An innovative communication method for making change happen in any organization Getting Change Right presents a new view of leadership communication that says change doesn't flow top-down, bottom-up, or sideways, but inside-out. This is how change spreads through a complex system successfully-the other options are force or failure. Based on years of experience with organizations around the world, change expert Kahan presents a new model of communication, one that moves from a transactional view of information exchange to a collaborative construction of shared understanding. When the right people are having the right conversations and interactions, then they act in concert even though the situations they confront independently are impossible to predict or coordinate. This dynamic practitioner's guide to implementing change Presents the innovative co-creation communication model for creating change Reveals how communicating with a company's most valuable players is at the heart of organizational change Draws on the author's wealth of experience with Fortune 100 companies, leading government agencies, and associations Getting Change Right offers business insights and field-tested, practical techniques that can be put to work immediately.

An innovative communication method for making change happen inany organizationGetting Change Right presents a new view of leadershipcommunication that says change doesn't flow top-down, bottom-up, orsideways, but inside-out. This is how change spreads through acomplex system successfully-the other options are force or failure.Based on years of experience with organizations around the worldchange expert Kahan presents a new model of communication, one thatmoves from a transactional view of information exchange to acollaborative construction of shared understanding. When the rightpeople are having the right conversations and interactions, thenthey act in concert even though the situations they confrontindependently are impossible to predict or coordinate. This dynamicpractitioner's guide to implementing change* Presents the innovative co-creation communication modelfor creating change* Reveals how communicating with a company's most valuableplayers is at the heart of organizational change* Draws on the author's wealth of experience with Fortune 100companies, leading government agencies, and associationsGetting Change Right offers business insights andfield-tested, practical techniques that can be put to workimmediately.

List of Figures ixForeword, by Bill George xiIntroduction xv1 Creating Rapid Widespread Engagement 1Expert Input: Ken and Mary Gergen on Social Construction and Leading Change 9Expert Input: Steve Denning on Operating Without Budget or Authority 262 Communicating So People Get It and Spread It 31Expert Input: Rick Stone on the Power of Story 433 Energizing Your Most Valuable Players 59Expert Input: Jim Wolfensohn on Talking to Everyone 604 Understanding the Territory of Change 87Expert Input: Madelyn Blair on Storylistening for Reconnaissance 925 Accelerating Change Through Performance Communities 107Expert Input: Etienne Wenger on Communities of Practice 1156 Generating Dramatic Surges in Progress 129Expert Input: Lesley Shneier on the World Bank's Knowledge Fairs 1397 Breaking Through Logjams 155Expert Input: Larry Forster on the Competency for Collaboration 1728 WorkLifeSuccess in the Midst of Change 175Expert Input: John Kotter on the Greatest Positive Impact 186Appendix A:Sample Strategic Engagement Plan 195Appendix B:JumpStart Storytelling 201Notes 207Acknowledgments 211About the Author 213Index 215