Change management in local government: A complex adaptive system perspective

The challenge of creating innovative programmatic solutions in many governmental agencies can be complicated by prevailing organizational cultures and predispositions for maintaining the status quo. The research question inherent in this single case study of the largest county governmental agency in Minnesota examines the role of leadership in creating an organizational culture of change readiness. A culture that embraces opportunities presented by environmental disruptions and develops creative organizational structures to maintain basic securities (e.g., food, shelter, and healthcare) and public order for the citizen groups it governs. Governmental agencies exercise guardianship responsibility for its constituents by engaging its knowledge worker staff to enact operational structures and processes that establish and maintain standards of civil (e.g., courts and justice entities) and programmatic social service needs. It is within this context that governmental units must find innovative ways to reinvent itself to meet and anticipate the needs of constituent groups. The specific problem addressed in this study relates to the role of leadership in developing a culture that promotes innovative mechanisms for social and entitlement programs. Data was collected from 21 participants using focus groups and individual interviews, and analyzed using phenomenological reflection and imaginative variation to construct thematic portrayals of the leadership experience. The study finding was that leadership is a critical success factor in creating an innovative workplace environment that embraces change through knowledge sharing, collaboration, and cooperation within its organizational ecosystem.;Keywords: Complexity theory, reinventing government, innovation, leadership.