Implementing Change : Patterns, Principles, and Potholes

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Summary: : Implementing Change: Patterns, Principles, and Potholes
Review: Implementing Change: Patterns, Principles, and Potholes (2001) is the latest book on the process of educational change and leadership co-authored by Gene E. Hall and Shirley M. Hord. It describes the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM), a framework they have been developing for use in organizational and educational settings for the past thirty years. Within it they describe how people can and do facilitate change. Leadership today requires the ability to organize and direct human resources for levels of constant change, most recently in educational settings. This book provides educational leaders and change agents with practical tools and advice on how to effectively accomplish their goals. Among them are: innovation configuration mapping techniques, stages of concern surveys and evaluative tools, and levels of use matrices, as well as information on leadership styles and how they affect change.
The format of this book is not only engaging, but entertaining. Chapters begin with quotes in first person narrative, from real/fictitious accounts of people involved in change. The figures and graphics, often using analogies and metaphors for text ideas, add to the clarity and the readability of the book. Case studies and examples are interspersed with humor and credible settings and characters. Focus questions within chapters and discussion questions at the end of the chapter invite further thinking and discussion which makes it an ideal resource for study/focus groups who are dealing with change. Chapter endings also include suggestions for fieldwork activities that provide opportunities for active engagement with the issues being discussed.
While they caution readers not to use this as a recipe book (p. 103) it is difficult to overlook the accommodating and sequential format they use, filled with useful advice and suggestions. Hall and Hord offer practical tools and a unique combination of theory, research and practice for coping with change in organizational structures. With good humor and practical advice this is one of the most readable and useful books ever to help managers and change facilitators navigate through the difficult process of organizational changes.