Abstract:
Unlearning an attachment has become a critical change competence for
executives. Although attachment behaviour in the workplace is ubiquitous, there is
a scarcity of empirical research on the processes executives follow in order to
release their dysfunctional attachments to systems, routines, ideas, divisions and
certain members of staff. By unlearning attachments, executives can embrace
new concepts, methods and processes and thereby enable their organisations to
be more competitive. This qualitative research investigated executives’
experiences of unlearning an attachment, through the pre-unlearning, unlearning
and post-unlearning phases. A de jure model was formulated from concepts that
emerged during the literature review and this model was the basis of in-depth
interviews with 10 change experts and 10 executives who had unlearned
attachments. The executives and change experts shared real-life experiences
during each of the unlearning phases. The findings informed a de facto model of
the experiences of executives unlearning their attachments. This process model
makes a theoretical contribution by depicting the major types of attachments,
influences on, processes of, actions required by and outcome of the executives’
unlearning. The model should contribute to change practitioners’ facilitation of
executives’ unlearning processes and executives’ insights into their own
attachments.
