A Note to Our Readers and a Briefing at Brookings Institute
August 22, 2006
We apologize for the limited postings of late. For the remainder of the summer, we will post twice a week, and return to our Monday, Wednesday, Friday postings in September. And now, today’s topic:
About a week ago, I spoke at an event called Executive Leadership in a Changing Environment offered by the well known Brookings Institute. I had about 3 hours to engage a group of 30 plus senior executives from across the DoD in a dialogue on change, transformation, and what is at the core of a change agent. I shared a clip from The Fog of War - a documentary that continues to astound me, and a must see for aspiring change agents. I will leave it up to the readers to determine what McNamara was and was not, but the film’s lessons speak for themselves.
I received a few pieces of feedback from the audience, who questioned some of the change agents I spoke with over the course of the study. Such feedback is more than fair, and is one reason why I used third parties to generate the list of change agents. After briefing the paper many times, I have learned that one person’s change agent may not hold the same caliber and competence to others. Interestingly, the insights of these change agents often are the most striking.
I also received feedback and questions during session breaks and in follow-up emails. Many participants commented that they liked the paper’s models, and proceeded to pose a challenge they were facing for my consideration.. Many people are taking ideas from the change agent paper and running with them. To me it does not get better than that.
The Brookings Institute has asked me to join them for additional events this fall, and I am honored that they asked. For our readers out there who are looking for a thoughtful and structured week of leadership training and development, I encourage you to peruse the fine programs offered by Brookings.
Thoughts or reactions? Please send them to us.