Launching and Leading Change I

Health care projects depend on astute management of change. But more than anything else, they depend on leaders who pay attention, who understand the importance of starting right, and who know how to launch projects that succeed. If leaders can increase the percentage of successful projects, patients, and practitioners everywhere will be better off and so will the organizations that depend on these projects for innovation.

In Launching and Leading Change Initiatives in Health Care Organizations: Managing Successful Projects. Author David A. Shore of the Harvard School of Public Health speaks directly to the health care leaders and managers who see the need for change, but keep encountering nearly insurmountable challenges. Through his research, Shore discovered that most implementation failures occur because of a poor launch, and that strengthening processes and operations during the early weeks of a new project is a key to continued success. The book covers issues like:

• The preliminary groundwork that cultivates a stronger launch
• Systematic and selective project selection
• Building the team that accomplishes change
• Skill-building and record-keeping systems that foster sustainable growth

Launching and Leading Change Initiatives in Health Care Organizations gives leaders and managers the practical, easy-to-implement ideas and methodologies to start and manage projects successfully.

DAVID A. SHORE, PhD, is former associate dean of the Harvard School of Public Health and founding director of the Program in Program Management. He is on the faculty of Harvard University and Adjunct Professor of Organizational Development and Change at the University of Monterrey Business School, Mexico. His previous book is Forces of Change: New Strategies for the Evolving Health Care Marketplace (also from Jossey-Bass).