1. Jamie Neuwirth
University of Texas Arlington
In partial fulfillment of the requirements of
N5343 Leadership in Complex Health Care
Systems
Jeannette T.
Crenshaw, DNP, MSN, RN, IBCLC, LCCE, NEA-
BC, FAAN
Jun 15th , 2013
2. Kerry Patterson- Doctoral degree from Stanford
University in organizational behavior.
Joseph Grenny- Keynote speaker/ consultant. Co-
founder of Unitus ( non profit organization that
helps poor gain self-reliance.
David Maxfield-Doctoral degree at Stanford in
psychology.
Ron McMillan-Co-founded the Covey Leadership
center. Speaker and consultant
Al Switzler- Speaker and consultant. Faculty at
University of Michigan in the executive
development center.
3. To teach effective use of change theories
to influence negative behavior to a positive
change.
To teach people to successfully implement
change while minimizing failure.
To teach leaders effective change theories
that are easily implemented to effect
change in the workplace.
7. To share effective change theories and
influence strategies.
To show how utilizing effective influence
strategies can lead to positive behavior
changes
9. Patterson, K., Grenny, J., Maxfield, D.,
McMillan, R., & Switzler, A. (2008).
Influencer: the power to change
anything. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Editor's Notes
The authors are prepared to write the book both in educational background as well as practical background. The majority are speakers and consultants and employ these techniques in the course of the career choice. There are two doctoral prepared authors as well which lends credence to the book itself. (Patterson, K., Grenny, J., Maxfield, D., McMillan, R., & Switzler, A.,2008)
Negative behaviors are out there and at every level of life. Personal behaviors can include overeating, gambling, smoking, ect. Family negative behaviors can include children acting out or not following rules. Then there are professional and organizational negative behaviors such as a lack of team work or not following protocols. This book is intended to show that it is possible to influence behavior changes at all level. It is intended to be used as a guide for interested parties to learn effective change techniques and to assist leaders in becoming influencers. Influencers are not just orgazational leaders but can be influencers of their own behavior as well.
The book targets a broad audience. It is intended for those individuals who are seeking to change negative behaviors into positive behaviors. These people will come in a variety of roles. Individuals looking for personal change, family change, orgazational change, or those looking to better the world in some way. A main topic of the book is that influencing behavior is not limited, with the right plan behavior can be positively changed at any level.
The book itself has many strengths. The first strength of the book is the qualifications of the authors. They are all competent in the field lecturing and consulting on the topic at hand and have conducted several successful studies on influencing behavior. There are two doctoral prepared authors as well which lends credence to the content of the book. The book is written on a level where all readers can easily understand the content. While there is some technical terms used the overall feel of the book is that even a layman can easily understand it. Another strength of the book is that there are examples used throughout the book that promote involvement. It outlines the ways the theories and lessons in influencing have been used in prior studies to effect change on populations that were resistant to the ideas being presented.
The book was very informative overall. It might have been easier to understand if there had been less samples utilized. It kept going back to two or three different examples of previous examples of positive influencing opportunities and had a tendency to create confusion as to which example they had utilized which technique on. The outlines they used for initiating change and positive influencing were adequate however the majority were from a organizational view and it might have made the book a more interesting read for everyone if they had utilized a personal change outline more frequently.
The authors met their objectives by writing this book. They effectively outlined change theories and influence strategies. It was evident by reading the book that change can be initiated successfully if the right strategies are used. These are simple strategies and require research for which will prove most effective prior to initiating the change. The authors effectively demonstrated that it is not only personal behaviors that can be changed but also group behaviors as well. They demonstrated that the location and settings could be overcome as well as negative group mentalities toward the change. If the Delancey group can use these strategies to change hardened criminals to positive members of society and the carter group can almost eradicate the guinea worm then these behaviors can work with anything. (Patterson, K., Grenny, J., Maxfield, D., McMillan, R., & Switzler, A.,2008)
I recommend this book to everyone dealing with behaviors they wish to positively change. It would be useful for individuals looking to change aspects of their own behavior. It would be beneficial to parents looking to positively influence the behavior of their children. It would also be extremely beneficial to organizational leaders looking to effect change in the workplace. Change is normally resisted at all levels. The best way to effect change in a successful manner is to be prepared prior to the change. This book does a great job of explaining why preparation is important and the strategies necessary to effect these changes in a way that will ultimately succeed. For example, the delancey project helped drug addicts, dealers, and gang members become effective members of the communities. The Carter group helped to almost eradicate the guinea worm. (Patterson, K., Grenny, J., Maxfield, D., McMillan, R., & Switzler, A.,2008)
