O poder do sound byte

Se um artigo com um esquema, capta logo a minha atenção, como pessoa visual que sou, tenho de reconhecer uma fraqueza; um artigo com um bom sound byte seduz-me logo.

Um sound byte bem esgalhado, é como uma peça de puzzle que encaixa, que se enquadra algures, nas minhas sinapses. É amor à primeira vista, é um conceito, é uma ideia que salta logo para a memória de longa duração, ficando, no entanto, facilmente acessível ao nível consciente.

Vem isto a propósito do artigo “Managing Change: Steering a Course between Intended Strategies and Unanticipated Outcomes” de Julia Balogun, na revista “Long Range Planning”, Volume 39 (2006), pp 29-49.

A frase “Change is more about “aligning interpretations” ficou-me logo no ouvido e acomodou-se, enriqueceu imediatamente a minha forma de ver os processos de mudança:

“First, it shows that in fact lateral communications between peers are just as important, if not more important, than vertical communications in shaping the interpretations of change. In addition, much of this lateral communication is informal, occurring through gossip, discussion, negotiations, observed actions and behaviours as individuals go about their daily work. We can see this in the examples above of both counteracting and reinforcing outcomes.
Senior managers in particular become agents of ‘‘indirect infection’’, influencing through their appearance as ghosts in the stories and gossip exchanged by change recipients about the change process. Only a few people may have direct experience of senior management behaviour, but these experiences are shared through rumour and gossip e whether or not they actually occurred. As such, visible actions e whether planned or not, whether by senior managers or peers e that indicate either that things are different or that things are staying the same despite espoused change, become important influencers of interpretations. Similarly, visible behaviours that appear to contradict the official communicated intent of change are also important influencers when shared by recipients.
Communication has more to do with generating the new knowledge and shared meanings required for strategic transformation, than the straightforward transmission of information.” ... “Change is more about ‘‘aligning interpretations’’ where this is a two-way process of sharing and negotiating interpretations through many different communication genre. The meaning of the top-down initiatives emerges bottom-up. This has practical implications for the way change leaders conceive of their role and the way they communicate.”

E esta outra: “… plausible alternatives of the future are constructed as narratives with the aim of providing a framework within which individuals are free to test their assumptions, and organisations to “wind tunnel” key decisions of strategic importance” (van der Heidjen em “Scenarios: The Art of Strategic Conversation”