Transforming Organizations

In a world where current political climates and management cultures make risk aversion commonplace, Transforming Organizations shows how large and cumbersome organizations can adapt to an increasingly volatile and uncertain operating environment through the 4 Cs: Creativity, Critical reflection, Communication, and Collaboration. Based on extensive research in both the education and business sectors, the authors show how the 4 Cs can be embedded and enacted in many different types of organizations to make them more effective and responsive to emerging challenges, threats, and opportunities.

The book makes clear links between leading and learning, because leadership is no longer just a role for CEOs, CFOs, and senior managers. For organizations to be flexible and agile in the 21st century, the majority of the employees must exercise leadership--something that can only happen if learning is standard feature of that leadership, AND incorporates key 21st century skills (the 4 Cs themselves). However, there is a marked gap between companies knowing what they should do in order to "be flexible," "be creative," and "have clear channels of communication," and how to make that happen in reality.

Written for those who have become disillusioned or frustrated with business practices that cannot meet the fast-moving demands of the 21st century, Transforming Organizations provides evidence and inspiration for doing business differently. The strategies and approaches discussed have been taken from the authors'' work in real businesses, both large and small, and are supplemented by a number of illustrative case studies.