Customer Reviews

It Starts with One: Changing Individuals Changes Organizations

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Really like this book...easy to read, different way of looking at a well-covered topic, keeps your interest. I took away a lot of insights from the book. I've read quite a few books and articles on change and leadership, and this book does not go through the same "list" of things to do to bring about change with a new set of vocabulary. It gets at the fundamental core of how to even influence/drive the "list". So many books just say do this or that (e.g. get buy-in to your vision) to enable change, but they never get at the process an individual goes through during the change (e.g. to individually buy-in) - which is the key to making it happen. There's been a fundamental missing link between management advice and the reality of cognitive psychology. That's one of the big things I like in this book. It makes that link in a pragmatic way. You get a sense of being better armed to attack the drivers, barriers and challenges to leading change.

After reading the Knowledge @ Wharton article on this book I went to a local bookstore to check it out and see if it was worth ordering. Intending just to read a couple chapters, I skimmed/read the entire book in about 2 hours. It was an easy read.

What I liked:
- A framework that is easy to remember - See, Move, Finish
- Many examples of companies who didn't change their mental models (some tired ones like Xerox) but with enough recent detail so it wasn't too tedious. Examples bring the framework to life.
- Not much academic jargon which made the reading easier.
- Some decent tools (i.e. workbook fill in the blanks) to apply to your own situation
- Drilling broad strategies down to individual behaviors

What I expected to see (but didn't):
- References to the research - what are they basing their ideas on (other than expectancy theory). Not sure if the earlier book had that.
- More cognitive theory and how it links to individual and organizational change

Overall, this book is not radical perspective but an inverted perspective examining how the individual contributor experiences organizational change. It is communication and psychology into one coherent package. It's practical.

This is a great book. I recommend it in addition to "Strategic Organizational Change" by Beitler.

Black & Gregersen focus on the management development level. Beitler focuses on the organization development level.

They make a great combo!

Charles "Chuck" Lowell

Black and Gregersen made it. They created an easy to read guide on how leadership style and the attitude of a single man or woman can change the entire company culture. I know from experience that there are always a few people in an organization, who want to achieve something bigger or would like to change a few things to the positive although they are not in a position to do so. This book shows that a lot of times these people are not alone. More often than not, a lot of employees want the same things to be change, but are not heard due to bottlenecks in the organizational hierarchy or simply because those people in charge are afraid of change.

This book highlights how it is possible to bridge these bottlenecks and make it possible that the idea of one becomes the attitude of the entire company. Especially regarding green business practices this concept becomes more and more relevant. I've experienced a few companies where single front line employees, middle managers, and even executives wanted to go green but were suppressed by the long-established and conservative company culture. That is why a new green framework needs to be created in which employees are given a forum to submit new and promising ways of doing business or restructuring the company. Out of my experience the biggest and most successful changes are initiated by one single employee. If the idea is a bad one, not many people will get aboard. However, if it is a good one it will make its way to the top.

- Frank Roettgers, author of Going Green Together - How to Align Employees with Green Strategies

The Greek philosopher Heraclitus taught that nothing is permanent except change. But, in business, even attempts to change aren't permanent - in fact, corporate transformations are usually either temporary or doomed at the outset. Executives order organizational shifts, assuming that their employees will institute them immediately as instructed and that fruitful transformation will thus ensue promptly. Unfortunately, that seldom happens because human beings, including your staffers, strongly resist giving up comfortable patterns. They will hew to familiar paths unless you or your "change champions" intercept them, one by one, explain J. Stewart Black and Hal B. Gregersen. Their book on organizational transformation makes it clear that companies cannot alter the status quo unless leaders can convince employees to adjust their mindsets and processes first. The authors outline an approach to corporate change rooted in this concept. While their plan is not exactly quick and easy, it is methodical and logical. getAbstract recommends their book to executives and managers who want to direct and control organizational change by working with their employees instead of dictating to them. Why? Because, say Black and Gregersen, one way works and the other way doesn't.

This book is a refreshing new way to look at leading change. It focuses on the real and often overlooked barriers to change and re-draws our maps of the change process. It gets right at the heart of leading people through change by addressing the fundamental barriers people face when confronted with change. Black and Gregersen provide a model that is simple, practical, and rings true. I use it in my organization change work and I highly recommend it. Any leader trying to lead his/her organization into the future will benefit from reading this book!

With a wonderful presentation format and very engaging writing style, this book informs and guides leaders who want to roll out change initiatives in their organizations. Critically, it provides information on the most important steps to take, how to build momentum, and the variety of issues that prevent your desired change from happening. This book will prove most useful when there's a good idea, someone wants to champion it, you (as the leader) want it to happen, and you need to know what to do next.

The only real thing that I'd like to have seen was a few more examples of real-world cases where change failed surprisingly due to not following the steps. Sometimes knowing the smoke signals to look for is important as knowing the success metrics to track.

I liked the book. It outlines at a high level 3 key things you should do when implementing or managing a change initiative. It does not, nor is it intended to, discuss how to navigate the increasingly complex and speedy "change" that comes at us everyday. The authors repeatedly stated that managing change is more complex than what's described in the book. Their goal was to focus on the top 20% of the things you should do to manage 80% of the change, which they accomplish. Don't forget though that when it comes to managing change, the devil is in the details!

This is a very good book. I also recommend "Strategic Organizational Change" by Beitler.

This is a business book about changing a corporate organization. It has been my experience that much in the business culture does not translate over into the church world. The dynamics of a church system are different from a business. The style of leadership and the strategies for change are not parallel between a church and a business. A lot of the business consulting would not work in a congregation. Fortunately, this book seems to break the mold. It is a practical look at the steps needed to change an organization. One will have to read into the text a church culture, but the principles are sound within the pages. It deals with how to change an organization through confrontation and contrast, but also provides the knowledge on how to continue the change process. This book was one of the best on helping people change for the good. Too many congregations get stuck in unhealthy patterns and relationships, and a minister who does not have the skill set of helping a congregation change when the congregation is dying will soon be leaving or preaching the funeral of the church. All ministers are in the job of changing a church. Not unscriptural change, but change in increased evangelism, spirituality, and unity. The normal process for a church is homeostasis and if this is not pushed than the congregation will cease to be great but will just exist. I think God wants more than existence.