Discontinuous Change: Leading Organizational Transformation (J-B US non-Franchise Leadership) [Hardcover]

David A. Nadler (Author), Robert B. Shaw (Author), A. Elise Walton (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0787900427 | ISBN-13: 978-0787900427 | Publication Date: November 23, 1994 | Edition: 1st

Explores the practical lessons learned from internationally renowned companies to bring about lasting and fundamental organizational transformation, providing a useful set of field-tested concepts and techniques for anyone seeking to promote change. In-depth interviews with such key corporate change leaders as Bob Allen of AT&T and Jamie Houghton of Corning, Inc., provide valuable insight and firsthand advice on the role CEOs and leadership teams can play in organizational transformation.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Few executives expect the future to be more stable than the present. Yet, few have seriously begun the long journey of rethinking and redesigning themselves and their organizations for the future. For those who have, Discontinuous Change, while not eliminating the inevitable uncertainty that is part of the journey, can at least make it less perilous and vastly more comprehensible. For those who have not, the insights and methods presented by David Nadler and his associates will, hopefully, engAnder the courage to embark." (Peter M. Senge, director of the Center for Organizational Learning, MIT's Sloan School of Management and author of The Fifth Discipline)

"This book addresses the most important challenge facing senior executives today--the management of change. David Nadler and his colleagues at Delta have done a terrific job of drawing from their extensive experience to develop powerful, original, and highly useful strategies for action. A compelling 'must read' for the leadership of American enterprises." (Paul A. Allaire, chairman & CEO, Xerox Corporation)

From the Inside Flap

Explores the practical lessons learned from internationally renowned companies to bring about lasting and fundamental organizational transformation, providing a useful set of "field-tested" concepts and techniques for anyone seeking to promote change. In-depth interviews with such key corporate change leaders as Bob Allen of AT&T and Jamie Houghton of Corning, Inc., provide valuable insight and firsthand advice on the role CEOs and leadership teams can play in organizational transformation.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1st edition (November 23, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787900427
• ISBN-13: 978-0787900427
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #423,527 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Inspirational, October 24, 2000

By 

Pepperdine Doctorate Student (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Discontinuous Change: Leading Organizational Transformation (J-B US non-Franchise Leadership) (Hardcover)

Introduction In the book Discontinuous Change the authors use anecdotes of prestigious organizations to enhance the understanding of the theoretical and practical ideology concerning organizational change. The authors begin the text by identifying the precursors of organizational change. The precursors are shifts in industry structure, technological innovation, macroeconomic trends and crises, regulatory or legal changes, market and competitive forces and growth. The authors introduce the concept of sustained success as arrogant, insular, and complacent. By remaining in the sustained success idealism, the authors state that the organization will fall into the trap of success which tends to lead to an internal focus; the perception that knowledge, insight, and ideas are found inside the organization rather than outside. Throughout the text, the authors create a clear distinction between incremental and discontinuous change. The authors define incremental change as a continuous pattern of large and small changes that may impact the functioning enterprise in small or large increments. In contrast, discontinuous change is defined as a shocking impact that creates radical departure from the past. Using a variety of models, the authors give the reader a visual picture of the types of change that could occur in an organization. Portrayed in one of the models, the reader will identify the leadership as the "champions and gatekeepers" of the change. By setting the pace, the leaders identify the new corporate identity, the degree to which change needs to happen, the design and organization of the change plan and the interventions needed to keep the plan on course. The authors conclude with discussions concerning the different types of leaders that have been involved with organizational change throughout the years. The authors identified three types of leaders, heroic, instrumental and institutionalized. The authors concluded that the institutionalized leader would be more effective in directing the discontinuous change. Gut Reactions The authors believe that the organizational change should begin with the senior management, by analyzing their "point of view" relative to organizational strategy and policy level. In addition, they also focus on the behavioral dynamics of the organization, believing that the organization is a complex yet active system of human behavior. As practitioners, the authors give valuable insight for contemporary use in organizational change. Citing large organizations, such as, AT&T, Chrysler, and GE as examples, the authors state that the need for change in these organizations came from life-threatening business issues not just questions of organizational work life or corporate climate. In addition, the authors state that the issues that arose in the organizations were generated from external sources, such as, competition, new technology, deregulation, maturation of product sets, changes in ownership, shifts in fundamental market structure, or rapid growth opportunities. Further, the authors state that these changes altered the core of what the organizations represents to its customers and members, not just individual parts or subsystems. Based on the authors insights it has become clear that the days of effortless dominance of large organizations are history. Every organization needs to continue to develop and focus if they are to survive. The authors make it clear that change is inevitable, however, how that change is managed is the key to success. As individuals are resistant to change, so are organizations, however, the risk of an organization resisting change is much greater. The new environments demand that organizations develop speed, innovation, and flexibility, the very opposite of stability. Discontinuous change is a defined analysis of Schein's frame-breaking change in that it is more traumatic, painful and demanding on the organization than incremental change. Big Ideas The changed techniques used in the past are no longer sufficient to manage the complex transitions that are taking place in organizations today. Hence, the authors have determined that there is a need for further development of the old techniques, in order to manage the new types of transitions. Change has out grown the perception of being the exception it has now become the rule. With this perspective in mind, the authors' goal is to transform those things that are practice into theory. The authors are focused on proactive strategic responses to change, rather than, reactive. They offer propositions based on trial-and-error approaches. These propositions create the foundation for diagnoses of the readers current situation. With the understanding that not all leaders are capable of changing, the authors provide a framework to assist in assessing the ability of the current leadership. There are times when it becomes necessary for an organization to invoke change in an effort to avoid complacency. Implications In this era of intense organizational transitions, there is a need for every individual in the organization to adapt to change, beginning with the executives and management. This text speaks of long-term change that will continuously impact an organization over the period of its existence. The types of change needed in organizations are progressing towards frame-breaking, as opposed to historical cosmetic restructuring. Past techniques do not create the immediate turnaround needed to effect change. Therefore, just-in-time interventions are needed to create new behaviors immediately. However, the authors have conceded that often times tried-and-true techniques from decades ago are the most effective, but are often denounced because of the time sensitivity. The authors suggest that there are only two types of change, incremental and discontinuous. Those organizations that will be successful must create core capabilities that are not easily replicated by others. In order for discontinuous change to be effective, organizations must unlearn their old habits, orientations, assumptions, and routines.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Change 101", July 3, 2000

By 

"frankkr" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Discontinuous Change: Leading Organizational Transformation (J-B US non-Franchise Leadership) (Hardcover)

One of the very best books read for my graduate degree. Nadler and Shaw point out that only those companies able to respond quickly and effectively to changing environmental conditions will survive in the coming decades. Successful firms must learn and act at a faster rate than their competition. Many leaders can affect some change in an organization-but it is normally short lived. But, to make change more long term and make that change take place at a faster rate-you must create destabilizing events in significant scope to get attention-and keep it! There are many take-aways in this book. If you want an outstanding "Leadership 101" book in 276 short pages-this is the one you want.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enlightening, sometimes dry..., July 7, 1999

By 

Jeff Pasternack ([e-mail]) (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Discontinuous Change: Leading Organizational Transformation (J-B US non-Franchise Leadership) (Hardcover)

Have you ever closed a book after finishing the last page and wondered how you might apply all that you've learned from its contents? By the same token, have you ever struggled through a book which you knew had great information and yet its presentation left a dry, chalky feeling in your head?

If not, then this book is for you. I found it to be very enlightening and the book gave clear examples of organizations which either failed to anticipate change or proactively sought to position itself for change. Nadler, et al, break down the stages of change management into readable bites and provide stepping stones of the thought processes that should be involved in change management.

Even better, the authors discuss how the corporate culture is directed by leadership's attitude towards change and covers how to bring about change in spite of internal resistance.

That said, this is tough stuff to dig into for any length of time.