Leading Change

"By far the biggest mistake people make when trying to change organizations is to plunge ahead without establishing a high enough sense of urgency in fellow managers and employees."

"Without short-term wins, too many employees give up or actively join the resistance."

"Anchoring change requires that sufficient time be taken to ensure that the next generation of management really does personify the new approach."

"A globalization economy is creating both more hazards and more opportunities for everyone, forcing firms to make dramatic improvements not only to compete and prosper but also to merely survive."

"The methods used in successful transformations are all based on one fundamental insight"

"Bureaucratic cultures can smother those who want to respond to shifting conditions. And lack of leadership leaves no force inside these organizations to break out of the morass."

"Establishing a sense of urgency is crucial to gaining needed cooperation."

"Only teams with the right composition and sufficient trust among members can be highly effective."

"Without a good vision, a clever strategy or a logical plan can rarely inspire the kind of action needed to produce major change."

"Why would an intelligent group of people pursue a vision that ignores the needs of customers, employees, or investors?"

"A verbal picture is worth a thousand words."

"What are the biggest obstacles that often need to be attacked? Four can be particularly important: structures, skills, systems, and supervisors."

"Transformation is not a process involving leadership alone; good management is also essential."

"Firms that try to juggle twenty change projects today by using the methods that successful companies applied to the same problem three decades ago always seem to fail."

"When the new practices made in a transformation effort are not compatible with the relevant cultures, they will always be subject to regression."