If you seek further scholarly change management models from John P Kotter, ‘Buy-in – saving your good idea from getting shot down’ is not for you. However if you long for something lightweight (literally and metaphorically) which still packs a punch, dip into the change leadership guru’s latest offering co-authored with Lorne A Whitehead.
Based on the belief there are 24 specific attacks on any good idea (though I wanted more information on the underpinning research conducted), they offer 24 responses claiming they will help gain buy-in to your great idea, be it in business, international government level – even serving dinner. Grandiose claims indeed. Yet I was instantly drawn into the amusing fictitious scenario, recognising the attacks on seemingly common sense ideas.
Anticipating challenge and dissention of any proposal should be part of any manager’s professional skill-set, so it cannot be said that this book introduces a brand new concept. However it does provide insightful, practical counterstrategies, with examples of phraseology which can prove powerful.
You could skip part 1 and go straight to the 24 concepts – but the book is such easy reading it would be shame to do so, and you’d miss meeting characters such as Heidi Agenda and Avoidus Riski!