Domino

Think you need awe-inspiring visions, complicated plans, and fist-pounding speeches to inspire change? Think again.

A rising tide of real leaders ranging from banking executives and heads of multinational manufacturers to hospital administrators and small business owners have discovered a surprisingly simple way to deliver steady results in spite of unrelenting change. Brimming with compelling stories and grounded in research, Domino: The Simplest Way to Inspire Change reveals two approaches to leading change: Change by Addition and Change by Decision. Disturbingly, Change by Addition is far less effective, but is used far more often. Until now. Luckily, Change by Decision is not only more effective it also requires less time and fewer resources—allowing ordinary managers to take their teams in exciting new directions.

• Understand how to free yourself and your team from the shackles of change by addition.
• Explore stories of real leaders in a multitude of industries to see how the Domino techniques apply in any situation
• Examine the leadership skills that inspire smart strategies and adaptive teams
• Execute plans quicker and easier by mastering the art of effective change leadership

Domino: The Simplest Way to Inspire Change is a radically simple book that highlights a new approach for executing change and inspiring agility in the workplace.

Introduction: What’s Eating Glen Peterson? 1

PART ONE Drive Change 13

Section 1 Use Your Blinkers 15

Chapter 1 Sandy’s Rule 16

Chapter 2 Why the Principal Killed the Football Team 27

Chapter 3 Drivers and Passengers 36

Chapter 4 The Permission Ceremony, Part 1: The Drama 44

Section 2 Check Your Mirrors 51

Chapter 5 The Permission Ceremony, Part 2: The Conflict 52

Chapter 6 Who’s That Behind You? 59

Chapter 7 How to Be a Stalker 65

PART TWO Adapt to Change 73

Section 1 Anticipate 75

Chapter 8 Seriously, Who Keeps Moving My Cheese?!? 76

Chapter 9 Pivots and Power Strokes 79

Chapter 10 Start with Why 13½ Percent 84

Chapter 11 The Cure for Hyperopia 89

Section 2 Decide 95

Chapter 12 The Revolution That Was Televised 96

Chapter 13 The Pulse, the Anti-You, and the Mindset 102

Chapter 14 Why Drivers Need Navigators 107

Chapter 15 To Lead Is to Decide 111

Section 3 Align 117

Chapter 16 Rosa Parks and the Science of Revolution 118

Chapter 17 How to Break a Bottleneck 125

Chapter 18 Mobilize the Middle 131

Chapter 19 Don’t Forget the Waitlist! 140

Section 4 Permit 143

Chapter 20 The Hardest Permission to Give 144

Chapter 21 Priori-Time: The Antidote to Urgency 148

Section 5 Test 153

Chapter 22 Shift Happens 154

Chapter 23 Scientific Management 2.0: From Taylorism to Taslerism 157

Epilogue: When Change Blows 161

Notes: Lies, Damned Lies, and Citations 168

Index 177

NICK TASLER is CEO of Decision Pulse, a global management-consulting firm and ThinkTank devoted to helping everyone from the shop floors to the C-suites think more strategically and act more decisively. A highly sought-after speaker and thought leader, Nick has been asked to share his insights with Microsoft, General Electric, Wells Fargo, Symantec, UnitedHealth Group, Yale University and many more of the world's most admired organizations. He also writes management columns for the Harvard Business Review, Bloomberg Business Week, and Psychology Today.

Inspiring change is simpler than you think. While helping thousands of leaders execute new plans and align their teams, organizational psychologist Nick Tasler has discovered how any manager can "hack" the change process by disrupting the way human brains are wired to make sense of new information. All it takes is a decision.

Decisions are the most basic building blocks of change. Change happens when decisions happen. Change stalls when decisions don't happen. It really is that simple. So forget about awe-inspiring visions, complicated plans, and the fist-pounding speeches. Domino reveals how everyday managers from around the world have leveraged Tasler's elegantly simple methods to liberate their change efforts from too many plans, too many priorities, too many visions, too many emails, and too many meetings. Illustrative stories breathe life into this groundbreaking approach and clarify material in a-ha moments that enable you to:

• Inspire your team to pursue exciting new directions virtually overnight
• Create 90-day sprints and waitlists to instantly align teams of all sizes
• Empower your boss to make decisions by making decisive recommendations
• Conduct a proper permission ceremony

But the most exciting thing you'll take away from this book is not a tool or a technique. It is a discovery about yourself. Throughout history, great leaders and change agents have come in all shapes, sizes, colors, genders, and job titles. The one thing they all had in common was their willingness to decide when other people would not. All of the engaging stories and intriguing research in Domino point to this one simple truth.

If you can make a decision, you can inspire change.