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The Four Levers of Corporate Change by Peter L. Brill and Richard Worth

"First, we examine human nature and how to persuade employees to work for, not against, change. Second, we discuss power, a subject most executives are even more reluctant to talk about than their sex lives. Properly used, power can make change succeed; misapplied, it can destroy a company's entire effort. Third, we explain how to use social processes to initiate change and give it momentum... overcoming pockets of resistance. And fourth, we describe the role of the leader..."

"Universal Solvent" exercise: equal numbers of two opposing groups sit around a table. Each takes a turn to ask ONE question to his opposite number, and then record (without reply) the answer. After an hour, "people had gotten a lot of pent-up feelings off their chests and also begun to see problems from the other group's perspective." (page 27)

1. Crisis clearly demonstrated to all employees - short enough time-frame to require a response, long enough time-frame for a response to be possible.

2. Expert clearly demonstrates how their company is deficient compared to others.

3. Exercises got emotions out in the open to motivate change.

4. Employees created their own concrete plans [in cooperation with each other] to solve the problems revealed by #2 and #1 -- note that management-imposed plans would not be sufficient, nor be likely to be adopted.

Fundamental Change requires:

1. strong emotions: fear, greed, pride, recognition, accomplishment

2. (someone/something) must destabilize the existing system [Welch / GE]

3. the changed system must be self-reinforcing

4. vision / ideology of the change reinforces the credibility and legitimacy of the leadership

First Principle of Power: people who have power usually do not give it up voluntarily.

Second: Hierarchies are the natural order of things. Formal hierarchies can be replaced by informal ones.

Third: in each organization, there are different types of power: moral (priests), expertise (gurus), coercive (hire and fire)

new CEO, established old company, wanted to restructure the company to cross-functional teams focused on market segments.

Resistance from "Field Consultants' and the VP in charge of them -- they did not want to become "sales people".

CEO spent months trying to persuade that VP, and after failing to, fired him

instead of taking charge of the Field Consultants group or putting a flunky in charge, he set up training to

1. strengthen their commitment to the company

2. change their identities from consultants to sales people

3. change the structure of the organization

using "Universal Solvent", employees asked and answered questions on

1. how to improve market share

2. what changes are taking place in the market?

3. how should we respond to those changes?

4. what are the strengths of this company?

5. what is the current strategy?

6. how effective is communication between this group and others in the co.? NOTE: the CEO is listening to these answers.

Training included simulations of mis-communication and blaming.

Training on analysis of the markets involved, what was needed to satisfy those customers.

After all this, the CEO presents his vision for the new corporate strategy. The consultants are formed into small groups to discuss how the strategy might be applied to their department... and their identities and why they need to change to sales to function effectively in the new markets.

Training session where participants play at using new identities Simulation to emphasize the need for team-work and cooperation and usefulness of cross-functional teams.

Teams created to gather data needed for the re-org: lead by sales/consultant "stars", not by ex-VP's managers.

This last bit, as well as all the training earlier, established a "caring" relationship between the CEO and the employees, by-passing the managers that might try to get into between to resist and redirect the CEO's desires.