DQ 1
Assessment Description
Reflect on the “IHI Module QI 201: Planning for Spread: From Local Improvements to System-Wide Change.” Describe how change spreads according to Kurt Lewin and Everett Rogers. Using the IHI Framework for Spread, assess the current culture of your organization or practice site and explain how likely a new idea will spread. Provided rationale and support for your explanation.
SOLUTION
Kurt Lewin and Everett Rogers offer great insight into how change spreads. Through the Change Model Theory, Kurt Lewin asserts that restraining forces impact the behavior of both individuals and groups. In turn, this affects the fate of change. On the one hand, there are driving forces, which motivate and steer individuals towards the new state. On the other hand, there are restraining forces, which act as barriers and offer resistance to change (Hussain et al., 2018). This theory is founded on a three-stage change of model referred to as unfreezing-change-refreezing.
Through Diffusion of Innovations, Everett Rogers asserts that for good or bad, it is possible to easily promote change in a social system via a domino effect (Curtis, 2020). Specifically, each individual follows a five-step process in accepting change: knowledge, persuasion, decision, implementation, and confirmation. Rogers further notes that the spread of change is facilitated through communication via specific channels among individuals in an organization over time.
The current culture of my organization can be assessed using the IHI Framework for Spread. Regarding the leadership, my organization has leaders who utilize the democratic and transformative models of leadership. Hence, they actively interact with employees when making major strategic decisions. They also empower employees to be independent and be better at what they do. Regarding the social system, my organization has a culture of strong work and social relationships. There are effective communication channels to facilitate interactions between all key partners. In this context, the likelihood of a new idea spreading in my organization is high. This is because the organizational culture embraces new ideas.
References
Curtis, M. (2020). Toward understanding secondary teachers’ decisions to adopt geospatial technologies: an examination of Everett Rogers’ diffusion of innovation framework. Journal of Geography, 119(5), 147-158.
Hussain, S. T., Lei, S., Akram, T., Haider, M. J., Hussain, S. H., & Ali, M. (2018). Kurt Lewin’s change model: A critical review of the role of leadership and employee involvement in organizational change. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 3(3), 123-127.