Praise for Creating Contagious Commitment

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Having spent the last ten years of my thirty-three-year business career as change agent and leader of change, I was thrilled to review Creating Contagious Commitment.  Andrea Shapiro has captured a concise model of the wide range of factors and levers that impact the implementation of change in organizations and businesses.  She has spread a broad net, building on existing models of change, systems thinking and parallel processes in public health. 

Her use of systems thinking archetypes, to look beyond the simple linear models of change, makes for a high fidelity model addressing the people and environmental factors and their interactions, that have been key to all of the change initiatives I have experienced.  The application of Public Health models of the spread of disease to the spread of change, is a major innovative insight.   Her unique application of these models demonstrates her ability to “think outside of the box”, as she encourages her readers to do. 

The computer simulation that Shapiro has created from the Tipping Point model further demonstrates the complexity of change levers and their interactions.  I have participated in some of the early workshops she ran with the Tipping Point simulation. These give the opportunity to see change strategies come alive in the simulation.  Experiencing them with other leaders and members of change teams has given us insights and understandings far beyond that achieved from reviewing and discussing the other linear change models she references in the book.

I strongly recommend this book as a starting point for anyone involved with leading or driving a business change within their organization or business.  Once you have a sense of the people factors and levers that are key to spreading change, you will be ready to consider your business change in a far more realistic light.   You may even be in a position to contact Shapiro to experience her simulation and workshop with other in your change team.  

—Roger J. Bushnell, Business Performance Specialist

I would recommend Creating Contagious Commitment to anyone interested in the process of organizational change because the innovative methods used for introducing the concepts of organizational change to employees is both fun and creative.  The examples in the book are well thought out and bring to life the concepts presented in a way that appeals to a variety of backgrounds and interests. 

Understanding the concept of change from the perspective of the Tipping Point brings to light the reason that so many well-meaning change efforts fail to make their mark and the dynamics that contribute to successful initiatives.

What really stands out with this book is its accessibility; its direct applications to the world of work; and its practical strategies for effectively managing organizational change. 

—M. Shields, PhD, School of Business, Christchurch College of Education, New Zealand

At last! Now there's a book that gives us a concise overview of the theory of organizational change management plus a practical approach for putting that theory in action. How many times have we heard about technology projects that failed because of inadequate organizational change management? However, none of those organizations provided us with any detailed processes for turning that failure around.

Thanks goes to Shapiro for not only explaining this perplexing problem, but also providing us with a practical, cost-effective solution via Creating Contagious Commitment and the Tipping Point simulation. Bravo!

—Helen Sims, Vice President, InfoSENTRY Services, Inc.

Out of the enormous body of literature on managing change, there are few authors who get down to the nitty-gritty business of how to do it right. 

Andrea Shapiro takes managers, change agents and would-be-champions right down to where the rubber meets the road and analyzes why well-intended change initiatives so often lose traction, skid off track and miss the mark.  Her insights into the levers of change – and how to work them – will build the confidence of any group charged with implementing change.  Creating Contagious Commitment: Applying the Tipping Point to Organizational Change proves that success is no accident and that all of us can drive change more effectively by understanding the dynamics involved.

—Carol Willett, VP, Applied Knowledge Group, Inc.

Driving change may be an art, but using science can lead to success.  Shapiro effectively explains how systems thinking can help show where the real levers are.  Creating Contagious Commitment shows how the Tipping Point model can be exploited and used to simulate change initiatives.  Now that this intelligence has been uncovered, articulated and made accessible, it is inexcusable for a change leader to ignore it.  For the first time, it has become feasible for the majority of change initiatives to be successful!

—Tim Dempsey, President, TimDempseyConsulting

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