For most of human history, change was a threat associated with war, epidemics, drought, and other catastrophes. Today, ongoing change is a constant, not a calamity, and the ability to bring about change is a critical managerial skill. Best-selling author Erika Andersen offers insight into the phenomenon of change, why people resist change and how leaders can overcome that resistance to implement desirable change. Andersen offers a thoughtful, well-articulated prescription for change, including a five-step model any organization can follow to effect and sustain meaningful change.
“Change” used to happen slowly and incrementally, but the speed of “change” has accelerated and its magnitude has grown.
Color television took almost a decade to replace black and white; people had time to become accustomed to it. In the 1960s, the pace of innovation accelerated. Computers had been the size of large rooms, then suitcase-sized versions appeared. Personal computers debuted in the 1970s. They achieved rapid market penetration, with ownership growing from 10% of US households in the Reagan and Bush administrations to almost one-third of households in the Clinton era.
Now, technology changes in significant ways every few months. Shifts have gotten faster in other industries and cultures as well.
For example, less than two decades ago, American cable television was monopolistic, with a single provider per regional market. Satellite television provided an alternative. Then came streaming services. These changes affected every employee of cable companies. Innovation affects everyone, in many facets of life.
People prefer stability and constancy because for most of history change loomed as a risky threat.
“Homeostasis...
Erika Andersen, the founding partner of Proteus, also wrote Being Strategic; Growing Great Employees; and Leading So People Will Follow.
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