Editorial Review:
Since Peter Senge published his groundbreaking book The Fifth Discipline, he and his associates have frequently been asked by the business community: "How do we go beyond the first steps of corporate change? How do we sustain momentum?" They know that companies and organizations cannot thrive today without learning to adapt their attitudes and practices. But companies that establish change initiatives discover, after initial success, that even the most promising efforts to transform or revitalize organizations—despite interest, resources, and compelling business results—can fail to sustain themselves over time. That's because organizations have complex, well-developed immune systems, aimed at preserving the status quo.
Now, drawing upon new theories about leadership and the long-term success of change initiatives, and based upon twenty-five years
of experience building learning organizations, the authors of The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook show how to accelerate success and avoid the obstacles that can stall momentum. The Dance of Change, written for managers and executives at every level of an organization, reveals how business leaders can work together to anticipate the challenges that profound change will ultimately force the organization to face. Then, in a down-to-earth and compellingly clear format, readers will learn how to build the personal and organizational capabilities needed to meet those challenges.
These challenges are not imposed from the outside; they are the product of assumptions and practices that people take for granted—an inherent, natural part of the processes of change. And they can stop innovation cold, unless managers at all levels learn to anticipate them and recognize the hidden rewards in each challenge, and the potential to spur further growth. Within the frequently encountered challenge of "Not Enough Time," for example—the lack of control over time available for innovation and learning initiatives—lies a valuable opportunity to reframe the way people organize their workplaces.
This book identifies universal challenges that organizations ultimately find themselves confronting, including the challenge of "Fear and Anxiety"; the need to diffuse learning across organizational boundaries; the ways in which assumptions built in to corporate measurement systems can handcuff learning initiatives; and the almost unavoidable misunderstandings between "true believers" and nonbelievers in a company.
Filled with individual and team exercises, in-depth accounts of sustaining learning initiatives by managers and leaders in the field, and well-tested practical advice, The Dance of Change provides an insider's perspective on implementing learning and change initiatives at such corporations as British Petroleum, Chrysler, Dupont, Ford, General Electric, Harley-Davidson, Hewlett-Packard, Mitsubishi Electric, Royal DutchShell, Shell Oil Company, Toyota, the United States Army, and Xerox. It offers crucial advice for line-level managers, executive leaders, internal networkers, educators, and others who are struggling to put change initiatives into practice.
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Customer Reviews
Average Customer Rating: 
Effective Change Management  2007-10-21
In "Dance of Change", Peter Senge and his co-authors argue that the key to achieving and sustaining significant change lies in changing people's basic ways of thinking. This is a big challenge as organisations have to grapple with some deep seated ways of thinking. Peter Senge did an excellent job of confronting this challenge and suggesting some practical and useful ideas to achieve change in people's mindset and organisational practices. The book explains the processes that help to reinforce change and minimise resistance to change. This fascinating book explains and provides advice on how to initiate, sustain, and redesign and shape new ways of thinking.
The book methodically, step-by-step discuss the ten key challenges to profound change. The authors buttressed their arguments and conclusions with some notes on successful organizational change initiatives highlighting the specific approaches taken by the likes of British Petroleum, Ford, GE, Hewlett-Packard, and Dupont. The book also includes round-table discussions, team exercises, case histories, checklists, and helpful guidance.
Peter Senge is the renowned author of "The Fifth Discipline" which had a profound impact on the notion of organizational learning. The "Fifth Discipline" is still is a must read for receptive and motivated readers, especially those working on organizational change, training and human resource development in all industries.
In fact, "Dance of Change" starts with an insightful review of the "five disciplines" of learning from "The Fifth Discipline" namely personal mastery, mental models, shared visions, team learning, and systems thinking. Hence this book makes an excellent resource to the Fifth Discipline, although it is so well written and presented that it can stand on its own feet as a handy and useful handbook or reference material for effective change management.
A Little Exhausted  2006-04-15
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When 'The Dance of Change' was published in '99, Senge's work was already reaching the end of it's relevancy. A brilliant thinker, he's had difficulty sustaining creative thinking since 'The Fifth Discipline'. Not surprising. With such a brilliant, breakthrough book like his 1990 masterpiece, one tends to get trapped by one's own fame. Thus is born The Fifth Discipline Industry.
The Dance of Change contained nothing new in 1999. By 2006 the ideas contained in 'Dance' are so passe for most industry. Many others have built upon Senge's work in far more effective ways and your time is better spent with them. While you can skip 'Dance', 'The Fifth Discipline' still is a must read, especially if you're working on organizational change in education or human services, two industries that remain stubbornly stuck in the 80's.
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A good resource- should be used in conjunction with The Fifth Discipline  2006-03-04
This book is written as a resource book usable in conjunction with co-author Peter Senge's book, the Fifth Discipline. This book explores the challenges to sustaining momentum in a learning organization.
The authors of this book describe the processes that help to reinforce change and those processes that conflict with change, thereby limiting an organization's ability to make change. They begin this by reexamining and reviewing the "five disciplines" of learning from The Fifth Discipline: personal mastery, mental models, shared visions, team learning, and systems thinking.
In order to maintain the momentum for change, they expound on what they identify as the three fundamental reinforcing processes required sustaining real change: enhancing personal results, developing networks of committed people; and improving business results.
The main focus of this book is the ten challenges the authors see as the most likely challenges a company will experience when attempting to sustain change. These challenges are the challenges of:
1. control over time.
2. inadequate internal resources
3. relevance
4. management clarity and consistency
5. fear and anxiety
6. negative assessment of progress
7. isolation and arrogance
8. autonomy and power
9. the inability to transfer knowledge across the organization.
10. organizational strategy and purpose.
Ponderous 2003-07-02
While I enjoyed this work and read it from cover to cover, it did begin to seem like too much of good thing. Some of the organization information seemed dated and some of the people who are offering advice are probably no longer held with such high regard in their former organizations. In any case, I would recommed it to anyone who is doing graduate or post-graduate work in organization and management or just wants some insight into how organizations really work.
Great book to look at change from different lenses 2003-01-27
This book is touted as a "resource" to the Fifth Discipline, but my view is that it could itself stand on its own steam as a handbook for change management. With articles contributed by a variety of authors, the book looks at the challenges of triggering, initiating, aligning and sustaining change and the various diverse ways to confront and solve those challenges.
The challenges that the book identifies are the challenges of:Orientation, Generating Profound Change, Not Enough Time, No Help, Not Relevant, Walking the Talk, Fear & Anxiety, Assessment & Measurement, True Believers and Non-believers, Governance, Diffusion, Strategy & Purpose. The book is choc-a-block with tools, explanation of jargon and
references to other resources. An orientation to Systems Thinking and looking at organizations as complex systems would help in clarifying the book more. Hence it is desirable to read "the fifth discipline" before you read it.
However, the delightful nature of this book ensures that you can flip open any page, read a little bit and keep it back, and feel refreshed and not thirst for more.
For people who look at organizations as communities, as networks and as human systems in addition to just being an economic entity this book will delight and scare.
For others, this book will act as a provoking way to look at change and organizations in search of equilibrium.
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