Taking Charge Of Change: Ten Principles For Managing People And Performance (Paperback)

~ Douglas K. Smith (Author) "In the wake of unrelenting change surging through the private, government, and not-for-profit sectors, today's most urgent leadership challenge has shifted..." (more)
Key Phrases: personal performance commitments, many existing people, instructional interns, Iberian Motors, Quality Shop, Mike Berkin (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In business, reengineering is the idiom of the day. Brought to prominence by Michael Hammer and James Champy (Reengineering the Corporation, HarperBusiness, 1993), reengineering calls for an organization to examine itself and its processes. Ironically, whatever the impetus, 70 percent of all reengineering efforts result in failure. In this work, Smith, a management consultant and coauthor of The Wisdom of Teams (LJ 2/1/93), attempts to move reengineering in a more positive direction and provides a syllabus for understanding and implementing a reengineering effort. For Smith, the emphasis is on people and performance. Change is never easy, and the value of the book is in the real situations and examples where change has been attempted, sometimes successfully, sometimes not (lessons can be learned from failure). Aside from being an excellent primer with clearly illustrated models, the last chapter, dealing with personal leadership, is noteworthy. Any organization contemplating a change effort should read this chapter before taking the journey.?Steven Silkunas, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority, Philadelphia
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

Cooking up great ideas of how things ought to be is easy. Getting things to actually change is a different matter, especially in large, complex organizations. This book provides the diagnostic tools managers need to assess their particular needs for change and the tool kit required to implement the changes one wants to see.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (April 16, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201916045
• ISBN-13: 978-0201916041
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #902,633 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best hand-on book about Change Management available., July 15, 1998

By	Thomas Titura (Traisen, Austria) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is clearly the best book about the practical side of Change Management I've read so far (and I've read more then 20 by now). This book really helps me in my day-to-day work as a Change Manager. Smith has closed a big gap in the Change Management literature, this is the most practical book you can look for! Highly recommended.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent How To Guide on Managing/Creating Change., April 19, 1999

By A Customer

I found the book to be extremely informative. Douglas Smith has done a masterfull job of creating a step by step guide for the process of both Creating and Managing Change in any organization. He also points out why many Change Efforts fail. The 10 step guide that he has created should help us all avoid the common pitfalls of this process and help greatly improve our odds of success. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is either thinking about starting a change effort or currently in the midst of one now.

3.0 out of 5 stars Some good ideas, but not the best., August 16, 2003

By A Customer

This is a good book, but it is not one of the best. Get copies of Kotter, Schein, Beitler, or Collins' books.