Making Change Happen One Person at a Time: Assessing Change Capacity within Your Organization [Hardcover]

Charles H. Bishop Jr. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 2000

Change management is a high priority on every corporate agenda these days. But even the fattest budgets and the most brilliant strategies won't do the job if managers don't put the right people in the right positions.

This refreshingly different approach to change management is based on a simple and eye-opening premise: that organizational change happens one person at a time. Using the author's unique "personal change capacity" model, it shows managers how to identify and develop people according to their potential: A-players, who thrive in pivotal change positions; B-players, happy to provide support and take on some new challenges; C-players, solid performers, but not comfortable with change; and D-players, whose resistance to change is so strong that the company may be better off without them.

Based on a proven, battle-tested process developed at major companies, this down-to-earth guide is enhanced by useful assessment forms and planning tools. It should be embraced by every manager and human resources professional charged with the messy but vital task of choosing the best people to making change happen.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Overcoming resistance to change is a frequent topic in management literature, but writers tend to overlook the fact that people deal with change in different ways. Bishop, president of the consulting firm of Chicago Change Partners, has been a senior human resources executive at several major companies. He addresses head-on the varying ways in which individuals respond to and cope with change, identifying four categories of personal change capacity: those individuals who thrive on change, those who are happy to provide support and willing to accept some new challenges, those who perform well but are uncomfortable with change, and those "whose resistance to change is so strong that the company may be better off without them!" He describes five factors that must be considered in assessing an individual's capacity to change, advises on creating a profile for each individual, and shows how to determine overall group capacity for change and analyze weak links. Bishop also recommends the creation of a development and coaching plan and defines the roles of leaders at all levels of an organization. David Rouse
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

recently reviewed by Human Resource Management and included as a “must” for “The Change Bookshelf.” -- Human Resource Management

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 260 pages
• Publisher: AMACOM; 1st edition (January 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814405282
• ISBN-13: 978-0814405284
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #858,894 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good thoughts, but misses the point on what really is going on..., January 24, 2006

By 

Jim Robinson (Kansas City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Making Change Happen One Person at a Time: Assessing Change Capacity within Your Organization (Hardcover)

"Making Change Happen" is good, as far as it goes. The discussion of people and their ability to fit in a changing organization and promote the change is good. If you are buying this book to guide in change planning and implementation, it provides some good groundwork information. But it is not sufficient, by itself. This author uses supervisors' assessments of "change readiness", etc.. Other books and articles provide more rigorous and objective testing of staff change readiness, etc. The author also does not deal with the morale and organizational impact of forced reassignments and "outplacement" (lay-offs or firings). He even strongly implies that the staff that remain will have higher morale during the process. Obviously, he is a consultant. He has never been close to the workforce in an organization that is in the midst of an organizational change process, or one that has had lay-offs or firings in the proceeding months or years. Nor has he read the research on how those impact morale, retention of business knowledge, and, ultimately, productivity. In that sense, this book reminds me of the Hammer and Champy "Reengineering" books of the last decade; pregnant with potential, but lacking a connection with critical components of the realities of what is happening in the corporation.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Change is the Only Constant for My Small Business, December 1, 2000

By 

Mike Bishop (Shorewood, Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Making Change Happen One Person at a Time: Assessing Change Capacity within Your Organization (Hardcover)

An invaluable guide and a true eye opening experience. My small business means constant change and knowledge of my people. This book is very helpful and informative. As a small business owner it is critical that I find the right people and that they are in the best roles. This book has changed the way I look at my people and potential hires. If you want to improve your personnel assessment and feel confident facing the challenges of business life this is a must read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars very informative, November 30, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Making Change Happen One Person at a Time: Assessing Change Capacity within Your Organization (Hardcover)

I found this book informative. It really helped me evaluate each of my staff members individually as well as how they fit within my team.