You've got a good idea. Now, how do you keep it from getting shot down by naysayers, obfuscators, and other critics? "Buy-In" shows you how to move forward and get your good idea through to actually make a positive change. You've got a good idea. How do you move forward and get it through to actually make a positive change? How do you keep your good idea from getting shot down by naysayers, obfuscators, and other critics? Bestselling author and change guru John Kotter, and his coauthor, consultant Lorne Whitehead, have distilled all of the various ways that people criticize and undercut good ideas down to four basic categories of attacks that get manifested in 24 recognizable ways. They illustrate these ideas with a refreshing and amusing narrative of a small town meeting in which a protagonist is trying to get his good idea through. We see the attacks, we see the main character respond and learn, and we, the audience, learn along with him. The narrative is the first part of the book; the second part shifts into analytical, teacherly mode, breaking out the categories, explaining them, and giving the reader wise advice on how to respond and move forward. "Buy-In" reflects Kotter's knack for picking out integral ideas and articulating them in sharp, concise ways, with a characteristic, no-nonsense voice that is refreshing and appealing. Similar to his 2008 bestseller, "A Sense of Urgency", he has found a thread that's connected to his hugely successful 8-step framework for successful organization change (in this case around step 4, 'communicate for buy-in'), and has found a way to illuminate just how integral this is, and to highlight in a visceral way all the problems and challenges associated with the crucial task of 'saving your good idea from being shot down'.

Table of Contents

Part One: The Centerville Story 1. The Death of a Good Plan 2. Saving the Day in Centerville, Part 1 3. Saving the Day, Part II 4. Saving the Day, Part III Part Two: The Method 5. Four Ways to Kill Good Ideas 6. A Counterintuitive Strategy for Saving Your Good Idea 7. 24 Attacks & 24 Responses 8. How The Method Helps Large-scale Change 9. A Quick Reference Guide for Saving Good Ideas

About the Author

John P. Kotter is Konosuke Matsushita Professor of Leadership, Emeritus, at Harvard Business School, and is widely regarded as the world's foremost authority on leadership and change.