"Blindsided by that one" and "I saw that one coming": The relative anticipation and occurrence of communication problems and other problems in implementers' hindsight

While the change literature is rife with cautionary notes about the potenti al problems associated with change in organizations, and some reasonably we ll-developed theoretical explanations for their existence, we lack an empir ical description indicating the relative frequency with which implementers recognize a variety of problems. This article presents results from a study of eighty-nine implementers from organizations that are widely geographica lly dispersed and from a range of sectors. Findings suggest that among the challenges faced by implementers, problems centrally concerned with communi cation rank among some of the most problematic. The study also found that i mplementers, on average, over-anticipate problems and associate perceived a ccuracy and over-anticipation with success. Further, these data are suggest ive of implementations views that participation in implementation decision- making by lower-level staff is desirable, but perhaps not critical to succe ss.