It’s a striking image: Jürgen Hell walking with his students up to the first floor of the Gymnasion. Instead of a classroom, there’s a dojo. Waiting for them on the judo mat is his 82-year-old father (and also a judo teacher).
This is how you deal with changes within an organisation
Change happens in every organisation. So it’s no surprise that organisational psychologist Jürgen Hell has advised on leadership and organisational change in more than twenty countries across five continents. As a lecturer in the Masterclass in organisational development and behavioural change, the first thing he did was introduce a change in the programme. Participants no longer finish the masterclass in a lecture hall, but on the judo mat.
All participants are wearing a white T-shirt and feel a little tense. They have no idea what awaits them. Hell: “I deliberately kept the announcement vague, just like how changes in organisations are often communicated. The interesting thing is that people start to fill in the mystery themselves, and rumors arise about what’s going to happen. The only thing I asked was for everyone to bring a white T-shirt for the activity. Of course, questions came up right away. Later in the course we reflected on how I communicated this ‘change.’ The participants could laugh about it and shared examples from their own organisations where communication wasn’t very clear either.”
Hell, a black belt in judo, joins his father on the mat. “It’s fantastic to be able to do this with your 82-year-old dad. Somehow, he immediately gives the group a sense of trust. A feeling of safety, without words. And when trust is there, people are open to learning and to change.”
And so, the participants find themselves in a situation they hadn’t expected. Dressed in the unfamiliar white judogi, they enjoy discovering something new. Like how a hold works, and how to break free from it. Hell: “And all without it being perceived as threatening. The traditional etiquette of judo helps enormously: according to Japanese tradition, you greet your partner with a bow, showing respect and taking responsibility for each other’s safety. And at any time you can ‘tap out’ if you want the other person to let go.”
Surprise
Surprise is present in every training session Hell gives, whether at the workplaces of his past clients such as ASML, RTL, Heineken, and De Bijenkorf, or here at Radboud University. “Aha moments lead to growth and learning, as Harold Bekkering, professor of psychology and cognitive neuroscience researcher, beautifully explains. He shows that we learn through surprises. Our brain actually enjoys that to a certain extent. Of course, it shouldn’t be too shocking.”
His judo session also provides plenty of lessons after the experiment. Hell: “How do you develop trust in a team, for example? What are the principles of a learning organisation? How do you recognize resistance in yourself and in others, and how do you deal with it?”
In the dojo, it becomes clear what behavioral change really requires. “It’s not about the physical aspect, but about the awareness that sometimes you have to move along, sometimes pace yourself, or sometimes stand firm to create movement. A powerful metaphor and experience for anyone working in complex organisations.”
Internships
That Hell prefers working with groups became apparent during his internship at the psychiatry outpatient clinic of Radboudumc, back when he was studying Clinical Psychology. “Back then, I thought I wanted to guide people with psychiatric problems. But during my internship I found it difficult to sit opposite older people with more life experience, while I was just a rookie therapist.”
He switched to Organizational Psychology and during his internship at Postbank immediately encountered a fascinating case of change: a large-scale reorganization. “This was back in the days of nationwide coding centers, where thousands of people manually typed in payment slips. That entire work process was digitized, so there was no longer any need for coders. I was allowed to train employees on how to deal with this change and the stress it caused. I remember how much I loved it and how energized I felt when standing in front of the group.”
Saudi Arabia
As a consultant, Hell worked all over the world: for family businesses, multinationals, governments, and healthcare organisations. But he always continued to live in the Netherlands. Emigrating abroad would have been too big a personal change.
Where did he experience the biggest contrast compared to working at a university? “That would definitely be my projects in Saudi Arabia. The national culture there, and the organizational culture in many companies, is so different from ours. Think about equality, diversity, and democratic values. But when it comes to change, the same human processes appear everywhere. People still need autonomy and connection with others. The personal relationship is sacred. Even more so than here. There, without a relationship, you can’t bring about change at all.”
Hell: “You actually see these interesting differences and surprising similarities in the masterclasses too. Participants come from completely different sectors. For example, someone from elderly care will suddenly ask out loud: we always do things this way, but how do you do it at KPN?”
Change
In fact, judo itself is all about change. “The founder of judo, Professor Jigoro Kano, was a small, fragile man. The legend goes that he had a dream where he was walking outside in the fields when a heavy storm broke out. He had to take cover and hid in a ditch. He saw the storm destroy strong trees. But when the storm passed, the reeds slowly stood tall again. The rigid trees had snapped, but the flexible reeds survived. That inspired him to create judo: move with the strength of the other. I believe in that same philosophy when it comes to organizational change: tune into the energy and rhythm of the organisation, and stay upright by moving along.”
Masterclass in organisational development and behavioural change
Do you want to learn how to guide employees toward a flexible, self-regulating organization? Do you want to understand how change really works within organisations? Gain control of change by looking, thinking, and acting differently through systemic organizational change.
More information and registration
Contact information
- Organizational unit
- Radboud Centre Social Sciences
- About person
- J.G.F. Hell (Jurgen)
- Theme
- Behaviour, Personal development