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It Starts with One
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It Starts with One

Changing Individuals Changes Organizations

J. Stewart Black and Hal B. Gregersen
Wharton School Publishing, 2008
First Edition: 2002
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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.

Summary

True Transformation Starts with Individuals

If your company does not evolve and stay fresh, your competitors will leave it in the dust. But even though change is a life-and-death business issue, most management books discuss it in exactly the wrong way. They characterize reform as an organizational phenomenon, not as a personal one. They make it a matter of command-and-control. Press the right buttons, and your organization will automatically reset and renew itself. Sorry, it’s not that easy.

According to research, most improvement initiatives fail. This happens largely because organizations cannot generate meaningful transformations unless the people within them alter their behaviors and actions first. If your workers are not willing to grow, your new directives won’t work. To build their willingness, try to understand their point of view, communicate with them and praise their efforts along the way. Of course, organizational updating is never easy. It requires a large investment of money, time and effort.

Why Few Change Programs Really Reshape Anything

Often, transformational initiatives that begin with great hopes fail to work because their implementation...

About the Authors

J. Stewart Black and Hal B. Gregersen teach at INSEAD, Europe’s largest M.B.A. organization. Gregersen, co-author of nine other books, was a Fulbright Fellow at the Turku School of Economics.

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