A woman is out looking for a pet, and so she's trying the local pet shops. She walks into a small pet shop and explains her need to the attendant. He thinks for a moment and then says, "I've got just the thing for you madam. I'll just get him."
With that, he disappears into the back of the shop, and returns a few seconds later with a cute little puppy. "This dog is a special dog," he tells her. "It is able to fly," he explains, and with that throws the dog into the air. It immediately begins to float gracefully around the shop.
" There is one problem with him, however. Whenever you say 'my apple' he'll eat whatever you've mentioned." The lady watches in astonishment as the dog zooms over to the shop attendant and furiously devours an apple he has produced from his pocket.
" He's cute, and so unusual. I'll take him," she says, and a few minutes later she is on her way back home with dog to show her husband.
" Darling, look what a clever pet I bought today!" she exclaims when she gets back home. "He can fly!"
The husband peers at the dog, and then remarks, "Fly eh? My foot!"

Lessoned Learned: Change brings discomfort.

If you put a frog in a pail very hot water, it will jump out. However, if one puts the same animal in a pot of water at room temperature, it will not be able to detect the rising temperature and will boil to death.

Moral of the Story: Imperceptible change can be dangerous.

The productivity and competitive problems American manufactures face result from ineffective top management, petrified in place, unwilling to accept change, failing to provide vision and leadership.

Phillip Alspach, President, Intercom, Inc., Harvard Business Review, November/December 1986

The greatest challenge management faces is leading change in some aspect of organizational performance. Fundamentally an organization that is not growing, is usually declining.

Leading change in this area requires finding a champion and mastering the basic tools associated with the field.

Q: How many cheerleaders does it take to change a light bulb?

A: Twelve...One to make the change and 11 to give her a hug.

One can't turn a frog into the prince--just as calling a group a team doesn't make it so. Building high performance teams requires leading according to sound principles of group dynamics and the skillful use of twelve types of interventions to build teams.

Leading change in this area requires mastering techniques such as group facilitation and team building methods.

Q: How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb?

A: One, but the light bulb has really got to want to be changed.

Obedience to authority has grave limitations when it comes to change management at the interpersonal level. Leadership at this level is essentially a moment of truth between two human beings.

Leading change means that managers must master the art of influence.

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The man that doesn't change his mind doesn't think.

—Freddie Laker, British businessman

Once when John Maynard Keynes, the great British economist, was rebuked for changing his mind on some issue, he turned the tables on his accuser with a sharp reply: "Sir, when I learn new facts, I sometimes change my opinion. What do you do?"

Even though people love to complain about the status quo, they rarely want to do anything about it. It takes a strong leader who can unlearn habits practiced over a lifetime. If you think another person is hard to change, try to change yourself and overcome self-mastery barriers.

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It does no good to have a map, if you cannot follow it.

M. Johannsen

A grasshopper decided to seek the advise of the wise owl about a personnel problem. Each winter the grasshopper suffered from the ravages of severe cold, shivering through a winter of low temperatures. All of the grasshoppers known remedies where to no available so he laid the problem on the lap of the owl. After a period of consideration the owl proscribed a solution, “Become a cricket, a beast which hibernates during the winter. Profusely thanking the owl, the grasshopper jumped away only to realized a little later he did not now how to turn into a cricket. Returning to the owl, he asked how to could make the change to which the owl replied, “Hey, I gave you the principle, you need to flesh out the details.”

Leadership characteristics such as persistence, perseverance, and dogged determination are not enough for success in leading change--you must also follow a sound strategy.

One aspect of strategy has to do with competitive strategy and how to deal with the competition. Sun Tzu and The Art of War is the classic example.

Leading change in the strategy area is about creating a vision of the future but is also about being able to execute on it.