Stuck in the old routines

Organisations are constrained by routines, but, paradoxically, routines are the very stuff of organisations; without routines organisations could not function. The problems start when routines get in the way of strategic thinking and strategic change. Routine thinking dulls the strategy debate. Ways must be found to challenge the taken-for-granted assumptions that underpin routine thinking. The organisation in all its aspects supports routine behaviour. If these behaviours need to change there are problems if the status quo structures and processes are used to implement the required changes. The risks are that the culture will absorb and dissipate the intentions to change 'the way things get done around here'. Cliff Bowman argues that processes that work outside the existing structures must, therefore, be used to work on the old routines. In this way new routines can be developed which together can help the organisation to transcend routine levels of performance.