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Rick Maurer Tip #76
What Tommy John Surgery Can Teach Us About Leading Change
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September 9, 2010
Greetings!
Contents
- Tommy John and Change
- 2010 Paperback of "Beyond the Wall of Resistance"
- Interview with Daryl Conner
- Rick on the Road
Tommy John
surgery is a relatively common operation to help injured major league pitchers extend their careers. The beleaguered
Washington Nationals lost the young pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg to that operation after only a few big league appearances. He will be out for at least a year. How could that happen so soon
to such a young guy?
Some pitchers
say that they pitch differently once they make it to the major leagues.
Expectations are higher (Strasburg's initial appearances were televised nationally).
Everyone is watching, adrenalin is pumping, and some say they pitch a little
harder and with a little less concern for their own well-being in those
situations. The pressure to perform takes over.
You may
wonder where I am going with this? I think we put similar pressure on the people who lead
change in our organizations. Give them a book or two, send them to training, and then, with the whole world watching, expect them to lead brilliantly.
Lack of experience combined with the pressure to perform can cause any of us to overdo. And those situations don't invite introspection in the moment, so its hard to get back in control once adrenalin surges.
At least baseball has various levels of minor leagues so that players can learn the
craft against increasingly tougher conditions. It is a fortunate manager who feels
like he or she got to play in the minors under expert coaching before taking
on a major assignment. But, even baseball forgot its own wisdom with Strasburg. The team desperately needed a great pitcher. The owners needed someone who could fill the seats of the stadium (and he did.) Fans, like me, were delighted. So, with only a month or so of professional experience, he was asked to perform brilliantly.
When I reread
the classic book, The Knowing-Doing Gap (Jeff Pfeffer and Bob Sutton, 2000), I
started thinking how management education programs often provide lots of good knowledge, but
precious little time to practice. To make mistakes. Get feedback. And practice some more before men and women are asked to lead massive and important projects. We might do well to heed the playwright, Samuel Beckett, who wrote, "Fail.
Fail again. Fail better."
The 2010 Paperback of Beyond the Wall of Resistance
The sub-title of the new paperback edition is Why 70% of Changes Still Fail and What you Can Do About It. The Knowing-Doing Gap was a major resource to me as I explored the reasons why, with so many resources out there, big changes still fail at an alarming rate. I just did an Amazon search on the phrase "change management" and came up with nearly 1400 hits. That's a lot of resources. Here is a review of the book on the Business World blog. (9/7/2010) Of course, you can purchase the book anywhere, including my web site. If you are on the road and pass by a Hudson's bookstore in an airport, please look for it. It should be on one of the front tables. Pick it up, and in a very loud voice proclaim, "Wow! This looks great." 
Daryl Conner's Interview/Conversation with Me
I have long been a fan of Daryl's work (Managing at the Speed of Change was an extremely important book when I first started thinking about change in organizations.) Here is a link to the conversation we had a few weeks ago that is posted on his web site. Thought you might enjoy it. On the Road Again (but not on Willie's bus) October 18, New Orleans. Herb Stevenson and I will make a presentation at the annual Organization Development Network conference on The Gestalt Approach to Leading Change in Organizations. If you're attending ODN, please consider joining us, or at least stop by and say hello. On November 16 I will be working alone and presenting a full-day version of that same workshop to the Ottawa Organization Development Network. I encourage you to register early, it looks like it may fill up. Hope to see you at one of these events. Warm
Rick MaurerPresident Maurer & Associates |
