Analysis Of Rick Maurer's Immunity To Change

Understanding the mistakes that many leaders make in their attempt to create change within an organizational setting, is the difference between being able to totally accomplish your mission objectives or poking around in the dark while searching aimlessly for a solution. Author Rick Maurer uses evidence based research and analysis to answer one of life’s most difficult questions Why does most change fail. Throughout the first chapter, the author provides a list of elements that formulate the way we think, evolve and enhance our knowledge on this critical topic. Most notable are the strategies that author indicates will help foster and support the effective change that many organizations strive to achieve.

When I saw the title of this

Just because other organizational members provide acknowledgment and a thorough understanding of a presentation before them; does not mean that they are in concurrence with the implementation of that change. In the textbook entitled Immunity to Change, authors Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey provide a groupthink case study in which corporate team members were polled about the decision-making of their management of an organizational leader. The reference case study indicates that the team members avoided providing constructive criticism as not to subject the leader to any ridicule and embarrassment; even at the cost of setting the company on a trajectory for failure. This is what is known as “saving face”. In contrast and comparison to my church context, I believe that the more difficult task is to change our thinking from this socialized mindset construct in which our influences are primarily developed from what we believe others want to hear. Expanding our church culture and thinking in the area of a boarder team concept would greatly improve transparency on issues that require critical change within the

Most often in the African Methodist church setting, new or re-assigned itinerant pastors bring their own church culture. Melding and implementing new culture and programmatic changes can often be difficult. On my first day as the pastor of New Creation, I could instantly see several members who were visibly frustrated with the change and feared the development of a culture that was foreign compared to the ones, which they were accustomed to. In all sincerity, I never once considered that the fear of unknown change had all but stifled the churches ability to process new information and changes. It was not too long after my arrival that a small group of about eight members left without ever communicating their issue or displeasure directly. One thing I learned quickly that this church was not like my last pastoral assignment. In this context, there were more moving parts in terms of staff members. This larger ministerial team required a more distributed leadership model that prefers more of a hand off approach of delegating, as compared to the micro-managing style I utilized at my previous church