Overview

Despite being a game-changer in powering human growth, discovery remains a mystery. How can it produce ahas and insights to meet the challenge of new realities and reimagine organizational management? This book lays out a process of inquiry that drives belief change and leads to discoveries, empowering leaders, groups, and the organization with a powerful tool for navigating an uncertain future. Discovery lights the intellectual spark for every breakthrough in science, technology, pharmaceuticals, and more—but fear and inertia can harden beliefs and practices that no longer fit the new realities. To counter this, discovery can be cultivated rather than suppressed, using a new, three-phase process, a management practice that consistently generates the ahas and insights that underpin all transformation. Based on years of research and real-world observation, this book inspires and equips leaders at all levels to champion this discovery process and fuel genuine, sustained change in their communities and organizations. Accompanied by a website that includes proprietary tools, audio and video clips, and a downloadable workbook, this book is an enriching resource for current and aspiring leaders and managers across industries, as well as management consultants, HR professionals, corporate educators, and business students. .

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9781032845319

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Reviews

Navigating change is the hardest task that leaders and managers face. Karen Golden-Biddle is here to help. As one of the world’s foremost experts on change, she’s written a book that is an accessible, actionable resource for finding your way through the fog. Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of HIDDEN POTENTIAL and THINK AGAIN, and host of the podcast WorkLife You have heard the phrase, “Embrace the unexpected.” The puzzle remains, as a leader or manager, how do you recognize and make good use of the unexpected in a way that delivers results and positive change for your organization? The Untapped Power of Discovery is a unique guide to helping you understand and make good use of unexpected developments and convert them into a capacity for discovery. This focus on the process of discovery produces critical new insights about how to effectively lead during a time of unprecedented change. Jane Dutton, Robert L. Kahn Distinguished University Professor Emerita, University of Michigan In a world full of uncertainty and surprises, Karen Golden-Biddle uses extensive research and compelling stories to teach us the overlooked practice of discovery. Readers will have many “ahas” on their way to learning how to more effectively innovate, solve difficult problems and advance in their careers. Scott Sonenshein, bestselling author of STRETCH and co-author (with Marie Kondo) of JOY AT WORK This book will benefit any leader concerned about the failure of imagination in their company. Drawing on a wide variety of vivid cases, Golden-Biddle provides a tool-kit to jumpstart discovery in your company and using surprise and doubt are the doorways to lasting change. Hayagreeva Rao, Atholl McBean Professor of Organizational Behavior, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, and co-author (with Robert I. Sutton) of SCALING UP EXCELLENCE and THE FRICTION PROJECT I sat down to start reading this book and couldn’t put it down until I finished. This creative and very gripping book helps readers discover quite a lot. It conveys crucial insights by means of true examples of very ambitious change projects, and demonstrates in practice its underlying conceptual message. The examples in each chapter show not only what three-pronged discovery processes mean in practice, but also what the courage to carry them out as an organizational leader involves. The questions at the end of each chapter engage readers, making the experience of reading the book more than just seeing what others have done. The book conveys beautifully both the temporariness of our knowledge and the worth of temporary unknowing. It conveys the value of being nervous and hesitant, at least with respect to the tools we use. Further, it not only discusses but also shows in practice, the profound importance of respect for people that change agents and other leaders often ignore – such as children, hospital patients, homeless people, village elders, low level employees in organizations. Most books about change do not even acknowledge the importance of such people, let alone incorporate them in creative processes. Finally, the very helpful figure that summarizes each chapter also ties the chapters together very well. This is a beautifully written book. I hope that it will lead readers to experience some doubt about admonitions for change they have previously read, and point them towards important new possibilities that await creation. Jean Bartunek, Robert A. and Evelyn J. Ferris Chair and Professor of Management and Organization, Carroll School of Management, Boston College We must embrace change to achieve success in organizations and have a fulfilling life. Using stories and research, Karen Golden-Biddle provides a compelling framework with actionable strategies to integrate discovery for change with innovative impact. Kenneth W. Freeman, Boston University interim president, previously Chairman & CEO of Quest Diagnostics and Partner at KKR

Author Information

Karen Golden-Biddle is an organizational ethnographer whose award-winning research illuminates the connection between discovery and organizational change. She is committed to supporting leaders’ efforts to cultivate discovery as a conscious practice. Karen’s work has appeared in numerous peer-reviewed publications, including the Academy of Management Journal and Organization Science. She received her PhD and MBA from Case Western Reserve University and BA from Denison University. Karen is Professor of Management and Organizations, emerita, Questrom School of Business at Boston University, and Fellow of the Academy of Management.

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