Change fatigue

Organizational change fatigue or change fatigue is a general sense of apathy or passive resignation towards organizational changes by individuals or teams, said to arise when too much change takes place,[1] or when a significant change follows immediately on an earlier change.[2] When change fatique arises, organizational change efforts can become unfocused, uninspired and unsuccessful, and individuals involved in change experience burn-out and become frustrated.[3]

Avoidance

Various business writers have identified ways of avoiding change fatigue including reductions in the number of organisational change initiatives, making change happen on a smaller scale and countering "the notion that you need heroic leaders in order to have meaningful, sustained change."[2] Development of resilience and resourcefulness among those affected by change have been seen as beneficial considerations.[4]

See also

• Ambidextrous organization
• Change management
• Collaboration
• Group dynamics
• Industrial and organizational psychology
• Managing change
• Organizational communication
• Organizational climate
• Organizational culture
• Organizational diagnostics
• Organizational engineering
• Organizational learning
• Organizational performance
• Performance improvement
• Team building
• Team composition

References

1. Turner, Dawn-Marie. "Change Fatigue: Is Your Organization Too Tired to Change?". thinktransition.com. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
2. Morgan, N., Do You Have Change Fatigue?, Harvard Business School, "Working Knowledge" series, published 9/10/2001, accessed 24 June 2023
3. Perlman, K., Change Fatigue: Taking Its Toll on Your Employees?, published 15 September 2011, accessed 28 April 2023
4. Gill, A., Overcome change fatigue by promoting resilience and resourcefulness, published 22 November 2011, accessed 24 June 2023

Further reading

• Argyris, C.; Schon, D. (1978), Organizational Learning: A theory of action perspective, Reading MA: Addison-Wesley, ISBN 0-201-00174-8
• Nonaka, I.; Takeuchi, H. (1995), The Knowledge Creating Company, New York: New York: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-509269-4
• Sullivan, Roland (2010), Practicing Organization Development: A Guide for Leading Change, Jossey Bass, ISBN 978-0-470-40544-4
• Turner, Dawn-Marie (2015), Launch Lead Live: The executive's guide to preventing resistance and succeeding with organizational change, published by Your Nickel’s Worth Publishing