‘…These Workshops are like Sunday´s Church Visit – but then, it’s Monday Again…’—using Understanding to Bridge Ambitious Talk and Action

Abstract

Organisational renewal and change often include the experience of a dichotomy between talk and action, leading to increasing skepticism about organisational change initiatives. Our action research is based on a single case study and explores how the divide between talk and action can be overcome to manage change. The study reveals an often-neglected aspect of organisational communication; in addition to utterance and information, successful communication requires understanding to find the missing link between talk and action, as well as creating impact in change processes. The article shows how an intervention can be built on communicative understanding, putting the Luhmannian approach into practice: introducing regular organisation-wide feedback on a change initiative through reflection workshops helped foster understanding of change initiatives and supported bridging the gap between talk and action.