Covert Processes at Work : Managing the Five Hidden Dimensions of Organizational Change

This is a book about powerful processes that impact organizations but usually remain unseen, unspoken, or unacknowledged. Collectively called covert processes, they include hidden agendas, blind spots, organizational politics, the elephant in the room, secret hopes and wishes, tacit assumptions, and unconscious dynamics. Although covert in their workings, these processes can be insidious in their impacts, often shaping outcomes without our fully realizing it. In some ways this book can be seen as an extension of the pioneering work by organizational psychologist Ed Schein on process consultation, especially on the importance of being able to decipher hidden forces. ''One of the most important functions of process consultation is to make visible that which is invisible'' (1999, p.84). Toward that end, this book provides frameworks, principles, and practices that will be useful in diagnosing and addressing the hidden dynamics that can impact what you are doing and how it gets done. Although the ideas are grounded in a wide range of social science research and theory, there is little attention to definitions and literature reviews of specific theories or types of covert processes. A thematic bibliography is included for readers interested in exploring the ideas that helped shape the book. Finally, the book integrates all hidden dynamics instead of focusing on one or two. It asks and answers the question: What do all types of covert processes have in common and what can you do about them?

"As a large-scale change consultant who has used the insights and tools from the Covert Processes Model for over a decade with many Fortune 100 companies, I know that adding these tools into your ’change management toolkit‘ will take both your practice and your clients to a whole new level of capability and impact." — Karen Boylston, PhD, Managing Director, Duke Corporate Education

"Marshak has written a book that provides framing and perspectives with moral intricacies. It is a must read book for understanding the realities of organizational change." — Brenda B. Jones, Coeditor, The NTL Handbook for Organization Development and Change and past Board Chair, OD Network.

"This is a rare book from a grandmaster of OD. Marshak combines scholarship with unrivalled field experience, addressing universal, persistent but usually ignored issues in organizational change and development. This is an invaluable book for students, theorists, and practitioners of this field; it is destined to become a classic." — Dr Loizos Heracleous, Official Fellow of Templeton College, Oxford University

""Bob Marshak has, for many years, been at the top of my list of those who not only understood, but are also able to articulate complex and paradigm shifting, cutting edge thinking in the field of management and Organization Development... Don't miss this book!" — Jane Magruder Watkins, author of Appreciative Inquiry: Change at the Speed of Imagination

"’Covert processes‘ are observations that, until now, we have only been able to see when we were at our very best as process observers. Bob Marshak's outstanding book detailing his insights and experiences has given us, as practitioners, a significantly new level of awareness and is an enormous addition to the field of Organization Development." — Edith Whitfield Seashore, Organization Consultant

"Any time we are working from inside of a company, or serving as a consultant to an organization, we all deal with processes that are hidden below the surface. Marshak does an expert job of painting the backdrop of covert processes and strategically inviting us to rethink how we manage them in our work lives." — Jeff Perkins, Managing Partner, Kessler Advisor, LLC