The author of this course has been a successful change agent in many organizations, and will teach you from experience. In this course, you’ll discover some insights into how you can make change happen in any organization—without costing you your position in the organization.

Tom Peters, in Liberation Management, makes the case that "change of even the simplest sort is hopelessly complex....Even “making the case for change” is close to impossible."

Making change happen is an extremely difficult task indeed, and one that brutally punishes those who attempt it and fail. In many organizations, especially those which are not-for-profit or volunteer, it punishes even those who attempt it and succeed. Why do so many people undertake it, then? Because successful change implementation has the potential for great reward.

"Sam Walton, Wal-Mart's founder and guiding genius, asserted that he felt his company vanquished the competition because it was better at making changes."

-Michael Hammer, Beyond Reengineering

We’ll reveal the methodology for effective change to you, and illustrate many key points with case histories. You will emerge from this course with solid, practical knowledge.

Change for the sake of change isn’t always good. And regardless of the intent, change always carries a cost. Before you start incurring that cost, be sure you can justify it. Before embarking on a crusade to change something, ask yourself what you hope to accomplish. What do you envision as the end result, and will you really be happy with that result? More importantly, is that result valuable to the organization, and to those whose help you need to make the change happen?

In her book The Secret Handshake, consultant and USC professor of management Kathleen Kelley Reardon explains that "most people look for a solution that addresses only the immediate problem....[But] if it creates more obstacles for the people implementing it or those affected by it, however, it's either only half a solution or another problem in the making."

Once you have determined that your vision will indeed be valuable to the organization, you can begin building the framework for the engine of change. This change management course will help you guide you in forming that vision, and in making it a reality. Begin your change implementation by changing your skill set, so you have what the job requires.

To view the complete Table of Contents for this course, click here .

 Approximate study time: 16 hours