Ten Tasks of Change: Demystifying Changing Organizations - Hardcover

Evans, Jeff; Schaefer, Chuck

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0787953458 ISBN 13: 9780787953454

Publisher: Pfeiffer, 2001

Synopsis

The days of predictability and stability in organizations are gone. In today's world of rapid change, agility is a defining characteristic of successful, high-performance companies. In this environment, say Jeff Evans and Chuck Schaefer, it is essential that the ability of an organization to work at change be institutionalized. In Ten Tasks of Change, the authors offer a whole-systems approach to change at work and present you with a model for dealing with rapid and intentional change in the twenty-first-century organization.

Bridging the gap between theory and practice, Evans and Schaefer give you a logical framework for:
* Thinking through the objectives of the work of change
* Planning the activities to achieve those objectives
* Using a selection of best-practices principles to accomplish them . . . and much more!

About this title

About the Author

JEFF EVANS practices in the area of organizational capability and human system development. Evans's work has included large-scale change at all levels of organization, both domestic and international. CHUCK SCHAEFER is a long-time professional in the field of organization systems development and high performance organization. His extensive experience in practice and at university includes both the private and public sector at levels from frontline work teams to major company redesigns.

From the Back Cover

"With the Ten Tasks approach we made a huge leap in capability, with a manageable level of disruption. We have since decided to apply this system on another technology application, which should indicate it's value to our organization" --Dave Reeves, vice president, Chevron Products Company "The Ten Tasks of Change is a must-read for anyone engaging and leading organizational change work." --Adrienne Seal, senior organizational effectiveness consultant, The Clorox Corporation "Bridges the theory and practice of organizational change. Individuals at every level of the organization will benefit from the clear concepts outlined in this book." --Elizabeth Thach, associate professor, school of business, Sonoma State University "Will be particularly useful to managers and executives-demystifies change processes by framing them as work tasks. A useful addition to the change literature." --Edwin C. Nevis, consultant, author, president of Gestalt International Study Center "Those who truly want to build commitment for new major initiatives, would do well to use the Ten Tasks as a guide." --Rick Maurer, author, Beyond the Walls of Resistance and Building Capacity for Change Sourcebook "By peeling off the change jargon, the authors allow the reader to understand what needs attention and to practice logical, concrete, realistic steps to accomplish organizational change." --Gerald V. Miller, president, Gerald V. Miller Associates "Delivers as advertised. Use this book as a guidebook and understand these tasks, and organizational change will be better understood, and more importantly, achieved." --Kevin Eikenberry, president, Discian Group

From the Inside Flap

The days of predictability and stability in organizations are gone. In today's world of rapid change, agility is a defining characteristic of successful, high-performance companies. In this environment, say Jeff Evans and Chuck Schaefer, it is essential that the ability of an organization to work at change be institutionalized. In Ten Tasks of Change, the authors offer a whole-systems approach to change as work and present you with a model for dealing with rapid and intentional change in the twenty-first-century organization.

Bridging the gap between theory and practice, Evans and Schaefer link their approach to the basic organizational capability of planning and managing work. They give you a logical framework for:
* Thinking through the objectives of the work of change
* Planning the activities to achieve those objectives
* Using a selection of best-practices principles to accomplish them
* and much more.
By positioning their approach within the context of work, they allow organizations to utilize existing competencies of planning work and working plans.

The book is organized around the ten tasks of the framework, with each chapter corresponding to an individual task and outlining the work required in it. You'll see, for example, how to first appreciate the situation and identify the areas required to create a business case for change. You'll discover how to generate a leadership network through which local leaders can begin forming individual visions for the future-which will ultimately enable the larger organization's change. And the book explains how to formalize the system and process thinking into a design, complete the design, manage the transition, and maintain continuous process improvement through action learning.

The Authors

Jeff Evans practices in the area of organizational capability and human system development. Evans's work has included large-scale change at all levels of organization, both domestic and international.

Chuck Schaefer is a long-time professional in the field of organization systems development and high performance organization. His extensive experience in practice and at university includes both the private and public sector at levels from frontline work teams to major company redesigns.

Edition details

• Publisher: Pfeiffer
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0787953458
• ISBN 13: 9780787953454
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 291