People & Strategy Winter 2015 Vol. 38 Issue 1 - 62

book reviews

A Must Read

Using a Positive Lens
to Explore Social
Change and
Organizations:
Building a Theoretical and
Research Foundation

Authors: Jane E. Dutton and Karen
Golden-Biddle
Publisher: Routledge, 2012
Reviewer: David Bright, Ph.D., professor of organizational behavior and
organization development at Wright State University.

Using a Positive Lens to Explore Social Changes and Organizations: Building a Theoretical and Research Foundation is a
contribution from the movement of positive social science. The
"positive lens" highlighted in the title refers to a research orientation in which scholars "focus on understanding the elements
in the change process in and of organizations that build up,
increase, enable, and foster benefi cial outcomes associated
with social change." The "social change" aspect of this book
refers to the study of changes that come from social movements
or from other attempts to create shifts in society.
At first, it may be hard so see the relevance of social change
theory to the HR professional. Yet social movements can be a
powerful source of positive energy, and social change theory

The Advantage:
Why Organizational Health
Trumps Everything Else in
Business

Author: Patrick Lencioni
Publisher: Jossey-Bass, 2010
Reviewer: Michael N. Bazigos, Ph.D.,
global head of product development,
data analytics, and research at McKinsey
& Company's Organizational Health
Solution

In the fog of war that is contemporary corporate life, soldiers move
silently through shadows, glimpsed as fleeting silhouettes while reenacting scripts they inherited from corporate predecessors. They may
or may not know the terrain, nor how close they are to the last frontier
of competitive advantage: organizational health.

PEOPLE & STRATEGY

Worthwhile

Skim It Over

Bottom of the Stack

provides insight into the practices that can be used to engage
employees and encourage them to participate in the design of
organizational change.
The book has four main sections that explore various areas of
social change: change agency, environment and sustainability,
health care, and poverty and low-wage work. Each section
includes several papers on a focused topic, followed by an analytical chapter that summarizes key themes and patterns. Most
of the chapters include interesting, relevant cases that provide
an effective illustration of the key ideas.
The most interesting insights in this book all provide perspective
on the conditions for creating change:
* The opening chapters highlight examples of both bottom-up
(self-organizing) and top-down (directed organizing) approaches to change. Successful changes comes about when leaders
provide general direction while inviting employees to participate, to have voice, and to be engaged.
* A handful of competencies seem to be particularly important
to positive social change: overcoming adversity, discerning
alternate possibilities, and managing tensions.
* An environment of hope activates both the cognitive and
emotional resources that can become a guiding force for
change.
* Leaders can encourage social change by amplifying resources (time, funding, team development, and so forth.) and
buffering demands (limiting distractions, managing the scope
continued on page 64

A senior leader enjoys a close relationship with Fred, a member of his
team, and creates tension in the group by giving Fred a free pass for
"destructive behavior." The leader confesses to a consultant that he
is afraid Fred will quit if he holds him accountable, and lose that
technical expertise. It is possible that he was re-enacting the "results
trump all" script passed down through the ages.
The leader is subsequently confronted by his team in a meeting facilitated by the same consultant. After the team discussion, the leader
and his team begin to hold Fred (and one another) accountable for their
mutual commitments. But a short time later, the leader's worst fears
come true when Fred leaves.
But something curious follows, perhaps unexpected by our leader.
Fred's leaving invigorates the team, and their performance improves-
a result the leader attributes to the new culture of real, not espoused,
accountability the team embraced. The vignette ends here, but we can
reasonably assume that more junior managers, perceiving alignment
between their senior leaders, embrace the same norm, improving
continued on page 63
execution and results.

People & Strategy Winter 2015 Vol. 38 Issue 1

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of People & Strategy Winter 2015 Vol. 38 Issue 1