About the Book
Since Peter Senge published his groundbreaking book The Fifth Discipline, he and his
associates have frequently been asked by the business community: "How do we go beyond the
first steps of corporate change? How do we sustain momentum?" They know that companies and
organizations cannot thrive today without learning to adapt their attitudes and practices.
But companies that establish change initiatives discover, after initial success, that even
the most promising efforts to transform or revitalize organizations‹despite interest,
resources, and compelling business results‹can fail to sustain themselves over time.
That's because organizations have complex, well-developed immune systems, aimed at
preserving the status quo.
Now, drawing upon new theories about leadership and the long-term success of change
initiatives, and based upon twenty-five years of experience building learning
organizations, the authors of The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook show how to accelerate
success and avoid the obstacles that can stall momentum. The Dance of Change, written for
managers and executives at every level of an organization, reveals how business leaders
can work together to anticipate the challenges that profound change will ultimately force
the organization to face. Then, in a down-to-earth and compellingly clear format, readers
will learn how to build the personal and organizational capabilities needed to meet those
challenges.
These challenges are not imposed from the outside; they are the product of assumptions
and practices that people take for granted - an inherent, natural part of the processes of
change. And they can stop innovation cold,unless managers at all levels learn to
anticipate them and recognize the hidden rewards in each challenge, and the potential to
spur furth er growth. Within the frequently encountered challenge of "Not Enough Time," for
example - the lack of control over time available for innovation and learning initiatives
- lies a valuable opportunity to reframe the way people organize their workplaces.
This book identifies universal challenges that organizations ultimately find themselves
confronting, including the challenge of "Fear and Anxiety"; the need to diffuse learning
across organizational boundaries; the ways in which assumptions built in to corporate
measurement systems can handcuff learning initiatives; and the almost unavoidable
misunderstandings between "true believers" and nonbelievers in a company.
Filled with individual and team exercises, in-depth accounts of sustaining learning
initiatives by managers and leaders in the field, and well-tested practical advice, The
Dance of Change provides an insider's perspective on implementing learning and change
initiatives at such corporations as British Petroleum, Chrysler, Dupont, Ford, General
Electric, Harley-Davidson, Hewlett-Packard, Mitsubishi Electric, Royal Dutch/Shell, Shell
Oil Company, Toyota, the United States Army, and Xerox. It offers crucial advice for
line-level managers, executive leaders, internal networkers, educators, and others who are
struggling to put change initiatives into practice.
