What’s your theory of change?

Rebecca Solnit’s answer in The Guardian today grabbed me (thanks to David Roche):

“That categories are leaky and anomalies abound. That change happens in complex, sometimes unpredictable ways … that what ends up in the centres of power often begins in the margins and shadows. That stories have profound power – and changing the story is often the beginning of changing the world.”

She’s talking about direct action. But it applies just as well to business change.

Organisations often want to tidy change into phases and milestones.

To make it linear. Predictable. Controlled.

But real change rarely behaves that way.

It starts on the edges – in informal conversations, unexpected feedback, human responses that don’t fit the model.

It resists neat categories.

It moves through networks, not hierarchies.

And above all, it’s driven by stories – the stories people believe, tell, challenge, and reshape.

That’s why I prefer sense and respond approaches: they leave space for the unpredictable.

They pay attention to the margins.

They listen to the narrative that often precedes transformation.

If you want to change the organisation, you often have to start by understanding the stories. And taking it from there.

See Rebecca's article here.