"Every day organizations around the world launch change initiatives—often big, expensive ones—designed to improve the status quo. Yet fifty to seventy percent of these change efforts fail. A few perish suddenly, but many die painful, protracted deaths that drain the organization's resources, energy and morale.
Who or what is killing change? That's what you'll find out in this witty whodunit. The story features a Columbo-style detective, Agent Mike McNally, who's investigating the murder of yet another change. One by one, Agent McNally interviews thirteen prime suspects, including a myopic leader named Victoria Vision; a chronically tardy manager named Ernest Urgency; an executive named Clair Communication, whose laryngitis makes communication all but impossible; and several other dubious characters.
The suspects are sure to sound familiar and you're bound to relate them to your own workplace. In the end, Agent McNally solves the case in a way that will inspire you to become an effective Change Agent in your own organization. A step-by-step guide at the back of the book shows you how to apply the story's lessons to the real world. Key questions help you evaluate the health of your organization's change initiatives, and you'll learn best practices for enabling and sustaining the desired change."
"High-pressure situations can make us panic-but if we can change our perspective, what seemed impossible can suddenly become doable. Legendary pitching coach Rick Peterson is a master at this kind of reframing. He and bestselling author and leadership expert, Judd Hoekstra make this skill available to everyone.
Everybody faces high-pressure situations, and in today's fast-paced, hypercompetitive world it's arguably worse than ever. But ace pitching coach Rick Peterson and organization and leadership expert Judd Hoekstra say our ineffective response to pressure often causes us to perform far below our capabilities.
Peterson has less than a minute to help a struggling athlete performing in front of millions and flip from butterflies to boldness. His breakthrough is to use 'reframing' to recast any situation from a perceived threat or crisis to a positive opportunity. Using dozens of stories from his long career, he and Hoekstra offer six different ways anyone can get a new perspective that will keep them from striking out when the heat's on. These techniques are explicitly made applicable far beyond the pitching mound-anyone can learn to outthink their brains with the power of reframing."
