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Immunity to Change: How to Overcome It and Unlock the Potential in Yourself and Your Organization
"In Immunity to Change, authors Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey show how our individual beliefs - along with the collective mindsets in our organizations - combine to create a natural but powerful immunity to change. By revealing how this mechanism holds us back, Kegan and Lahey give us the keys to unlock our potential and finally move forward. And by pinpointing and upro...more
Hardcover, 368 pages
Published
January 13th 2009
by Harvard Business Review Press
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Guide to overcoming resistance to change
The core concept of this fascinating, important book – that people and organizations want to change but often fail because they get in their own way – is simple and clear. Many of the stories of how individuals and groups have changed are inspiring. However, some are so attenuated that they fail to capture subtleties, such as exactly how the subjects identified and overcame the beliefs that blocked them. That said, Robert Kegan, who teaches at ...more
The core concept of this fascinating, important book – that people and organizations want to change but often fail because they get in their own way – is simple and clear. Many of the stories of how individuals and groups have changed are inspiring. However, some are so attenuated that they fail to capture subtleties, such as exactly how the subjects identified and overcame the beliefs that blocked them. That said, Robert Kegan, who teaches at ...more
Jenny
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Uncovering your immune system that protects you and managed your anxieties and fears and also prevents you from achieving any goals that might run counter to that immune system.
Developing an x-ray of that immune system to shed light on why you do what you do.
Greater mental complexity is produced by working through optimal conflict: working on an adaptive (not technical) challenge. The frustration/dilemma/life puzzle/quandary/personal problem needs to be persistant, and perfectly designed to cau...more
Developing an x-ray of that immune system to shed light on why you do what you do.
Greater mental complexity is produced by working through optimal conflict: working on an adaptive (not technical) challenge. The frustration/dilemma/life puzzle/quandary/personal problem needs to be persistant, and perfectly designed to cau...more
Finally a readable book by a developmental psychologist explaining stages of adult development. The author Robert Kegan at Harvard is probably the leading developmental psychologist in the country, but his first book Evolving Self was a tough read, just like Fowler's Stages of Faith. This book explains much more clearly how to identify stage changes and then gives many examples (mostly in work settings) of how people made changes in their lives. He explains how even when we really want to make...more
Read about this in an article in January's Oprah magazine, looks like an amazing book to add to your collection, especially if your into psychology, or just want to understand why its so difficult to change! The article talks about resistance to change actually being a type of defense system against what would happen if you did change. Read the article to understand. I cant wait until it comes out!
I found this has a useful structured approach to analyzing obstacles to bringing change to a person or group. Basically the authors seek to explain why people and organizations with such good intentions so often fall short. I am less certain, however, that self-discovery as the authors suggest will necessarily overcome those obstacles. the book is replete with real cases to illustrate the approach.
Very inspirational; reading this book through the lens of a student affairs professional and with the intent to change my own life allowed me to find how I was unintentionally responsible for prohibiting myself from the changes I hoped to make. Although
Emillam
added it
Robert Kegan's writings and work are always an inspiration. This one truly helps one understand the complexities with making change in organizations, communities and all groups. I highly recommend for leaders interested in making change.
A great book on organization development and how it relates to human potential. A great primer for small business people on how to apply integral theory in a "rubber meets the road" way.
Ed Lavalette
added it
Good personal discovery book but a little long in the area of examples. Chapter's 9 & 10 are great as a framework for how to move forward in discovery and change.
Excellent review of why we don't do what we want to do, and do do what we don't want to do. Sounds like do do to me! :)
Good book with some great insights as to why people don't change and how it can be facilitated.
Great book...good for self-diagnosis and thinking about leading others through change.
Julia
marked it as to-read
Heard about this at the COABE conference.
Well researched, and powerful in parts.
Recommended by my colleague Alan.
I wish I’d read this book years ago! It has great insights into the reasons why I have such difficulty changing. I skipped over the stuff about corporate and collective behaviours, though. Might be better if the group stuff were in a separate book….
Very interesting book. The basic premise is that we're "immune" to change because we try to change the symptoms, and haven't identified the underlying "one big thing" that we really need to change.
I'm addressing one of my own and difficult immunities to change.
From the book: "As people experience the emergence of options where before there were none, they begin to feel new energy and hope. Tasting the possibility of living in a no-less-safe but significantly larger space is intoxicating and a source of continued motivation to stay in the work and carry it through. New ways of thinking permit new ways of feeling, and new ways of feeling encourage and validate new ways of thinking.... New energy leads to new action, and a particular kind of actions...more
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