This book is written for the leader or management team of any complex organization attempting to lead an organization-wide change. Successfully leading change has never been easy. Many realities of life in the 21st century have combined to intensify the challenge. This book captures the lessons learned during more than 43 years of experience working in complex, large-scale organizations, 14 years between West Point and the United States Army and more than 29 years in two large, very different American companies. These lessons learned are shared in the hope that it will help others lead change successfully and avoid at least some of the pitfalls that come with it.
The principles and questions in this book also benefit leaders making changes in the small organization or those who desire to transform their small organization into a large one. This book is intended to serve as a leaders’ guide of things to think about and how to plan for successful change.
Many books have been written about management and leadership, as well as the dos and must-dos of leading an organization. But few books discuss what it takes to make changes in today’s complex organizations, and those that do are often written by consultants who have not practiced what they propose over any significant period of time. This book, by contrast, draws lessons from a successful long-term change made by leaders who had a personal and financial stake in the organization’s success and saw the change all the way through.
