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Hardcover
187 pages
ISBN 9780875847474 Published Sept. 1996
Harvard Business School Press
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Posted Nov. 12, 2010 10:42 a.m. by dylan
The difficulty in trying to get an entire organization to buy into a change initiative is a reality we've faced in our company many times. Faced with tough competition and technological advances, the book selling industry has been rife with changes over the past decade, and it has been a challenge to react decisively and swiftly while also getting everyone in the organization on the same page. I always recommend John Kotter's classic Leading Change to all leaders facing similar situations.
But now Kotter (with Lorne Whitehead) has come out with a new book that is really for everyone in an organization. Well, everyone with an idea. Buy-In: Saving Your Good Idea from Getting Shot Down is about creating change on a smaller level by selling your ideas to the people who matter. We have all given birth to ideas that die because of the neglect of others who delay discussion, confuse, create fear, or just flat-out question your credibility. Change only happens when an idea gets some support and some horsepower behind it, and Buy-In will give you the tools to deflect criticism, engage listeners and inspire commitment.
Featuring a fictional character and town, the first half of the book starts as one would expect: our hero has an idea (getting new computers in the town library) and is about to present this idea to a committee (which includes such town characters as Pompus Meani, Avoidus Riski, Divertus Attenti) that is not overly accepting of our hero’s grand plan. Then, as with all good fables, a guru of sorts named Hank swoops in to save the day, offering advice and making strategic redirections as contrary opinions come up.
The second half of Buy-In focuses on the method that Hank used to successfully persuade such naysayers as Heidi Agenda. Kotter and Whitehead make sure to emphasize that the method is counter-intuitive, one that invites critics and cynicism, and combats them with preparation, not counterattacks. The authors list 24 attacks and responses, all "based on a strategy of being respectful and keeping your comments short, clear, and filled with common sense." To conclude the book, they include a short chapter that you can reference quickly any time you are pitching a new idea. And finally, they take some time to discuss Kotter's long-standing interest in change and how buy-in of ideas contributes to large-scale change.
Buy-In is a book that will effectively change how you present your ideas and, as a result, get the support you need to see them into fruition.
Jack Covert Selects - A Sense of Urgency
Posted Sept. 12, 2008 5:53 a.m. by 800-ceo-read
A Sense of Urgency by John Kotter, Harvard Business School Press, 196 pages, $22.00 Hardcover, 190 pages, September 2008, ISBN 9781422179710
In 1997, Harvard Business School Press released the best book on change that I have ever read, entitled Leading Change. Authored by Professor John Kotter, it is so good that Todd and I included it in our book, The 100 Best Business Books of All Time, due out in February of 2009. In Leading Change, Kotter gives the reader an eight-stage process needed for a successful change initiative.
In the decade since that book's release, his audiences asked him time and again about the first stage of that process, "establishing a sense of urgency," and how to accomplish it. Change cannot be accomplished without urgency, and A Sense of Urgency was written to answer that difficult problem. As Kotter states:
The Strategy [is to] create action that is exceptionally alert, externally oriented, relentlessly aimed at winning, making some progress each and every day, and constantly purging low value-added activities--all by focusing on the heart and not just the mind.
The author proceeds to lay out four sets of tactics to help you undertake creating this sense of urgency within your organization. The stories Kotter uses to illustrate these tactics are generally stories you haven't heard before, like that of the successful grocery chain that didn't notice the change going on around them until it was too late. This story helps to illustrate Kotter's first tactic of "bringing the outside in." If you are lucky enough to have had "historical success," it can lead to a "we know best" culture, which can insulate organizations from the outside world. Another issue is with a relatively strong position compared to others; you have a tendency not to look outside for disruptions. Finally with success often comes size, which adds to the lack of looking outside.
One of the reasons I like John Kotter and his teaching style is that he knows the job is never done. Let's assume you've created a sense of urgency and had a change initiative succeed. How easy is it going to be to keep a sense of urgency strong after that initial success? Well, it's not easy, and Professor Kotter knows it. The final chapter of the book covers this problem.
The ultimate solution to the problem of urgency dropping after successes is to create the right culture. This is especially true as we move from a world in which change is mostly episodic to a world in which change is continuous.
This concise, easy-to-read book, written by one of the premier minds on the subject, will be the perfect roadmap to successful change, both for now and for the long-term.
Jack Covert Selects: How to Grow a Backbone
Posted May 24, 2004 10:57 a.m. by jack
How to Grow a Backbone: 10 Strategies for Gaining Power and Influence at Work by Susan A. Marshall
Format: Paperback, 197pp, $14.95
It is always fun to read a book that you can instantly apply to your everyday life and work. Since I started "Jack Covert Selects", I have been reading many more business books than I had in the past. While most of these books have an application to your work life, some can be very dense and you have to dig to get at the nuggets of value. Not this book: the nuggets are right on the surface.
To start, Marshall defines "backbone"-the kind that will bring you greater power and influence at work-as being composed of three segments: competence, confidence, and risk-taking. You need to acquire these traits to have backbone. She then picks ten help tools to assist in your search for a backbone, and has a chapter on each tool. At the end of each chapter are exercises relevant to the past chapter covering the three important segments.
The real beauty of this book is her simple, instantly-applicable suggestions. She covers meetings, note taking, asking the right question, stating your opinion without fear, learning who has the power-and who doesn't. One of her subchapters in the power chapter talks about "suits and shirtsleeves." Shirtsleeves are doers, suits are talkers. She suggests studying the shirtsleeves to see how things are done.
Other notable strengths? Marshall incorporates stories of regular people, and then details how and why each have succeeded or failed. Plus, she references some very important classic business books, such as: The Fifth Discipline and Leading Change.
While you need to know that this book will never be taught at Harvard or Wharton, I have found a load of valuable, quickly applicable material in this book.
