Customer Reviews

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Change Management

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I was recently assigned a change management project in my own company for the firs time. I got on the Internet to see what books were out there an quickly identified several. I ordered the Complete Idiot's Guide to Change Management as well as four others. Each book has made their own special contribution to my overall understanding of what it takes to be successful as a change manager. This book in was the easiest to read and understand. Some of the other books made for difficult reading with all kinds of concepts and charts and extensive footnoting. By contrast, this one was a breeze to read, while not being overly simple or talking down to the reader. The chapters on leap frogging, scheduling days of grace, and managing up and
managing down were great. I would recommend this book for first time change managers or possibly even veteran change managers looking for new strategies and or/a motivational boost.

Change management is a scary topic, so I was glad to see this book as an Idiot's guide. Like the author says, its' not a book about project management. It is a book about keeping your eye on the big picture of the change you have been asked to manage and how your activities fit into with the overall activities of your company. I like the part about the descriptions of other players including sponsors and targets of change. When you understand how these players participate with each other in a
successful change crusade then you have a much greater chance of succeeding. Overall, I found this book to be very non-threatening. That was important to me because change as a topic is already tough enough.

This is a deceptively clever book on the topic of change management in business. Normally I wouldn't consider picking up an Idiot's Guide on something as important as managing a change initiative, I was pleasantly surprised by the scope and depth of this book. It is well researched, far reaching, and a valuable asset for anyone whose been asked to head up any kind of business or organizational change. I can recommend it without reservation.

If I had to buy one on book on the topic of change management this could be it, because it takes a wide angle view of the overall task of a change manager. A lot of what gets written on change management is dense and reader 'unfriendly,' This one has some hard hitting advise, lots of perspective, and I can actually understand it. That alone makes it a
worthwhile book.

Dear Swamped-By-Change Reader,

My hardiest congratulations to you on picking up this book! These days, each of us faces so much change on a continuing basis that it's practically an act of heroism to get up in the morning, face the day with all its challenges, and still keep one's sanity intact! Yet, you've made it this far, and with this handy guide to managing change, your year, career, and life in general are going to take a turn for the better.

Perhaps by now you've already encountered one or more of the books in The Complete Idiot's Guide series, as there are more than 300 of them. While they are written in a humorous, lighthearted style, you know that they offer authoritative, hard-hitting advice.

We homo sapiens prefer to have the fundamentals of life stay relatively the same. Being constantly confronted by change and managing it effectively represent a considerable challenge. This book offers a simple framework for approaching, understanding, managing, and ultimately mastering change in your career and personal life.

If managing change was easy, everyone would be good at it. We would all be humming along in our careers, feeling in control, staying mentally and physically fit, and having peace-of-mind. Obviously, no one can accurately predict the future; however, a variety of proven techniques, as well as fresh perspectives for handling change, will give you the edge you need to be effective. You'll be treated to a variety of strategies, mini-case histories, observations, witticisms, and good, old-fashioned common sense, mixed with leading edge thinking.

The more people in your life who are adept at managing change, the better your life goes! If you're surrounded by highly competent managers and coworkers and innovative, forward-thinking family members and friends, you will probably experience less resistance to your ideas.

As you and all the people for whom you've bought copies of this book will discover, once you become adept at managing change in one aspect of your life, your new found knowledge spills over into other aspects of your life, i.e. you get good at dealing with change on a variety of levels. Such a deal!

Yours truly,
Jeff Davidson

The beauty of this book is the ease in which it deals with really major issues. Unlike other books i have read on the topic, you don't need a degree in public relations to understand it. And the principles are easily understood and applied. Two thumbs up.

I can't say enough about this book. It's almost encyclopedic in its approach to laying out a process for identifying and attracting new clients. The book is loaded with charts and most of them are relatively easy to understand on first viewing. Although the book appears to be geared towards a firm with at least 8 or 10 professionals, I think the authors' system would work as well for a professional firm with only one or two individuals.

Having to manage change in my division is one of my least favorite activities but learned from this book, if you are in management today, you pretty much are a change manager. This book has lots of chapters, more than 25. Each of them, fortunately is easy to get through. The book cites a lot of the change management gurus through the years and gives a good summary of their theories and why they remained popular. But in addition to theory, there is lots of practical advice in this book. All chapters end with a section on things that are worth remembering and are most important from the chapter. I like that, because time is short, and sometimes you just want to get the answers!