakeholders are participating in enacting realities of “what is going on” in the change process. This includes the realities of the external environment (as discussed in Chapters 1 and 7) and the internal realities discussed throughout the book: What is this change? What are my and others' stakes and how are they implicated in this change? What is “known” and what needs to be known and communicated? How do I and others feel about the change? Who is resisting? And what does resistance mean? These questions are addressed through making sense and managing the meaning of aspects of the change, the participants' roles in the change, and the context and progression of the change.