Immunity to Change - How to Overcome It and Unlock the Potential in Yourself and Your Organization

Unlock your potential and finally move forward.

A recent study showed that when doctors tell heart patients they will die if they don't change their habits, only one in seven will be able to follow through successfully. Desire and motivation aren't enough: even when it's literally a matter of life or death, the ability to change remains maddeningly elusive.

Given that the status quo is so potent, how can we change ourselves and our organizations?

In Immunity to Change, authors Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey show how our individual beliefs--along with the collective mind-sets in our organizations--combine to create a natural but powerful immunity to change. By revealing how this mechanism holds us back, Kegan and Lahey give us the keys to unlock our potential and finally move forward. And by pinpointing and uprooting our own immunities to change, we can bring our organizations forward with us.

This persuasive and practical book, filled with hands-on diagnostics and compelling case studies, delivers the tools you need to overcome the forces of inertia and transform your life and your work.

Introduction 1

Part One: Uncovering a Hidden Dynamic in the Challenge of Change


Chapter One. Re-conceiving the Challenge of Change


Chapter Two. Uncovering the Immunity to Change


Chapter Three. "We Never Had a Language For It": Engaging the Emotional Life of the Organization

Part Two: Overcoming the Immunity to Change in Organizations, Individuals, and Teams


Chapter Four. Overcoming the Group-Wide Immunity to Change


Chapter Five. Overcoming an Individual's Immunity to Change: David Doesn't Delegate


Chapter Six. Overcoming an Individual's Immunity to Change: Cathy Can't Contain Herself


Chapter Seven. Overcoming Individual Immunities to Help a Team Succeed: The Case of Nascent Pharmaceuticals

Part Three: Over to You: Diagnosing and Overturning Immunities in Yourself and Your Organization


Chapter Eight: Unlocking Potential: The Necessary Ingredients


Chapter Nine: Diagnosing Your Own Immunity to Change


Chapter Ten: Overcoming Your Immunity to Change


Chapter Eleven: Surfacing Your Collective Immunity to Change


Conclusion: Growing Your Own: How to Lead So People Develop