explains not just the what of change but the how.
The nine-step Stacking the Deck process is designed to mitigate the risks that come with change by having you take concrete steps to increase your chances of success. This preparation does not make the change less bold – and it doesn't guarantee success. What it does do is create an advantage (or more accurately, a series of advantages). These steps – culled from my experience, tested in practice, shared, and refined – provide a guide to preparing and planning so that your change initiative, and your team, have the best possible shot at succeeding. The Stacking the Deck process allows you to take on big, transformative change with increasing confidence and momentum because you know that you have a proven approach going in.
I've seen successes and I've seen failures. The failures were not because the proposed change was toxic or wrongheaded, and not because the effort was inadequate. Instead, these failures were often rooted in an inadequate understanding of how truly difficult it is to overcome resistance, to deal with uncertainty, to respond to new facts, and to execute the myriad details necessary for success.
You may know the phrase “stacking the deck” to mean preparing a deck of playing cards so that you will almost certainly win the game rather than rely on chance. This is what I was thinking of when I coined the phrase in reference to leading breakthrough change – except that the Stacking the Deck process is not designed to cheat other players. It implies instead that thinking through and preparing for all the steps and processes we will need to undertake vastly increases our chances of success.
Stacking the Deck distills the useful techniques and processes I have learned throughout my career into a series of logical and sequential steps for leading breakthrough change. Understanding and following these steps – and reading about my own experiences and those of the leaders I've interviewed – will enable you to avoid many decades of trial-and-error that we have worked through. You will learn practical, relevant ways to deal with change and succeed, without experiencing the risks and the mistakes that were required to amass this knowledge.
A Guide to Stacking the Deck
The book is divided into two parts. Part describes the Stacking the Deck process, nine steps through which nearly every breakthrough change inevitably goes. They're presented in the order in which you should undertake them, though there are exceptions. The steps often overlap, and circumstances frequently demand that you double back to repeat or redo a previous step in the process. Change is not linear and nothing about this should throw you off your game plan.
1. Step One is establishing the need to change and creating a sense of urgency around that need. Not only is this step critical – it's critically positioned. Much of the Stacking the Deck process focuses on the psychological aspects of change. Making the change necessary and urgent in the minds of those most affected by it is the social and emotional foundation for everything that comes afterward.
2. Step Two focuses on recruiting and unifying your inner team of innovation leaders who will help you define the future and make it a reality.
3. Step Three requires that you develop and communicate a clear and compelling vision of the future. This is the task that your new innovation leadership team must own.
4. Step Four enables you to anticipate, understand, and plan to overcome potential barriers to success. Some will always surprise you – but you can plan to deal with the ones you can anticipate.
5. Step Five describes how to develop a clear, executable plan that answers all the big questions a given change poses, while still recognizing the uncertainty and risk involved with undertakings of this magnitude.
6. Step Six explains how to break the change initiative into manageable pieces to build momentum and exponentially increase your chances of success.
7. Step Seven discusses defining metrics, developing analytics, and the importance of actively sharing your results, posting them as motivational tools to further build momentum. The possibilities and opportunities presented by big data are discussed in relation to leading breakthrough change.
8. Step Eight builds on the earlier Step Two principles for building the inner team and addresses the need for assessing, recruiting, and empowering the broader team.
9. Step Nine covers the power of pilot implementations and the critical differences between proof-of-concept pilots and scalability pilots.
Together these nine steps represent a plan of action that will take you from the first realization that a change needs to be made through a complete shift in the way you implement this change. This process is a practical guide you can use as you initiate and lead the change process. The questions and action items at the end of each chapter in Part are designed to guide you through the process and serve as a mental review whenever you are working through big transitions.
Part turns to the higher-order skills that are necessary for success in the process of leading breakthrough change. Chapter 10 describes the sequencing of the steps and provides practical advice on the final implementation and rollout process by which you bring the initiative to the real world. Chapter 11 focuses on developing leadership communication skills and the ability to be more inspirational, both of which are foundational to the entire Stacking the Deck process. The final chapter and the epilogue look at innovation and change leadership in general.
A caveat: this book is not about how to create innovative ideas and strategies. Its purpose is to show you how to implement the transformative concept that is described within. Stacking the Deck provides a wealth of examples born of my own and others' experience, stories that are intended to help you bridge the gap between idea and reality as you lead change.
Voices of Experts
As I began the serious business of writing a book, I naturally sought advice and counsel from business leaders who had led extraordinary change initiatives during their careers, people who had a range of relevant experience. I spoke with eBay CEO John Donahoe, former Amylin president and CEO Ginger Graham, former Wells Fargo CEO Dick Kovacevich, and Starbucks chief executive officer Howard Schultz – all experienced CEOs who have seen change from virtually every vantage point. I also wanted some newer leaders who had recently become CEOs or presidents. These interviewees included San Francisco Giants CEO Larry Baer, JetBlue CEO Dave Barger, Asurion CEO Steve Ellis, Pinkberry CEO Ron Graves, and Intel's president Renée James. Mike Bell, former member of the iPhone development team at Apple and now head of new mobile devices at Intel, and Debby Hopkins, Citicorp chief innovation officer, provide the perspective of senior executives who are directly leading bold change. And finally, to discuss the important skills needed for leadership communication, there is simply no one more knowledgeable and experienced than Terry Pearce, consultant and author of Leading Out Loud. Brief biographies for each of the interviewees are in the back of the book. More-detailed biographies, recommended readings relevant to the steps, readings on leadership communication, and supplemental material are available on the book's website.
This group of interviewees shared their experiences in large public companies and small private companies, from high tech to consumer products, retailing and services. Some of these organizations are recent or somewhat mature start-ups; others have been around for decades or even a century. One individual has spent his entire career in one company, and three others were or still are consultants who have seen bold projects succeed or fail at dozens of companies over their careers. The breadth of experiences represented by the leaders you will meet in Stacking the Deck gave the book the depth I was searching for.
These leaders expanded my thinking, challenged some of my initial ideas, and helped make my principles much more complete and robust. I have quoted them extensively throughout the book, and their influence and value go far beyond
