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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It's almost in the "I couldn't put it down" category, December 8, 2009
This is a fantastic, easy-to-read paperback (written by a psychiatrist turned organisational consultant) for anyone interested in organisational change. It's almost in the "I couldn't put it down" category.
Like many HR practitioners, for decades I've wondered about how best to manage organisational change. None of the traditional processes work well.
I had been impressed by Malcolm Gladwell's "The Tipping Point - how little things can make a big difference" (Abacus, 2000) about social change and how changed behaviour can suddenly become the norm.
Viral Change marries Gladwell's tipping point concepts (especially "The Law of the Few") to viral communication (as espoused by Dr TJ Larkin - see Communicating Big Change Using Small Communication at [...]).
Viral Change is also reminiscent of "Roses and Rust: redefining the essence of leadership in a new age" by Australians David Clancy and Robert Webber (Business & Professional Publishing, 1995). They argued that organisations were like gardens to be tended rather than Meccano sets that could be assembled and dissembled at will. Herrero says the structural "plumbing" approach does not work in the highly networked social environments of today.
Rather that the traditional "big issues, big initiatives, big sets of actions + all management levels + massive communication and training = change (initiative)" Herrero recommends Viral Change. This involves using "small sets of behaviours + small number of people + internal networks of influence = fast sustainable change". You don't even need all the top executives on board to achieve effective change this way.
The book starts with 15 "change management assumptions" which are progressively more or less debunked. These include "big change requires big actions; only change at the top can ensure change within the organisation; and people are resistant to change". A key concept is that we should focus on changes to everyday behaviour rather than culture change as happens in traditional approaches. Small changes in behaviour will change the culture.
There are 15 chapters over 387 pages. The main arguments are presented in four sections: Language, frames and conversations; new behaviours; tipping points; rules and rituals ("cultures"). There are countless lists and many diagrams and flowcharts. The result is a "how to do it" approach that is both radical and workable.
You can get a feel for what the book is about by going to [...] where there are lots of materials including presentations.
Viral Change is self-published. Despite being a second edition it needs a professional edit and justifies printing using proportional spacing. Nevertheless, it is strongly recommended for experienced practitioners who wish to understand how to best manage change in organisations. Don't attempt a change program without a careful read of this one. It will cause you to think hard, but you'll enjoy doing it.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Theoretic but also pragmatic, January 18, 2009
This review is from: Viral Change: The alternative to slow, painful and unsuccessful management of change in organizations (Paperback)
Herrero's work offers a define alternative to the big bang org change approach, but he does tend to make it easier than it looks. I think I will need to read it a couple of times before I would attempt it in a real organizational change environment.
The book is a bit repetitive and could have been written with perhaps a 100 less pages. Also, those areas where the processes to be applied are a bit too brief.
Despite these short comings, the book is an excellent resource for managers or consultants wanting to drive change. The idea (applying VC) just needs to get some runs on the board to achieve an appropriate level of professional believability
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5.0 out of 5 stars
well-written, easy-to-follow book, July 2, 2007
This review is from: Viral Change: The alternative to slow, painful and unsuccessful management of change in organizations (Paperback)
Reviewed by Cherie Fisher for Reader Views (6/07)
So many large corporations spend millions of dollars on programs that they think will create positive change in their organization. As the change vehicle gets bogged down in committees and long-term commitments and strategies, the originals goals are often lost. Leandro Herrero's approach in "Viral Change" is completely different. This well-written, easy-to-follow book will teach you how to create lasting change in the corporate world. The author, a psychiatrist, debunks many myths about creating change in the corporate structure and outlines the process in very simple and straightforward steps.
The author begins the book by getting you to think about your position on fifteen assumptions. These are: Big changes requires big actions, only change at the top can ensure change within the organization, people are resistant to change, cultural change is a slow and painful long-term affair, everybody needs to be involved in the change, communication and training are the vital components of change, new processes and systems create the new necessary behaviors, people are rational and will react to logical and rational requests for change, there is no point in creating change in one division without the rest of the company participating, skeptical people and enemies of change need to be sidelined, vision for change needs to come from the top and cascade down, after change, you need a period of stability and consolidation, short-term wins are tactical, but they do not usually represent real change, there will always be casualties - people not accepting change - and you need to identify and deal with them and people used to not complying with norms will be even worse at accepting change. These same assumptions are revisited at the end of the book with very different outcomes when using viral change principles.
The bottom line in "Viral Change" is that change does not have to be a long, drawn-out and painful process. It can happen very quickly by using small, incremental steps. And it does not have to have the buy-in of all the "top brass" and committees. One person, not necessarily at the top, can effect positive change by using this process. Large corporations, for-profit and not-for- profit, often get in trouble because they become inflexible and unable to change quickly to meet the increasing demands in their industries. It does not have to be this way and Leandro Herrero proves that in this insightful book "Viral Change.
Book Received FREE of Charge
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