The process, although in some respects unconventional, was consistent with the recommendations of the major theories of planned organizational change. Conformity to these theories can explain the success of the change effort whether or not the researchers used the theories to guide their decisions. In fact, researchers may have relied less on change theories than on their intuition, commonsense, and prior experience. The project developed on a step-by-step basis where, at each step, decisions were made that led to the following step. Such a process is common with scientific discoveries; scientists often make intuitive decisions and have little sense of how the whole project will turn out. Thirteen references are included.