Dynamic of change

profilemarlon0510
1articlequinn1996.docx

1 article(s) will be saved.

The link information below provides a persistent link to the article you've requested.

Persistent link to this record: Following the link below will bring you to the start of the article or citation.

Cut and Paste: To place article links in an external web document, simply copy and paste the HTML below, starting with "<a href"

To continue, in Internet Explorer, select FILE then SAVE AS from your browser's toolbar above. Be sure to save as a plain text file (.txt) or a 'Web Page, HTML only' file (.html). In FireFox, select FILE then SAVE FILE AS from your browser's toolbar above. In Chrome, select right click (with your mouse) on this page and select SAVE AS

Record: 1

Title:

Robert Quinn Deep Change: Discovering the Leader Within 1996 Jossey-Bass San Francisco, CA 236 0-7879-0244-6 LC 96-22674

Authors:

Deiss, Kathryn

Source:

In The Journal of Academic Librarianship 1999 25(3):241-241

Publisher:

Elsevier Inc.

Review of:

Deep Change: Discovering the Leader Within Robert Quinn, 1996, Jossey-Bass : San Francisco, CA, 236 0-7879-0244-6 LC 96-22674

Document Type:

Book Review

ISSN:

0099-1333

DOI:

10.1016/S0099-1333(99)80213-4

Accession Number:

S0099133399802134

Copyright:

Copyright @ unknown. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Persistent link to this record (Permalink):

https://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edselp&AN=S0099133399802134&site=eds-live&scope=site

Cut and Paste:

<A href="https://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edselp&AN=S0099133399802134&site=eds-live&scope=site">Robert Quinn Deep Change: Discovering the Leader Within 1996 Jossey-Bass San Francisco, CA 236 0-7879-0244-6 LC 96-22674</A>

Database:

ScienceDirect

BOOK REVIEWS

Deep Change: Discovering the Leader Within, by Robert Quinn. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1996. 236p. $25.00. ISBN 0-7879-0244-6. LC 96-22674.

There have been many books written in the past three years on the subject of change. Many of these volumes are interesting, however, perhaps none is so personally applicable as Quinn's Deep Change. Quinn, author of Beyond Rational Management (Jossey-Bass, 1988) and professor of organizational behavior at University of Michigan's Graduate School of Business, in this important book delves into the subject of how individuals and organizations cope with, manage, and lead during times of tumultuous or radical change.

Beginning with a riveting argument that we all, as individuals and as organizations, face the dilemma of choosing between deep change and slow death, Quinn steps away from the heavily theoretical and research base of most academic management books to describe in very human terms what it means to face the very difficult choices we face in contemporary society. This is a book written from the heart, written with a passion and belief in the individual's ability to make enormous personal changes in his or her own life and in organizations.

Using examples from his many consulting experiences and from his personal experiences with change, he builds a strong case for the power of the individual to influence the response to change in organizations. This book addresses the question of how to transform oneself and how to lead transformational efforts within an organization.

It should be noted that what this book does not do is to speak to the issues involved in "incremental" change, or change that is gradual and often managed and planned for. He is specifically speaking about the irreversible radical changes occurring in both internal and external environments of many organizations, including institutions of higher education.

The personal power of this book is great. Quinn closes each chapter with a set of questions for an individual to answer about change in their own lives and then a set of questions regarding change in the person's organization. While the questions addressing organizational change do not seem to pay off at first, if taken seriously, they build and toward the end of this book, have great impact as they address transformational change.

His concept of "slow death" is a frightening but recognizable one. The characteristics of this condition within organizations are: the pervasiveness of opting not to make deep changes; violation of trust in that leaders and other members of the organization know when an organization needs to change and still choose a path that avoids that very need; indicators that people have lost hope and credibility in leadership; and burnout, a well-documented symptom of systemic problems.

Quinn believes individuals in organizations confront slow death in a number of different ways. They can choose a path he refers to as "peace and pay," which means they put in a minimum amount of effort and hope to be left alone with the least possible demand placed upon them. Or, they can choose the "active exit" strategy which involves taking care of oneself, keeping an eye on the job market, and making a move when a seemingly better job appears. And, finally, the strategy that yields the highest personal and organizational return, an investment in the process of "deep change." The first two strategies leave the organization unchanged and impaired in its ability to address environmental changes affecting it. They also do not hold much hope for the individual. Quinn believes that if individuals choose deep change for themselves it will naturally benefit the organization in which they work.

Deep Change is one of those rare management books which actually holds the power to change individual lives, and if taken seriously, even change an organization's approach to radical change. In the change-saturated environments we live and work in, this is a highly recommended book.

~~~~~~~~

By Kathryn Deiss, Program Manager, Association of Research Libraries, Office of Leadership and Management Services, 21 Dupont Circle, Washington, D.C. 20036.

Source: The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 1999, Vol. 25 Issue 3, p241, 1p

Item: S0099133399802134