Well, if we really believe that wants will change and we will discover better ways of doing things as we prototype and develop a product, then we had better be prepared to make a change on the way to achieving our organizational goals.  The very structure of an organization is a negotiated agreement at every point.  We need to be prepared to change and we need everyone else prepared to change. 

What? You say people resist change.  I know what you mean.  I frequently hear people say, "People resist change." Of course, I know that they really mean, "Other people resist change." Or, more accurately, “Everyone resists change, except, of course, me."  It took me years to notice the problem with everyone saying this.  One of the most important things I have learned is that most people are ready to change most of the time.  If you have any doubt, just start asking people what they would change, if they could.  What people resist is changing the way I think they ought to change.  What is difficult about change is getting consensus on what to change to. 

Change is inevitable and that includes wants.  To be an optimally achieving organization, the organization must be prepared to change, i.e. be prepared to accommodate a change in what is wanted of it.  My simulations do not tell us how this is to be done.  The simulations only show that outcome is highly sensitive to the effectiveness of adapting to changing wants.  I do however have some observations from watching and participating in real world organizations as they take on the wants change problem. 

It has become standard that project and organization charters have sections on how to change requirements.  If it is to be of use it needs to be sufficiently flexible that it has a good potential to accommodate an unforeseen change.  Remember you are planning for what you do not know will happen.

Change management specification within the Charter is useful, and, I agree, it should be done.  But, in my simulations it had little to no effect on outcome.  This is because it is not the organization that will make the change it is the people.  If the people are prepared to accept a change in what is wanted of them, then an effective reaction is likely. 

So how do you prepare people for change? That is a subject I will take up in Personal Optimal Achievement.

The change problem goes beyond trying to understand wants.  I'll pick up this tread of thought again in the section on Optimal Organization Achievement / Feedback and Control.

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