"All told, an impressively practical book that will help managers who are looking for ideas rather than instruction."

'This impressive book on change is an essential read for any professional manager who is serious about getting to grips with the important issues of making change happen.' - Dr Jeff Watkins, MSc Course Director, University of Bristol. 'There has long been a need for a readable, practical, but theoretically underpinned book on change which recognizes a multiplicity of perspectives. I thoroughly recommend it.' - Professor Colin Carnall, Associate Dean, Executive Programme, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick. 'I'll definitely be placing copies on a couple of desks at White City...' - Nicky Campbell, Presenter, "Radio Five Live" and BBC1's "Watchdog". 'This book is a great resource for managers thrown into the midst of change, who need to gain understanding of what happens when you try to make significant changes in a business, and how best to manage people through it.' - Andy Newall, Organizational Effectiveness Director, Allied Domecq plc. 'I commend it highly. It has a good coverage of relevant theoretical work, while at the same time giving plenty of practical examples.

It is written in an accessible style that engages the reader and it is full of useful ideas without being overly prescriptive or formulaic.' - Philip Sadler, author and former Chief Executive of Ashridge Business School. "Making Sense of Change Management" is about making change easier. It is aimed at anyone who wants to understand why change happens, how it happens and what needs to be done to make change a welcome rather than a dreaded concept. However, this book is not a 'one size fits all' simplistic panacea to all change whatever the circumstances. Instead, it offers considered insights into the many frameworks, models and ways of approaching change and helps the reader to apply the right approach to each unique situation. Contents include: individual change; team change; organizational change; leading change; structural change; mergers and acquisitions; cultural change; IT-based process change; and how best to implement change.

Written for academics and professionals alike, "Making Sense of Change Management" identifies and offers explanations of all current models of change, as well as offering practical guidelines and examples showing the reader why change can go wrong; and how to get it right.

Andy Houghton, Head of Organization Development, Retail Direct, Royal Bank of Scotland Group:
"I really enjoyed this book. I like the straightforward approach, the inclusion of the author's opinion and the insight provided by the case studies. This book will be very useful for those business managers in my organisation who need to prepare themselves for tackling major organizational change."

Professor Colin Carnall, Associate Dean, Executive Programme, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick:
"There has long been a need for a readable, practical but theoretically under-pinned book on Change which recognised a multiplicity of perspectives. By combining the behavioural, humanistic, organizational and cognitive perspectives and by helping the reader make sense of what each perspective brings to understanding Change, this book should help students and practitioners. By linking in work on personality tests such as MBTI the book breaks new ground from a practitioner point of view not least because these tests are widely used in practice. I thoroughly recommend it."

Judi Billing, Director of IDeA Leadership Academy
Improvement & Development Agency:
"If you're interested in successfully managing and leading change, then read this book! It not only covers change from both the individual and organisational perspective, but also increases the number of options available to you."

Nicky Campbell, Presenter Radio Five Live and BBC1's Watchdog:
"Change is a huge thing wherever you work. The key is to make change happen, and make it happen well - with everyone on side, and everyone happy. This book provides an extremely stimulating and accessible guide to doing just that. There are a few people at the Beeb who could do with this. I' ll definitely be placing copies on a couple of desks at White City."

Andy Newall, Organisational Effectiveness Director, Allied Domecq plc:
"This book is a great resource for managers thrown into the midst of change, who need to gain understanding of what happens when you try to make significant changes in a business, and how best to manage people through it. The authors have tackled a complex topic in a lively and engaging way, leading readers through the maze of theory available and offering just the right amount of practical advice."

Dr Jeff Watkins, MSc Course Director, Management Research Centre,
University of Bristol:
"This impressive book on change is an essential read for any
professional manager who is serious about getting to grips with the important issues of making change happen."

Adriaan Vollebergh, Director, Multi Products Mainland Europe & Ireland
Corus Metal Services Europe:
"This practical handbook, combining contemporary management theory with very practical suggestions, is an indispensable tool for any manager involved in change processes. And aren't we all...."

Richard McBain, Director of Studies Distance Learning MBA, Henley Management College:
"This is a book which lives up to its title. By combining a guide to the ideas of key thinkers on change and useful tips for making change happen, it really does provide a toolkit to help us to make sense of change. It is useful to see a focus on the individual, team and organisational levels, and in particular, on the role of the leader in the change process. It is written in a way that makes the book interesting to read both at length as well as to dip into."

Esther Cameron
Esther Cameron helps organizations and executives manage and lead change. She works in both the private and public sectors and uses a variety of coaching, mentoring and team interventions to support their organizational development. Esther has lectured on change management for the University of Bristol for the last ten years. She is the author of Facilitation Skills Made Easy, and co-author of Making Sense of Change Management, both published by Kogan Page.

2008-08-11 A comprehensive briefing, not an operations manual

Esther Cameron and Mike Green's objective is to help their reader understand "why change happens, how change happens, and what needs to be done to make change a more welcoming concept" by carefully reviewing a wealth of resources that provide models, tools, and techniques of organizational change. Their purpose is not to explain how to plan and then implement a change initiative program. Those in need of guidance to do that should seek it elsewhere. (My suggestions would include James O'Toole's Leading Change and John Kotter's book of the same title as well as William Bridges' two books, Transitions and Managing Transitions.) Presumably Cameron and Green would be among the first to agree that it would be a fool's errand for a reader to adopt all of the information and counsel provided in this book when formulating and then implementing any change initiatives. Rather, each reader would be well-advised to absorb and digest the material and then select only what is most relevant to her or his own organization's specific needs, interests, objectives, and resources.

The material in this volume is carefully organized within two Parts:

The Underpinning Theory (Chapters 1-4): "Individual change is at the heart of everything that is achieved in organizations. Once individuals have the motivation to do something different, the whole world can begin to change...[Individuals] are to some extent governed by the norms of the groups they belong to, and groups are bound together in a whole system of groups of people that interconnect in various habitual ways. So the story is not always that simple. Individuals, teams, and organizations all play a part in the process of change, and leaders have a particularly onerous responsibility: that is, making all this happen."

The Applications (Chapters 5-8): In this Part, having looked at change and change management from three different perspectives (i.e. individual, team, and organization) and the roles, styles, and skills needed to become a successful leader of change, Cameron and Green apply this learning to specific types of change. "We have identified four generic change scenarios, and we look at the particular management challenges involved in initiating and implementing each type of change." These change scenarios are structural, mergers and acquisitions, cultural, and IT-based process.

One of Cameron and Green's most valuable devices is a graphic consolidation of key points that is inserted throughout their narrative. Each facilitates, indeed expedites frequent review later. For example:

Theory X and Theory Y Assumptions (Table 1.2, Page 19)
Myers Briggs Type Indicator types or MBTI (Table1.5, Page 45)
Teams going through change (Table 2.6, Pages 80-81)
Our conclusions about each model of change (Table 3.3, Pages 119-120)

Note: This last Table summarizes key points re that include Kurt Lewin (three-step model), R.J. Bullock and D. Batten (planned change), John Kotter (eight steps), R.F. Beckhard and R.T. Harris (change formula), David Nadler and B. Tushman (congruence model), William Bridges (managing the transition), Colin Carnall (change management model), and Peter Senge (systemic model).

Addressing team change during restructuring (Table 5.4, Pages 190-191)

Note: This "Forming" and "Storming" graphic correlates task (orientation), people (dependency), task (organizational), and people (conflict) within these categories: team purpose, team roles, team processes, tem relations, inter-term relations, MBTI, Key Belbin roles, and organizational focus.

In the concluding chapter, Cameron and Green share two "significant messages" that were ringing in their ears as the ink begins to dry on this book. "The first message we want to convey is about the importance of leaders being awake and aware. The notion of peripheral vision is a key one to keep in mind. Leaders need to wake up to what is going on around them. This means noticing the more than the obvious, the loud or directly visible. It means having an awareness of what is going on at the edges, and being observant about motion and change. Whichever assumptions a leader employs about the nature of change (machine, political system, organism or flux and transformation) there is a need to be extremely observant about what is going on in and around the organization...The second message is about the importance of reflection time. Leaders benefit greatly from taking regular, focused time to reflect on what is going on around them (the fruits of their peripheral vision), what is happening right now, what the options are and they are personally in all this. Their organizations benefit too because leadership action is considered, rather than knee-jerk."

Earlier, I suggested that Cameron and Green's objective is to help their reader understand "why change happens, how change happens, and what needs to be done to make change a more welcoming concept" by carefully reviewing a wealth of resources that provide models, tools, and techniques of organizational change. That is, theirs is a "what to think about" book, not a "how to do it" book. They focus their reader's attention on a wealth of options (e.g. theories and models), resources (e.g. MBTI), focal points (i.e. individual change, team change, organizational change or a combination thereof), and references (Pages 270-275) to consider. Those who absorb and digest the material with appropriate care will also receive at least some assistance from Cameron and Green when designing and then launching change initiatives that are most appropriate to the needs, interest, resources, and objectives of their own organization.

* * * * *

Those who share my regard for this book are urged to check out the aforementioned books of the same title (Leading Change) by O'Toole and Kotter as well as Edgar H. Schein's Organizational Culture and Leadership, and Michael Beitler's Strategic Organizational Change, (Second Edition). Also Sarah Cook's The Essential Guide to Employee Engagement: Better Business Performance through Staff Satisfaction, Richard H. Axelrod's Terms of Engagement: Changing the Way We Change Organizations, Michael L. Stallard's Fired Up or Burned Out: How to Reignite Your Team's Passion, Creativity, and Productivity, Dean Spitzer's Transforming Performance Measurement: Rethinking the Way We Measure and Drive Organizational Success, and Enterprise Architecture as Strategy: Creating a Foundation for Business Execution co-authored by Jeanne W. Ross, Peter Weill, and David Robertson.