My initial expectation of this course was very similar to Barbara's. I actually copied the flow of emotional responses to change from the small pocket book that was handed around: immobilization > denial > anger > bargaining > depression > testing > acceptance. It is true, that getting through a significant change in the company is difficult, partly because people live through these emotional responses in a different pace. Some of them get through it relatively quickly and can accept ( and buy in for ) the change relatively quickly while others may still be stuck in the phase of denial or bargaining. Jeanie Daniel Duck's article also puts emphasis on the emotional aspect of managing change and gives some really good life-examples of how to handle this.

But what I really liked in the first week-end's program is another aspect : the learning organization. It is not about the big scale changes to be managed but the everyday worklife that can make a difference. Large scale changes don't happen very often, but learning and improving should be exercised in between big changes, during the normal course of work. It is so true, that organizations want to improve and learn! They put people on various trainings, send them on conferences, sponsor their education, put a lot of effort in sharing best practices, but there is much less understanding and pactising of the real on-the-job learning process.
In my company we do say very often how important it would be to run post analysis on the actions we are taking, but we are so far away from the practice of the US Army's AAR. I do believe that it could work in my company for analyzing major activities. I have put this task on myself to figure out how we could have this method adapted.

I have got another inspiration from David A Garvin's video. He mentioned that promoting superior performance , setting good examples with it is part of the culture of a learning organization. A couple of years ago , very much accidentially a new award was created in our local company: it is simply called a Coty Award, which is a challenge cup and is given to a different person each year at the company's X-mas party. The winner of the award is elected by the employees through a voting system. The criteria is to nominate people who have contributed in any area beyond their strict job description. We do celebrate these people and kind of know why they have got the award, but we don't really say it loudly. While listening to the presentation I though we might not utilize the opportunity there to set out a good example that would motivate and teach the other colleauges. And it would really not take more than simply explain what that person did to get the award.

The weapon exercise opened my eyes to a very important aspect of change. Yes, I am a supporter of change and believe that I can get through changes easily. And yes, I want to learn how I can lead people through changes smoothly, and yet, I was among the ones who have NOT put two-way communication into the toolbox of managing changes. Thanks Kriszta to bring it up and to share your toolbox with me!

It is interesting to read your expectations about the course: both of you are exited to know more about the change management. I share your feelings, I'm also very much open and would like to learn.

Our reasons are obviously different. I had to face with a difficult situation last year: I work for a multinational Health care Company, which made a decision last year to "change its local business model", meaning "managing out" the entire organization to a local distributor. The project was run by experienced "out-managers" from whom I learnt a lot: how to communicate painful messages, how to negotiate with the local firm and how to communicate the results to the upper-management. All three stakeholders are really important.

Nevertheless, I also had feelings that some parts might have been done better. Sometimes I know how it should be done, e.g. give room for a more open communication.
In this course, I'd like to learn about tools and technics how to "sell" changes to the organization, how to keep their motivation to support it.