Lexington, KY - A parable is a brief story that illustrates a lesson. The lesson may involve a simple but universal truth. It usually sketches a setting, describes some action and shows a result. The main character often faces a dilemma or decision and the resulting consequences.
The era of modern parable business books can probably be traced to The One Minute Manager written by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson in 1982. In the ensuing nearly 30 years since it became popular, hundreds of business books have been written in this genre.
This genre became so popular that business book review CEO READS started a category entitled "Fables and Parables," among its annual business book review awards. Last year's finalists included such titles as The Go Giver: A Little Story about a Powerful Business Idea, The Myth of Multitasking, Squawk! and What to Say to a Porcupine.
Millions of copies of these parable books have been sold. Spencer Johnson, Blanchard's co-author, went on to write Who Moved My Cheese?, a parable involving mice and little people. At last count, it had sold something like 46 million copies worldwide.
Few business authors have become more associated with the parable book than Ken Blanchard. The One Minute Manager remains on best-seller lists today. Other best sellers such as Raving Fans, Gung Ho and Whale Done followed it. In total, Blanchard authored 30 best-selling books, most of the parable genre. In addition, most were written with other authors.
At 70, Blanchard still has stories - that is, parables - to tell. His latest is Who Killed Change? Solving the Mystery of Leading People through Change. This teaching parable, in the tradition of Ken Blanchard's best-selling business books, is co-authored by a team of writers. They include John Britt, Judd Hoekstra and Pat Zigarmi.
Britt currently lives in Louisville, Ky., and is a partner with Mountjoy and Bressler, LLP. His focus is change leadership management consulting, which is the subject of this new book.
Who Killed Change? takes the form of a witty whodunit. The central character is a cigar-smoking, trenchcoat-wearing detective who is investigating the death of a character named Change. The murder takes place at the ACME Company. Of course, the story opens on a dark and stormy night.
Our hero, Agent Mike McNally, interviews 13 prime suspects, with the aid of his assistant Anna. The suspects are the usual ones, so much so that they happen to fit perfectly into an organizational chart.
The suspects include Carolina Culture, Chase Commitment, Spence Sponsorship, Perry Plan, Bailey Budget, among others.
Don't let the stereotypic names put you off - the book does an insightful job of defining the role of each area in killing change.
Carolina Culture, for example, shares her insight that values are the core of culture. "If your actions are consistent with your values, you have a better chance of success," she tells the detective. McNally, however, discerns that when there is a disconnect between those values and what's actually going on, the results can be deadly.
Claire Communication is another character McNally investigates. Ms. Communication ironically has chronic laryngitis as well as a hearing problem. For these reasons, she often communicates through her assistant. His name is Committee.
Through this series of interviews, McNally discovers a core truth: Many different people at all levels of the organization are often responsible for killing change efforts. Agent McNally discovers that Change was poisoned - but you'll have to read the book to uncover the details.
The cast of characters is a simplistic means of exploring change practices, but provides genuine insight about how organizations kill change. At the conclusion of the parable, the authors outline steps for enabling and sustaining change within organization. They provide a list of questions to identify an action plan to implement change within an organization.
Just as a team of authors wrote this book, it seems intended for use by teams looking at change within their organizations. Discussion centered on Culture, Commitment, Communication, Vision and other elements in the book are perfect for creating a dialogue about change.
The parable concludes with the following truth: "Change can be successful only when the usual characters in an organization combine their unique talents and consistently involve others in initiating, implementing and sustaining change."
That seems a mystery any organization would benefit in solving.