A central tension in organizational life is that between the search for certainty, the maintenance of routines—in short, the preservation of organizational order—on the one hand, and the necessity of organizational change on the other. This tension is most visible during public conflicts over such issues as succession to top leadership posts, corporate mergers and acquisitions, major technological innovations, and changes in state policies affecting organizations. Yet the tension between order and change also occurs less visibly and in informal ways, often prompted by what will here be termed private grievances. Private grievances can be defined as interpersonal complaints that have low visibility to nonparticipants and are managed informally. They are analytically important for the ...