Book Review

More Fearless Change

Reviewed by Hedy Wells, PMP

	Author	Mary Lynn Manns, Ph.D., Linda Rising, Ph.D.
	Publication	Addison Wesley; soft cover, 336; 978-0-13-396644-2; March 2015; List price: $39.99
	Purpose	How to introduce and discuss changes; whether changes you want to make or changes being rolled out by your organization.
	Audience	Anyone leading or participating in a change initiative.
	Availability	http://www.informit.com/store/more-fearless-change-strategies-for-making-your-ideas-9780133966442

Your approach to introducing a new idea or change matters!

How you approach introducing, discussing, and maintaining momentum during a change initiative is critical to success. In this second book about Fearless Change, Mary Lynn Manns, Ph.D., and Linda Rising, Ph.D., introduce more strategies to help you make changes and make the experience of going through a change positive.

The book is organized into three parts including a foreword, acknowledgements, and some information about the authors. The first part is a discussion of the authors’ personal insights since their first book on Fearless Change was published and the audience they wanted to target with this version. The second part is a short discussion on two examples of leading change. The third part focuses on introducing the new and original change patterns and includes some examples of how each were used.

While reading through the change patterns, I started to identify people on my teams who would likely be swayed by using the patterns being discussed. Specifically, I have benefitted from the discussion of the Elevator Pitch. How many times do you think you have a great idea? How many times did you get the time you wanted or felt you needed to present that idea to key decision makers? Several times over this past summer, I captured my ideas and the ideas of my implementation team to help us be faster and more successful during future implementations.

I have been talking about those ideas and even put together a presentation for our lessons learned to discuss the “great things we could do next time”. However, I didn’t achieve the level of enthusiasm and participation needed to make those changes happen. Now I know why; I needed to have an Elevator Pitch ready for executives and tailor it for members of the implementation team and other people who would benefit from changes we could make. I am looking forward to my next opportunity to see how successful I can be with my Elevator Pitches in hand.

The authors provide examples of real situations where change patterns, either one at a time or several, were used successfully. The way these “stories” of change are introduced helps solidify the concepts to the reader. I agree that telling me how to do something will stay with me longer if presented in the form of a story.

In More Fearless Change, Manns and Rising introduce 15 new change patterns such as Accentuate the Positive, Elevator Pitch, Emotional Connection, Evolving Vision, and Myth Buster. The book also covers the change patterns covered in their first book, making it a comprehensive source of inspiration for making change happen.

Audience

Think to a time when your organization may have rolled out new software. Did you feel supported during the process? Did you feel like your questions or concerns were addressed? Did you get to participate in providing ideas for a solution? More importantly, did you come away feeling positive about the experience? Learning how to present your ideas for a change or roll out a change for your organization will help you have a positive experience the next time and give you the skills and techniques to make it a positive experience for others.

The layout of the book makes it easy to follow how the change patterns work. It will be easy for anyone involved in presenting new ideas or changes to put the patterns into practice.

About the Authors

Mary Lynn Manns, Ph.D., is a professor at University of North Carolina-Asheville where she was awarded Distinguished Professor of Social Relations for her work in change leadership. Linda Rising, Ph.D., is an independent consultant known for presenting topics related to patterns, retrospectives, the change process, and how your brain works.

About the Reviewer

Hedy Wells, PMP, is a Product Implementation Manager with more than 13 years of experience in the finance industry and now works in the health insurance industry. Hedy enjoys helping teams map their processes and look at opportunities for process innovation.