Terms of Engagement, 2nd Edition

FOREWORDThe Means of Engagement

We put great energy into trying to change our organizations, and it is always more difficult and takes longer than we imagined. Some of this is in the nature of change and the general human reluctance to give up a known though painful present for an unknown though possible future. Much of the resistance to change, however, grows out of the way we try to achieve it. Often I think that people are not so much resistant to change, which happens all the time, as we are resistant to imposition and to persuasive, new-age coercion.

The most common way we try to change organizations is through strong leadership, clear vision, enrollment, rewards, and training events designed to get the new message across. Leaders and their ...