The Power of Positive Deviance: How Unlikely Innovators Solve the World s Toughest Problems

Richard T. Pascale

ISBN 10: 1422110664 / ISBN 13: 9781422110669

Published by Harvard Business Review Press, 2010

About this Item

Shows the phenomenal success of the positive-deviance approach in alleviating some of the world's toughest, most complicated and diverse problems such as malnutrition in Vietnam, female circumcision in Egypt (a practice dating back thousands of years), and the rise of MRSA infections in hospitals around the world. Num Pages: 256 pages. BIC Classification: JKS; KJM. Category: (P) Professional & Vocational. Dimension: 245 x 167 x 23. Weight in Grams: 486. . 2010. Hardcover. . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland.

Seller Inventory # V9781422110669

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Power of Positive Deviance: How Unlikely Innovators Solve the World s Toughest Problems
• Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press
• Publication Date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1422110664
• ISBN 13: 9781422110669
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Think of the toughest problems in your organization or community. What if they'd already been solved and you didn't even know it?

In The Power of Positive Deviance, the authors present a counterintuitive new approach to problem-solving. Their advice? Leverage positive deviants--the few individuals in a group who find unique ways to look at, and overcome, seemingly insoluble difficulties. By seeing solutions where others don't, positive deviants spread and sustain needed change.

With vivid, firsthand stories of how positive deviance has alleviated some of the world's toughest problems (malnutrition in Vietnam, staph infections in hospitals), the authors illuminate its core practices, including:

· Mobilizing communities to discover "invisible" solutions in their midst

· Using innovative designs to "act" your way into a new way of thinking instead of thinking your way into a new way of acting

· Confounding the organizational "immune response" seeking to sustain the status quo

Inspiring and insightful, The Power of Positive Deviance unveils a potent new way to tackle the thorniest challenges in your own company and community.

About the Author

Richard Pascale is an associate fellow of Templeton College, Oxford University, and author or coauthor of numerous books, including Managing on the Edge, Surfing the Edge of Chaos, and The Art of Japanese Management. Jerry Sternin was the world's leading expert in the application of positive deviance as a tool for addressing social and behavioral change. Monique Sternin has been an equal partner in these efforts and now heads the Positive Deviance Institute at Tufts University