Bought In To Buy In

By Rob Wright, Chief Editor, Life Science Leader
Follow Me On Twitter @RfwrightLSL

By  Rob Wright

Ever hear of John Kotter? He has written 17 books, all in the top 1% of sales from Amazon.com. He is probably most well known for his international bestseller, Leading Change, which outlined an eight-step process for implementing successful transformations. So, when he and his co-author, Lorne Whitehead, sent me their book, Buy In to review, I was a little …um …how shall I say it…intimidated. I mean, what if I didn’t like it? If that were the case, you would not be reading this.

There are a couple of things I liked that I would like to highlight. One was the appendix. No, that is not sarcasm, as in, I couldn’t wait to get to the end. You see, I often skip reading the preface and appendix in a book. The reason is quite simple. If it is soooo good, then why not include it in the main part of the book. Yeah I know, some of the best information I have ever found has been in the reference section of articles. But I digress. For some reason (perhaps I wasn’t done with my workout on the elliptical) I ended up reading the appendix. I am glad I did. In less than nine pages, the authors concisely encapsulated the eight steps to successful large-scale change and the process of gaining consensus for change initiatives. A nice quick reference when needed.

Something else I want to bring to your attention is on p. 159. The authors paraphrase a John F. Kennedy quote, “We can be the ones to succeed, not because it is easy, but because it is hard.” Sounds counterintuitive doesn’t’ it? But, if you think about it, it is certainly true. I am a firm believer, anything worth doing is worth doing well. And, if it is a worthwhile endeavor, it is probably hard. Often, when you are working on those projects and they are in the chaotic phase, they certainly don’t feel very worthwhile. But when they are completed, there is a wonderful feeling of accomplishment. This is because their value gives us strength. To quote the book, “A wonderful thing about being human is that a worthwhile cause can raise us from feeling tired to feeling inspired.” One of my favorite sayings came from a high school teacher, “adversity builds character.” Others have said “adversity reveals character.” When trying to implement a change to the status quo, your character will be tested, because people resist change. Don’t let your passion get in the way of gaining buy in. One of the biggest mistakes people make when presenting new ideas is to be overly dismissive when being attacked by allies of the status quo. Reading Buy In can help you avoid making that, as well as other mistakes, when attempting to gain consensus on implementing change. If you want to learn more, you can go to www.kotterinternational.com