The Change Catalyst

Book description

The essential companion for delivering successful and sustainable change.

'The Change Catalyst is the most accessible, entertaining and insightful book on the subject I have read in many a year.'David Pitman, Global Partner, Boston Consulting Group

88% of change initiatives fail. The Change Catalyst provides you with the insight, tools and know-how you need to make sure your next change, strategy or M&A is the one in eight that succeeds.

Whether you're trying to change a process, a culture, a behaviour or an entire business, success demands complete clarity of what you are trying to achieve and why, followed by a clear plan to align your people to deliver. All change is about people, and one of the most important ingredients for successful change is the identification and appointment of a Change Catalyst. This is the person who can guide your organisation – its people and its processes – to the ultimate delivery of the outcomes your business needs.

The book takes you deep inside the culture and process of change to show you how to set yourself up for success in both the short and long term; identify your goal, clarify your vision, stay focused on the outcome and develop and deliver a do-able plan. It will also explain how to genuinely engage stakeholders at all levels in every stage of the process. Real-world case studies show you what a successful change initiative looks like on the ground, and the Change Toolbox offers a collection of proven tools and models to streamline planning and implementation. Clear, intelligent guidance cuts through the buzzwords to get down to business quickly, and a pragmatic, holistic approach helps you tackle strategy, culture, execution and more.

People don't like change; it rattles their cages and makes them uncomfortable – and emotion trumps logic every time. This book shows you how to pinpoint the emotional triggers, coax logic out of hiding and get everyone on board as you drive real, lasting change.

  • Learn why typical change initiatives are far more likely to fail than succeed.
  • Identify your Change Catalyst to strengthen both process and outcome.
  • Overcome cultural challenges and turn understanding into transformation.
  • Develop and implement a solid strategy for successful change.

Whether you want change at the team level or on a government scale, no initiative is immune from the perils of inertia, misguided focus, distracted leadership or muddled planning. Change is inevitable. Successful change isn't.

The Change Catalyst will tilt the odds on your favour and enable your next change initiative to be among the 12% that succeeds.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Series Page
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Acknowledgements
  7. About the Author
  8. Introduction
  9. Part Zero: Change is Inevitable
  10. Part One: Why 88% of Change Initiatives Fail
    1. Chapter 1: People Don't Like Change
      1. #1 Reason Why People Resist Change: Fear of Failure
      2. #2 Reason Why People Resist Change: Fear of the Unknown
      3. #3 Reason Why People Resist Change: Fear of Blame
      4. #4 Reason Why People Resist Change: The Comfort of Victimhood
      5. The ‘Victim’ Triangle
      6. Escaping the Vicious Triangle
      7. #5 Reason Why People Resist Change: The Long-Term Gains Don't Seem to be Worth the Short-Term Pain
      8. #6 Reason Why People Resist Change: We Need Help but It is Nowhere to be Found, So We Give Up at the First Hurdle
    2. Chapter 2: Lack of Clarity Regarding What We are Trying to Achieve and Why
      1. Q1: ‘What are We Trying to Achieve?’
      2. Clarity of Business Outcomes
      3. Realistic Outcomes
      4. Measurable Outcomes
      5. Q2: ‘What Does Success Look Like?’
      6. Q3: ‘Why Do We Need to Change?’
      7. Why is the Status Quo Not an Option?
      8. Q4: ‘What is in It for Me?’
    3. Chapter 3: The Implications are not Fully Understood
    4. Chapter 4: An Obsession with Process over Outcomes
    5. Chapter 5: Inertia
    6. Chapter 6: The Project is Set Up to Fail
    7. Chapter 7: Poor Communications and Disingenuous Stakeholder Engagement
      1. Change Projects that Fail, Fail to Communicate Effectively
      2. Change Projects that Fail, Also Fail to Engage Genuinely with Their Stakeholders
    8. Chapter 8: We Forget that Emotions Trump Logic Every Time
      1. One Industry that Has Been Built Around the Fact that Our Emotions Rule Our Decisions is the World of Advertising
      2. The Economist Plays with Our Emotions!
      3. Scientific Evidence that Emotions Rule Our Decisions
      4. Emotional Commitment is Four Times Stronger than Rational Commitment
      5. What Does Motivate People?
    9. Chapter 9: A Change-averse Culture
    10. Chapter 10: The Leadership Doesn't Stay the Course
  11. Part Two: The Necessary Ingredients for Successful Change
    1. Chapter 11: A Change Catalyst to Drive Delivery
      1. The Difference between a Change Catalyst and a Programme Manager
      2. Should My Change Catalyst be Internal Or External?
      3. The Best of Both Worlds
      4. The Life of a Change Catalyst
      5. What is EQ?
      6. EQ is Far More Important than IQ When It Comes to Business
    2. Chapter 12: Clarity About What we are Trying to Achieve and Why
    3. Chapter 13: Detailed Understanding of the Implications of the Change
    4. Chapter 14: A Laser-like Focus on the Outcomes
    5. Chapter 15: A Change Process that Includes a ‘Pause for Reflection’
    6. Chapter 16: Clear Governance and Thorough Planning
      1. Clear Governance
      2. A ‘Change Catalyst’ is Outcomes-Focused and Thrives in the Grey Areas
      3. Thorough Planning
    7. Chapter 17: Genuine Engagement with People at all Levels of the Organisation
      1. Effective Communications
      2. What is the Purpose of the Communication?
      3. Communicate Frequently and Regularly
      4. Remember that Communication is a Net-Sum Gain
      5. Listen
      6. Genuine Stakeholder Engagement
      7. Methods of Engagement
    8. Chapter 18: Identification of the Emotional Triggers
    9. Chapter 19: A Strong, Committed, Aligned and Unwavering Leadership Team
    10. Chapter 20: A Change-ready Culture
  12. Part Three: Culture Change
    1. Chapter 21: Cultural Intelligence
      1. The Four Components of Cultural Intelligence
      2. The Sources of Cultural Intelligence – Head, Body and Heart
      3. Observing the Default Settings of Other Cultures
      4. Observing Your Own Default Settings
    2. Chapter 22: Instigating Change in a Foreign Culture
      1. Australia to England
      2. Translating for the Americans
      3. Nonverbal Communication in Asia
      4. Majilis-Style Decision-Making in the Middle East
      5. Learnings from Working in Foreign Lands
    3. Chapter 23: Understanding Your Organisation's Culture
      1. Insight Via Culture Surveys
      2. Insight from Employee Focus Groups and Interviews
      3. Insight from Outside
    4. Chapter 24: Teaching People to Walk in the Rain
      1. A Company's Culture is How Its People Behave, Individually and in Teams
  13. Part Four: Getting Down to Business
    1. Chapter 25: Vision, Mission and Other Buzzwords
      1. To Vision Or Not to Vision?
      2. Mission
      3. Other Mission Variants
      4. Purpose
      5. Capabilities (a.k.a. ‘What Do We Have to Excel at?’)
      6. Behaviours
      7. Summary
    2. Chapter 26: Values Schmalues
      1. The ‘Right’ Values
      2. ‘Real’ Values
      3. Three Types of Values
    3. Chapter 27: What Does a Good Strategy Look Like?
      1. Utopia
      2. Stretch Targets
      3. Verbal Nonsense
      4. To-Do Lists
      5. Wish Lists
      6. Spreadsheets and Hockey Sticks
      7. ‘What are the Components of a Good Strategy?’
    4. Chapter 28: It's the Delivery, Stupid! (Execution is Everything)
      1. Commit
      2. Engage Your People in Strategy Development
      3. Communicate Properly
      4. Develop a Robust Strategy Execution Plan
      5. Tier 1 is for the Leadership Team to Deliver
      6. Tier 2 is Owned by the Department Leadership Teams
    5. Chapter 29: Where Are Your Walls? (Organisation Design)
    6. Chapter 30: Overcoming Complacency (The Innovator's Dilemma)
      1. How to Overcome Complacency
    7. Chapter 31: What Does a Good Leader Look Like?
    8. Chapter 32: Building Extraordinary Leadership Teams
      1. The Main Ingredients to Building Extraordinary Leadership Teams
    9. Chapter 33: Your People
      1. The Nine-Box Grid
      2. Descriptions and Implications of Each Box
      3. New Employees/New to Role
      4. Don't be Afraid of Scoring People ‘Low’ in Terms of Either Potential Or Performance
      5. And Lastly, Embrace the Grid
      6. The Performance Choice Grid
    10. Chapter 34: Case Studies
    11. Chapter 35: The Change Toolbox
  14. Part Five: And Finally, Tell ‘em What You Told ‘em
  15. Index
  16. End User License Agreement

Product information

  • Title: The Change Catalyst
  • Author(s): Campbell Macpherson
  • Release date: May 2017
  • Publisher(s): Wiley
  • ISBN: 9781119386261