Rube Goldberg-A comically involved, complicated invention laboriously contrived to perform a simple operation
- Webster's New World Dictionary
As I write this, I am looking at a Rube Goldberg drawing showing how to keep a shop window clean. It involves a man tripping on a banana peel, causing a rake to move upward, propelling a horseshoe onto arope, and the "invention" is just getting started.
It reminds me a lot of the plans for organizational change I've seen: cobbled together bits and pieces from a variety of sources. Too many steps, too much left to chance, and way too convoluted.
There is a better way. There are many good strategies for planning andimplementing change, but you need to know what to look for. The follow- ing four chapters will give you a way to begin to look at what it takes to lead change. What to avoid. And what you can do to build your personal capacity to apply what you know.
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