Champions of Change: How Ceos and Their Companies Are Mastering the Skills of Radical Change

Nadler, a consultant, understood he could be a victim of the rapid change he is writing about. In 1992, when Business Week named him one of the nation's outstanding business gurus, the idea of the need for organizations to change drastically to shape the future--instead of merely responding to it--was new. And back then, few thought the change process all the way through. The need for radical change now is widely accepted, and the basic tenets that the author preaches have become gospel in scores of companies: the CEO must lead the change, the entire organization must be involved and the way the company does business must be taken into account before any overhaul. But implementation remains tricky, and that is where Nadler (coauthor of Prophets in the Dark) focuses. After reviewing why change is so hard, he lays out a five-step plan for managing the process. The first third of the book is a solid summary of what it takes to alter the way a company works, while the rest of the book pushes the change discussion forward another step. (Jan.)