7 Rules for Positive, Productive Change

Change is difficult but essential-Esther Derby offers seven guidelines for change by attraction, an approach that draws people into the process so that instead of resisting change, they embrace it.



Organizational change efforts often fail because they focus on top-down methods that rely on coercion, rewards, or positional authority. Well-meaning leaders talk about driving change, as though employees are cattle or cars. At best, this results in compliance--not engagement or commitment. And at worst it simply doesn't work.

Drawing from her experience working with some of today's most successful companies, Esther Derby argues for what she calls change by attraction: giving space and support for people to feel the loss that comes with change and help them see what is valuable about the future you propose. Resistance fades because people feel there is nothing to resist--there is only something they want to move toward. In this book Derby outlines her seven rules for change by attraction: Strive for Congruence; Honor the Past; Assess What Is; Pay Attention to Networks; Experiment; Guide, Don't Standardize; and Use Your Self.