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Evolve! Succeeding in the Digital Culture of Tomorrow
By Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Harvard Business School Press, 2001
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Evolve! Succeeding in the Digital Culture of Tomorrow
By Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Harvard Business School Press, 2001
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  Yes! Yes! Yes! Buy this book if you can! Don't even finish reading this review! Go out and get it now! (Thank you. I feel much better now that I've used my quota of exclamation points.)I cringed when I first saw the title of this book, but as soon as I heard the name of the author, I did a 180-degree turn and was determined review it. Every time I've gone back to school (we won't get into how many times or why) it seems Rosabeth Moss Kanter was on the required reading list in one or another of my classes. Each of her books brought me new insights and widened my mental horizon. Imagine my excitement to learn that she'd produced an oeuvre on the age of technology. Then, coincidentally, before I'd actually purchased the book, I tuned into the middle of the radio broadcast of The Commonwealth Club and heard a wonderful speaker describing what seemed to be inherent contradictions within technology organizations: "What's wrong with these pictures?" the speaker asked:
"Actually, nothing is wrong with these pictures," the speaker continued. "These examples, and others...show that the New Economy success rests on the same face-to-face relationships as Old Economy success." Turns out the speaker was Kanter delivering information drawn from Evolve! At last, a book that is highly readable and that is at neither extreme of the Luddite vs. Technology-Rules-The-World continuum. As I've come to expect from reading her previous works, Kanter takes topics others have made tedious and/or unbelievable and turns them into something fresh, real, and accessible. From notions of community to the differences between cosmetic and real change, from illustrative case studies to diagrammatic models, from descriptions of dotcoms to the challenges experienced by dotcom wannabes, I smiled and nodded with recognition all along the way. But my favorite part of the book is the section on "Leadership for Change," it alone being worth the cost of the book. She straightforwardly acknowledges "...how easy it is to make a decision about change and how tough it is to bring it about." She goes on to enumerate 10 classic reasons people resist change (reminding me of a piece of wisdom a friend shared with me long ago...it isn't change that's painful, it's the resistance to change): loss of face, loss of control, excess uncertainty, too many surprises, comfort with the status quo, competence concerns, ripple effect on other activities, more work, past resentment, and genuine threats of loss. Given the realities of resistance to change, Kanter goes on to discuss the seven classic skills required of leaders in both the Old and New Economies who are "...handling the human side of change when the environment is turbulent and the impact of change revolutionary." Among the seven skills, I'd like to highlight here just a couple that particularly struck me. One is "Kaleidoscope Thinking: Stimulating Breakthrough Ideas." Change leaders see the same set of elements that others see, but the difference change leaders contribute is the creativity they use to shake the pieces into new patterns and new possibilities that no one else can see. And here's where Kanter throws in the type of down-to-earth thinking that I found so satisfying. While others worry about whether to have open floor plans or cubicles or private offices, Kanter says "It's not the office layout that induces changemasters to step forward, it is the mental layout -- whether the person's mind is engaged in a constant search for fresh ideas." She then suggests practical techniques to foster the creative mental layout in members of the organization. Another change leader skill is "Celebrating Accomplishments: Making Everyone a Hero." Kanter sees the value of recognition, acknowledging that it is probably the most under-utilized motivational tool in many organizations. Easy to talk, harder to walk. Not only does recognition validate the worth of the individual, but can publicize the values and expectations across the organization. Sharing the credit, she says, is essential to retaining the talent, skill, and energy of those who are on the front lines of taking decisions about change and turning them into reality. Well, you can see from this sample that Kanter's ideas aren't exactly new. What impressed me about the book is the author's ability to recognize and define what really is new about the New Economy while retaining the solid human values that may evolve over time but never go out of style. About the Author
Rosabeth Moss Kanter is an internationally known business leader, award-winning author, and expert on strategy, innovation, and the power to change. She is the Ernest L. Arbuckle Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School and an advisor to major corporations and government entities worldwide. Evolve! is her fifteenth book. She is also the author of the bestsellers, Men and Women of the Corporation, The Change Masters, When Giants Learn to Dance, and World Class. Dr. Kanter lives in Cambridge and Edgartown, Massachusetts, with her husband, son, and a very friendly cocker spaniel. She can be contacted at rkanter@hbs.edu or through Web sites featuring her work: http://www.goodmeasure.com/ and http://www.rosabeth.com/. |
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