Change or die: how to transform your organization from the inside out

112 Pages·2006·2.68 MB·English

by  M. David Dealy, Andrew R. Thomas

CHANGE OR DIE
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CHANGE OR DIE
How to Transform Your
Organization from the Inside Out
M. David Dealy
with Andrew R. Thomas
Westport, Connecticut
P R A E G E R London
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dealy, M. David.
Change or die : how to transform your organization from the inside out /
M. David Dealy with Andrew R. Thomas,
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-275-98405-2 (alk. paper)
1. Organizational change. I. Thomas, Andrew R. II. Title.
HD58.8.D425 2006
658.4'02—dc2 205019181
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available.
Copyright © 2006 by M. David Dealy and Andrew R. Thomas
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be
reproduced, by any process or technique, without the
express written consent of the publisher.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2005019181
ISBN: 0-275-98405-2
First published in 2006
Praeger Publishers, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881
An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.
www.praeger.com
Printed in the United States of America
The paper used in this book complies with the
Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National
Information Standards Organization (Z39.48-1984).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For my wife, Karen
—M. David Dealy
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Contents
1 The Inevitability of Change 1
2 The Great Change Mistakes 13
3 The Change Agent Solution 27
4 Great Change Agents Chalenge the Status Quo 41
5 Great Change Agents Embrace the Necessity
of Conflict 51
6 Great Change Agents Manage Risk, Not Avoid It 59
7 Great Change Agents Stoke the Fire of Creativity 73
8 Great Change Agents Develop New Ones 81
9 Change Expectations and the New MBA 87
Notes 95
Bibliography 9
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Chapter 1
The Inevitability
of Change
Nothing endures but change.
Heraclites
ALTHOUGH IT WAS 20 years ago, it seems like just yesterday.
Life was good. After 8 years with the company I was promoted
to a job with a big title and even bigger salary. Everything seemed
to be going my way until that day when my boss, the general
manager, called me into his office.
I felt that I could handle anything. I had started at the bot-
tom and worked my way up. In the railroad business that meant
working on the track with large gangs of other guys who also
started at the bottom. And it meant being outside all day long
in the blistering heat of summer and the painful cold of winter.
We rebuilt track by replacing creosoted cross ties and steel rail.
It was hard work, with long hours that left little time for any-
thing else.
Fortunate enough to be promoted from job to job, I had es-
tablished myself as a "change agent." I don't think the term had
been coined yet, but that is what I was. The common questions
on audit trips by senior management always revolved around