I met a former colleague for lunch in 1990 and during the discussion she suggested that I look into the Organizational Dynamics Program at Penn. Many of the courses offered fit my exact interests so I applied.
Five years later I was getting ready to complete my studies. I didn’t consider myself a writer but thought why not give the thesis route a try. My topic was organizational change, and as I worked through the process I discovered much to my surprise I actually liked to write. The thesis was a success and most likely is still in the Organizational Dynamics library.
After graduation, I gave writing some additional thought and decided why not try to write a book on the same subject as my thesis. The result was Successfully Managing Change in Organizations published by Industrial Press.
My success with my first book led to six more books and two workbooks. My main focus on the major works was the topic or organizational culture change, a topic that was widely discussed but not well understood.
Interesting enough my writing opened doors that I never even knew existed. I began presenting at maintenance and reliability conferences as well as for private clients both inside and outside the US.
The presentations led me to a partnership in an online training firm based in Europe where I developed my change management tools as an online course. The online program while not entirely successful got noticed by a major oil company that utilized it for their worldwide deployment of their computerized maintenance management system.
The story doesn’t end here because my journey isn’t over yet and there still are new discoveries for me over the horizon.
Because of the Dynamics Program I am a different person than I ever envisioned at that lunch many years ago.
– Steve Thomas
