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Leading Change (John P Kotter) – Chapter 11 Notes
The organization of the future
“Major change is never successful unless the complacency level is low”
“More people, more often, will need data on customers, competitors, employees, suppliers, shareholders, technological developments, and financial results”
“The volume know on the dishonest dialog channel will have to be turned way down.”
“I can also imagine a day when big egos and snakes are eliminated from promotion lists, no matter how smart, clever, hard working, or well educated they are.”
“in the next century we will have to become much more skilled at creating leaders. Without enough leaders, the vision, communication, and empowerment that are at the heart of transformation will simply not happen well enough or fast enough to satisfy our needs and expectations.”
“Development of leadership potential doesn’t happen in a two week course or even a four year college program, although both can help.”
“If our time at work encourages and helps us to develop leadership skills, we will eventually realize whatever potential we have.”
“Wasting talent will become increasingly costly in a world of rapid change.”
“An organization with more delegation, which means a lean and flat hierarchy, is in a far superior position to maneuver than one with a big, change resistant lump in the middle.”
“Cultures can facilitate adaptation if they value performing well for organizations constituencies, if they really support competent leadership and management, if they encourage teamwork at the top, and if they demand a minimum of layers, bureaucracy, and interdependencies.”
“Truly adaptive firms with adaptive cultures are awesome competitive machines. They provide superb products and services faster and better.”
Leading Change (John P Kotter) – Chapter 12 Notes
Leadership and Lifelong Learning “In an ever changing world, we can never learn it all, evenif we keep growing into our nineties, and development of leadership skills becomes relevant to an ever-increasing number of people.” Relationship to lifelong learning, leadership skills, and the capacity to succeed in the future 1) Personal History a. Inborn capabilities b. Childhood experience c. Job and educational experience 2) Competitive Drive a. Level of standards b. Desire to do well c. Self confident in competitive situations 3) Lifelong learning a. Willing to seek new challenges b. Willing to reflect honestly on success and failure 4) Skills and ability a. Knowledge b. Leadership skill c. Other skill 5) Competitive Capacity The power of compounded growth · Given 100 units of growth · A grows 6%/year over 20 years and B grows 1%/year · A ends with 321 growth units · B ends with 122 growth units “Lifelong learners take risks. Much more than others, these men and women push themselves out of their comfort zones and try new ideas.” “Much more than the average person, lifelong learners also listen carefully, and they do so with an open mind.” Mental Habits that support lifelong learning · Risk taking · Humble Self reflection · Solicitation of opinions · Careful listening · Openness to new ideas “People who learn to master more volatile carrer paths also usually become more comfortable with change generally and thus better able to play more useful roles in organizational transformations.”