Change Is the Rule: Practical Actions for Change: On Target, on Time, on Budget

Management consultant Dutch Holland writes convincingly about the need to view change management as primarily the change management of tangible things, like work processes, and not as primarily as the change management of people issues. He does not disparage or diminish the latter; rather he places it in its proper place in the change management priority to-do list in support of the needed tangible changes. Holland recommends a deep and comprehensive strategy that addresses items like structuring and communicating the Vision of Organizational Change, changing work processes, changing the PET (Plant/Equipment/Tools) and changing performance agreements with staff. Holland relies on the example of the theater company for his analogies, which works for the most part, though I think the message could have still been delivered without so many of the theater comparisons (and maybe reduce the length of the book by a few dozen pages). Some of his most dramatic examples, in fact, come from change management involving airline pilots. The only major flaw in this work is that it assumes the absence of unions and that all of a company's employees can meet and negotiate one-on-one with management. Nevertheless, this is an important book with powerful "how-to's" for successful change management.

We needed a practical guide and some down-to-earth ways to talk among our management team to get through some significant changes. The theater metaphors made talking about specific situations much easier for everyone to understand. There is great substance behind this book, but it is one of the few that everyone in our organization has been able to make sense of.

In this excellent "how-to" book on Change Management, Dutch Holland presents one of the most practical, down to earth and useful books on Change Management that I have seen. He correctly assumes up-front that we are all adults, and can make choices, and can handle a whole lot more change in the workplace than some would give us credit for. He avoids the pseudo-psychiatry and touchy-feely stuff that all too often is included in books on managing change in the workplace. He approaches a desired change as an engineering development project, and leads the reader step by step through the process - much like any development project. It is hard work, but it ain't brain surgery. And one of the best features of the book is the use of a theatre company as a metaphor for change in the workplace (or at home come to that). The idea is that a theatre company epitomizes the ultimate mastery of change in that they willingly and routinely change completely - they change the play. The parallels with what a change at work entails are excellently presented and very insightful. The metaphor works very well and is a worth the price of the book by itself. He concludes with some worthwhile thoughts about how you manage the current business while at the same time managing the change. I thoroughly recommend this practical guide to anyone who is interested in taking charge of the process of change in their office/factory - or in their life.

Dutch Holland is a unique kind of consultant in that his relationships to client companies is measured in years and even decades, as opposed to months. So what he shares here is based on the reality of what it has taken to make all kinds of organizations go through successful change - on-time, on-budget, and meet-the-goals. Since he's a great teacher and leader, Dutch has been able to find the right metaphor to make all the change essentials clear as day to everyone involved. If you buy only one book to help you understand the change process, to get a clear picture of a leader's role in that process, and to erase any and all efforts at self-delusion, this is the book for you and every manager in your organization.

This is a excellent book for those of us who have a need for change yet have little "breathing room" to make it happen. Its reading is clear, concise and lines out the essential steps necessary to get the most out of your change effort. This change model is applicable to any industry and any size effort. I'll certainly use it in my work.