Creating Contageous Commitment

Dr. Andrea Shapiro's book is a guide to organizational change management. What separates this book from other literature is that it gives a practical approach for action. There are many times that we stumble upon change manuals that require a decoder ring to understand. Shapiro takes a successful, existing change process in the Tipping Point and utilizes it in her implementation. She provides a model of change that leaders can apply to move from being disengaged to devoted employees.

The book is broken down into six chapters, but for major sections, in my opinion. The last two chapters are more for explaining her Tipping Point Simulation. Although an effective assessment tool, the first four chapters are where the most valuable information lies.

Chapter One: Alive with Change

The first chapter talks about drivers of change. Charles Darwin is quoted saying, "It's not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change." (Page 9) Change is about people. This means that an organization can get the newest computer models, the fastest processors, and the most up-to-date technology, but without the employees, they're worthless. Organizations change when the people in them change (pg 11). You also can't achieve organizational effectiveness without people.

Organizational effectiveness includes the ability to solve problems, learn from experience, achieve goals, and take advantage of external change (pg 11). How can you achieve success in these categories without people? Everything about a company or an organization is about people. People make change happen.

Shapiro briefly discusses the importance of models in the first chapter. Models of change are very necessary in facilitating the change process. A model is a way to simplify and identify the most important aspects of any phenomenon (pg 15). It is an aid to understanding by highlighting the important and relevant areas needing attention and energy. It is also an aid to communication by providing a common language that assists the planning and decision making process (pg 17).

The author's model is the Tipping Point Simulation™. (Let's face it; everyone who develops a new change effort needs some type of model in order to sell a product or service!) "All organizations and changes are different, and there is no recipe for change (pg 20)." The Tipping Point Simulation is a nationally successful half-day leadership development simulation showing managers how to set up changes that last (www.strategicdevelopment.com).

Basically what the simulation involves are small teams of participants competing on a case study to see who can make strategic decisions to create a lasting change - on time and on budget. The Tipping Point Simulation offers a way to experiment the various dynamics of change in a safe, low-risk environment. It fosters dialogues between team members that combines and refines their knowledge. This dialogue addresses issues that have might otherwise fallen through the cracks (pg 21).

Chapter Two: Lessons from Public Health

What does public health have to do with change? Epidemiologists study the spread of infectious disease. What we can learn from public health is how to turn their lessons inside out. We need to create positive epidemics (pg 29). The key to spreading the flu, for example, is contact. Here's the focus: the flu carriers make contact with healthy people. Then they people begin to incubate the flu. Later on, they can become infectors, as well. The variable in this case is the strength of the immune systems, amounts of sleep, etc. Some of the incubators become healthy again.

In change efforts, we must figure out how to foresee these variables and ensure that we infect everyone with the flu! These "strong immune system people" are known as resisters. For the flu, that's good, but for change, it's bad! What are the sources of resistance? Concern with change and its applicability, exposure to failed change efforts in the past, fear of loss, etc. This explains a system to spread good ideas in a change effort perspective.

Another technique that is useful is supporting advocates for change. When people recognize the value of an organizational change to their own productivity and work environment, their attitudes often become positive (pg 46). They become advocates. They are now in the Law of the Few, mentioned heavily in The Tipping Point.

The author cautions us, however, that these ideas of change will not spread without support from management (pg 49). There are two types of support that leaders can provide: people and environmental support. People support includes listening to concerns, fostering contacts between advocates and others, explaining what to expect from change, etc. Environmental support helps create the atmosphere for change. Both needs to be present and represented well if the change effort is to be successful.

An interesting, practical section of the book in chapter two focuses on critical mass. In nuclear physics, critical mass refers to the minimum amount of nuclear fissionable material that is needed to sustain a chain reaction (pg 53). With critical mass, the chain reaction begins at the atomic level, gains incredible energy, and literally explodes beyond control. In change, we are creating a critical mass of advocates that under the right conditions can cause a chain reaction that leads to an explosion of enthusiasm for change. The end result of this critical mass explosion represents Everett Rogers' Distribution of Innovation curve (shown below, pg 55). The innovators are the requirements for a critical mass reaction to develop.

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Good ideas don't spread themselves (pg 59). They spread when people promote them. Advocate skills include: skilled conversation - balancing advocacy and inquiry in contacts, fluency with the law of the few - identifying and contacting the mavens, connectors, and salesman, and sensitivity to change styles - leverage changes style when making contacts (pg 63). These are the skills you want your advocates to possess.

Chapter Three: Thinking Systemically

Thinking systemically is about thinking outside of the box. For example, when on a beach looking into the horizon, one cannot escape the impression of flatness. But through systematic thinking, we can overcome this limitation and move away from linear thinking. We have to understand that the world, although appearing flat, is round.

Links and loops is a clever interpretation of systems. What is a system?