LSI

Rachelle Tengco

LARGE SCALE INTERVENTIONS

These are approaches wherein stakeholders are actively involve throughout the whole system process for organizing and sustaining changes within their system. It involves a large group of people and its number can differ from five to a thousand. This process/approach is an outstanding one for modifying that concerns the whole working environment and at the same time the whole community.

This approach consists of several meetings of small and large group as seen below:

Fundamental assumptions:

• Past, present and future are inseparably connected in the organisation/community
• Reality is defined by meanings as well as facts
• Active participation enhances commitment to change, learning and working together
• Action learning facilitates real time change (thinking and doing are not separated)
• Meaningful experience is created by engaging the whole person (mind, body, soul and spirit)

Key distinctions between Large Scale Interventions and traditional change approaches are:

Aspects of organisational change efforts	Large Scale Interventions	Traditional change approaches
Vision	The vision is shaped through involvement of the whole system, building capacity for change.	The vision is shaped by an elite group of experts and senior management.
How buy-in and ownership is gained	As a natural by-product of involving people in the process of change.	Through a campaign implemented by a small group of people promoting their strategies, plans and recommendations to the rest of the organisation.
Information available	A large group's broad, whole image of reality form the basis for information and strategic decisions. There is extensivestakeholder involvement.	A small group's limited views of reality form the basis of information and strategic decisions. Stakeholder involvement is limited. External stakeholders groups like suppliers, customers and the local community are often ignored. Certain issues arenot discussed.
Commitment and ownership	People feel and are responsible for the organisation's effort as a whole. The need for change is self-determined and the process is self-managed.	People feel and are responsible for only their part.
Communication	Change strategy is developed and communicated in real-time.	Change strategy is communicated through messages.
Flexibility	Systems thinking produces a cyclic process of designing steps and reviewing goals. Awareness of current reality is comprehensive.	Linear thinking produces a programme with a pre-determined sequence of steps leading the organisation towards a fixed goal. Rarely are there any opportunities for the goal to be reviewed and if necessary re-defined.
Way of thinking	Systems thinking leads to insights in the complex web of cause and effect. An issue is viewed in a broad context, including trends.	Often an issue is not viewed in a broad enough context and delayed reactions are not taken into account.

Way of thinking	Systems thinking produces insights in the complex web of causes and effects. An issue is viewed in a broad context, including trends.	Often an issue is not viewed in a broad enough context and delayed reactions are not taken into account.
Peoples perspectives	Change is viewed as an integral component of people's work.	Change is viewed as a disruption to people doing their "real work".
Pace	Change occurs at a fast pace and in real time throughout an organisation.	Change occurs at a slow pace and in pockets of an organisation.
Kind of changes made	Substantial changes are made across an entire organisation.	Either substantial changes are made in part of an organisation or limited changes are made across an entire organisation.
How change occurs	Simultaneous planning and implementation, initiated in the whole organisation at the same time.	Planning and implementation are sequential. It requires the world to stand still while the planners do their work.

Basically, this approach is based on researched theories on certain state for the group to work together effectively. The principles of this approach are Systems Thinking (patterns of relation, dynamics of the wider system and organization or community), Management-Leadership and Self-organization Management compared to Leadership:

Management	Leadership
Change model is based on demand and control	Change model is based on participation and self- organisation
Change is imposed and directed by senior management	Co-creation of change
Stakeholder involvement is limited, awareness of current reality is limited	Broad-based involvement of stakeholders, providing a varied perspective and comprehensive awareness of current reality
Focus on identifying and solving problems	Focus on seeing and realising future possibilities
Vision is shaped by an elite group of experts and senior management, with linear thinking	The entire organisation is involved in shaping the vision, in a cyclical process, using system thinking in a broad context
Planning and implementation are sequential	Simultaneous planning and implementation
Communication through messages	Communication through conversations

, Active Participation (acting and doing of the involved people), and Development (collective learning and building capacity for change).

REFLECTION

For me, Large Scale Interventions is an appropriate approach for an organization to implement changes within their system. I mentioned an appropriate approach for it involves large group of people who are parts of the organization. It is just right to have this approach for an organization for it makes everyone be involve in the change process of the working environment that they are in. They do processes and actions that make the system develop and eventually absorb that change into the desired goal that they want to reach. I think it makes the people in the organization more united as they have their common goal to reach.

Reference:

http://www.largescaleinterventions.com/english%20version/index_large_%20scale_%20interventions_%20English.htm

http://www.merrillca.com/ls_interventions.htm

www.mapnp.org/library/org_chng/lrg_scale/lrg_scale.htm