Author: Ian Coyne
Publisher: Pearson
Reviewer: Alina Müller, consultant, The Storytellers
In Make Change Happen Ian Coyne shares his lessons from managing change in some of the world’s largest organisations.
Informed by practical experience rather than theoretical study, this is a book about how to make change happen rather than how to think about change. It doesn’t focus on a particular industry or type of organisation, but instead on the particularity of change projects. ‘Change is about people’, Coyne writes. ‘Anything else, I call a project.’
Along these lines, Coyne introduces two major distinctions between change and ‘mere’ project management. Change projects involve a shift from A to B, but the deliverables between them are unpredictable. Likewise, people are unpredictable, and so attention must be paid to managing communication and emotion.
Coyne has turned some of these lessons into practical tips (‘Make your actions measurable’) and affirmations of classic change lessons. Other lessons have been packaged into catchier concepts like ‘the emotional bank account’, which is the personal rapport you build with someone that will ‘move them from having to do something for you to wanting to do something for you’.
In a few instances, the author shares some stories and examples from his own practice, providing context to key learnings. While these are arguably the most engaging parts, it is the practical tips outlined in tables and blue summary boxes that make up the bulk of the book.
This is a volume written by a hands-on practitioner for other hands-on practitioners, although the dynamic title and the funky cover design might spark the interest of a wider audience. A few more anecdotes would have made Coyne’s wealth of experience and insights more accessible. Anything else, I would be tempted to call a really long checklist.
Star Rating: 3/5
