True Change

True change comes from within. This fact, however, is often ignored by organizations that look for it without-hiring high-priced consultants who have little direct knowledge of the challenges and opportunities within the firm's culture and day-to-day workings. The result is a package of solutions that may or may not succeed and that, most certainly, will be met with some degree of resistance as it's being pushed down on the organization. Drawing on her own long-term research and extensive work experience, Janice Klein reveals how the power of people (insiders who are able to see problems from an outsider's perspective), approach (pulling change), and system (support infrastructure) combine to turn new ideas and concepts into institutionalized practices. In particular, certain people inside organizations, outsiders on the inside, are key to driving innovation, adaptation, and real change. Using examples from leading companies in MIT's Leaders for Manufacturing (LFM) and System Design and Management (SDM) Partnership-such as Boeing, Intel, Motorola, Alcoa, Ford, Kodak, and others-she shows how employees at all levels can learn how to become an outsider on the inside, and be in the right place at the right time to discover opportunities to pull into their organization. Throughout, we grow to understand the perspectives of numerous outsiders on the inside by hearing their voices and observing their actions. The strategy Klein provides is relevant for any company that hopes to build a change capability, rather than attempt only to manage change.