This paper develops a conceptual framework for identifying organizational change and applies the framework to understanding organizational change. The main focus of the framework is the concept of "leading parts." Leading parts may be dominant or catalytic in their impact on systems; and understanding their operation requires analysis of the context in which they exist, the nature of the leading part itself, the nature of the other system parts relevant to the change, the "amplification mechanisms" available to the leading parts, and of the "homeostatic mechanisms" that seek to preserve the status quo. The analytic framework is then applied to two cases of organizational change in a high school, some of the implications of the framework for researchers and change agents are discussed, and the framework is compared to Lewin's force field analysis. (Author)