Lessons From the Field: Applying Appreciative Inquiry (Revised Edition) Review

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(More customer reviews)It is rare that we would describe a business book as beautiful, but this one truly is. Not only is the artwork subtle and well integrated to contribute to the physical beauty of this book, there is beauty in each story or lesson. You will find well written, detailed case studies on the application and success of Appreciative Inquiry in settings ranging from schools to communities to entire nations. The how-do portions of the book are powerfully written yet easy to understand (in contrast to some of the more academic works on this subject).
My favorite 'lesson' comes from Father Greg Banaga and relates the principles of Ai to the teachings in the Bible. Just one example of the uplifting nature of this book and the ennate quality of the Appreciative Inquiry Process. Buy it for its practical, informative text, love it for its depth and beauty.

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Getting Change Right: How Leaders Transform Organizations from the Inside Out Review

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(More customer reviews)One of this book's greatest strengths is Seth Kahan's unique ability to focus on the most important "whats" of change initiatives and then explain with both precision and eloquence how to do what must be done to ensure the success of those initiatives. He draws upon a wealth of real-world experience from which he learned a number of valuable lessons. He cites seven in the Introduction to this book, then devotes a separate chapter to each:
1. Communicate so that people get it and spread it.
Comment: Kahan correctly begins with this basic rule because all change initiatives require cooperation and collaboration, both of which depend on constant and effective communication between and among those involved.
2. Energize your most valuable players.
Comment: You already know who they are, the ones you dread losing to illness, retirement, spouse relocation, or (worst of all) to a competitor. The best way to energize them is to recognize them: make them feel appreciated.
3. Understand the territory of change.
Comment: Many (most?) of the barriers to change are cultural, the result of what James O'Toole (in Leading Change) aptly characterizes as "the ideology of comfort and the tyranny of custom." Kahan explains how to create a "map" of what is certain to be perilous "territory."
4. Accelerate change through communities that perform.
Comment: Kahan calls them "thematic groups." Seth Godin calls them "tribes." However described, their members share a common vision and passion to make that vision a reality by creating "systemic pull."
5. Generate dramatic surges in progress
Comment: Kahan recommends special and frequent "face-to-face events" that attract and then energize the most valuable change agents. The objective is to transform believers to evangelists.
6. Break through logjams
Comment: Kahan advocates a "SWAT team mentality": expect trouble (i.e. resistance), anticipate and prepare for it, engage it with sufficient force of conviction and determination.
7. WorkLifeSuccess to sustain high performance in the midst of change.
Comment: "By this, I mean doing whatever it takes to achieve and sustain overall excellence." Kahan envisions leadership at all levels and in all areas. He suggests that change agents must be "practical visionaries," people "with their eyes on the horizon and their feet on the ground."
Kahan himself is a "practical visionary," sustaining throughout his lively narrative a sharp focus on what works, what doesn't, and why. I especially appreciate his skillful use of a number of reader-friendly devices such as checklists and summaries of key points as well as contributions from prominent business thinkers such as Ken and Mary Gergin ("Social Construction and Leading Change"), Steve Denning ("Operating Without Budget or Authority"), Rick Stone ("The Power of the Story"), Jim Wolfensohn ("Talking to Everyone"), Madelyn Blair ("Storylistening for Reconnaissance"), Etienne Wenger ("Communities of Practice"), Lesley Shneier ("The World Bank's Knowledge Fairs"), Larry Forster ("The Competency for Collaboration"), and John Kotter ("The Greatest Positive Impact"). It seems especially appropriate for Kahan to include such a variety of perspectives, given the inherent ecumenical nature of change agency. I also want to commend him for also providing two appendices, "Sample Strategic Engagement Plan" and JumpStart Storytelling."
Congratulations to Seth Kahan on a brilliant achievement. Bravo!

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An innovative communication method for making change happen in any organization

Getting Change Right presents a new view of leadership communication that says change doesn't flow top-down, bottom-up, or sideways, but inside-out. This is how change spreads through a complex system successfully-the other options are force or failure. Based on years of experience with organizations around the world, change expert Kahan presents a new model of communication, one that moves from a transactional view of information exchange to a collaborative construction of shared understanding. When the right people are having the right conversations and interactions, then they act in concert even though the situations they confront independently are impossible to predict or coordinate. This dynamic practitioner's guide to implementing change
Presents the innovative co-creation communication model for creating change
Reveals how communicating with a company's most valuable players is at the heart of organizational change
Draws on the author's wealth of experience with Fortune 100 companies, leading government agencies, and associations

Getting Change Right offers business insights and field-tested, practical techniques that can be put to work immediately.

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Deep Change: Discovering the Leader Within (US Business & Management Series) Review

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(More customer reviews)
By chance rather than by choice, I read this book before reading others previously or subsequently written by Quinn. Deep Change provides an appropriate introduction to any one of them. I value his books so highly because they make substantial contributions to our understanding of HOW to achieve and then sustain meaningful change, both in our personal lives and in our organizations.
According to Quinn, "Incremental change is usually the result of a rational analysis and planning process. There is a desired goal with a specific set of steps for reaching it. Incremental change is usually limited in scope and often reversible. If the change does not work out, we can always return to the old way. Incremental change usually does not disrupt our past patterns -- it is an extension of the past. Most important, during incremental change, we feel we are in control." Does all this sound familiar? Has Quinn described accurately how change occurs within your organization?
Now consider a second brief excerpt: "This book explores a much more difficult change process, the process of deep change. Deep change differs from incremental change in that it requires new ways of thinking and behaving. It is change that is major in scope, discontinuous with the past and generally irreversible. The deep change effort distorts existing patterns of action and involves taking risks. Deep change means surrendering control." Decades ago, David Riesman made the helpful distinction between "inner-directed" and "other-directed" people. The same can also be said of organizations (communities of people) when determining the nature, extent, and location of control. Quinn believes that "one person can change the larger system or organization in which he or she exists." If I understand Quinn correctly, his central assertion is this: If and only if enough individuals achieve deep change individually can their shared organization then achieve deep change.
This is a very dangerous concept. Unlike incremental change, deep change poses a very serious threat to the status quo of an organization and, especially, to those who (you can be certain) will steadfastly defend it. There will also be perils for those who seek to achieve deep change in their individual lives. Cherished assumptions, premises, values, and beliefs will all be called into question and many of them will be found inadequate, if not false. As Quinn describes it, those undergoing deep change will feel as if they are "walking naked into the land of uncertainty." He acknowledges "This is usually a terrifying choice, often involving a 'dark night of the soul.'" In Riesman's view, that person becomes inner-directed. For Quinn, that person is "internally driven...more capable of leading under conditions of continuous change...more organic."
What is the alternative? Quinn's answer: "slow death." I am reminded of a relevant insight expressed by Ernest Becker in The Denial of Death. He acknowledges that no one can deny physical death but there is another death which anyone can deny: the death which occurs when we become wholly preoccupied with fulfilling others' expectations of us. A slow death indeed. If you wish to achieve deep change in your life, and are now involved in an organization which can only tolerate incremental change (if any change at all), I urge you to find another organization.

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