The Change Monster (Paperback)

This slanted perspective usually reflects having a lousy idea for what needs to be changed that is being legitimately resisted, a poor understanding of how to communicate about change, and a one-sided view of who should benefit from any change (usually the executive).

In The Change Monster, Ms. Duck addresses the communication issues directly, the one-sided view of who should benefit indirectly, and pays not enough attention to what the idea for change should be.

The book opens with the perspective of organizations that have to change . . . or else . . . because they have just been taken over, taken someone else over, or won't be around if they don't change. Those situations create the potential for a burning platform to get everyone's attention.

Relatively little is said about getting attention when the wolf isn't so near the door, except to cite Dr. Grove's advice, "Only the paranoid survive." That's the hard part. I hope the author will spend more time on that point in future books.

The book describes a new taxonomy for evaluating where you are in the change process: Stagnation (essentially stuck in a rut that isn't working); Preparation (getting people ready for making an important change); Implementation (figuring out and announcing the details of what to do); Determination (actually carrying through on the plans and new commitments); and Fruition (using the new success to strengthen the foundations of future progress). The author does a good job of pointing out that people and parts of the organization can be at all of these steps at exactly the same moment in time. The leaders need to know where people are, help people know where they are, and encourage progress to the next step.

For most people, the key benefit of this book will be in realizing what the important communications challenges are after everyone has been given their new assignments. Many executives will want to drop working on change at that point, and instead drop the ball on the process. You simply cannot communicate too much after the marching orders start to be developed, beginning with asking lots of questions and listening. The emotional commitment has yet to have been made by most in the organization, and you can get counter-reactions instead of support very easily.

For others, the key benefit will be the excellent descriptions of the kinds of emotions that are often felt at the various moments and stages in the process, and how these emotions can be constructively addressed.

I enjoyed the two extended case histories from Ms. Duck's practice that form the bulk of the book. One involves turning around a fading industry leader that was part of Honeywell, and the other is a consolidation of the research-and-development operations of two merging pharmaceutical companies. The first example is more often on the right path, and the latter is more often not. Good lessons are pentiful in both cases about the messiness and nasty surprises of change that will be helpful to those who haven't been through these major transformations before.

Many people will dislike the examples in the book because the clients are off doing the wrong thing all the time except when rescued by the consultants. I'm a little uncomfortable with a book that relies on case histories with so much intensive consulting involvement as really being a management book.

Most significantly, you can simply put the wrong change in place . . . or at least one that isn't as good as a readily available alternative. This book focuses so little on that issue that I fear it will be overlooked by those reading this material. In that event, the myopic executive who see the problem of change as my people won't change will simply be able to use consultants in new ways to induce my people to change in the ways I like. I fear that solution often won't solve the problem.

I admire Ms. Duck's candor about her personal life and her consulting experiences. She's got what it takes to hang in there!

After you finish reading this book, I suggest that you think about where you have agreed with others to make a change that isn't occurring. Could it be that you haven't brought other people along with information and emotional reasons to support the change?

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