Written by: Chris Pritchett on June 28, 2018

Quinn – Deep Change Field Guide

It was in seminary at Princeton when I read Quinn’s book, Deep Change. It was a course on learning to do empirical research for the purpose of transforming an organization. Quinn’s thinking is not unlike that of Edwin Friedman, Ronald Heifetz, and Peter Steinke. Very similar to the idea and practice of “adaptive leadership” as developed by Heifetz, Quinn understands the difference between making changes that may scratch the surface of an organization but will only be temporary as the system will ultimately revert to its status quo norms, and deep-level (or “adaptive” change) that will last.

Deep change for an organization, according to Quinn, requires that the leader(s) of the organization are able to suffer through the journey of transformation. They way in which Quinn leads the reader through the different levels of change in an organization and the different qualities and behaviors needed for the leader to sustain and organization through “deep change,” reminds me of the ever-so-important line of Peter Drucker: Culture eats strategy for breakfast.  Just because the leader is in power and has authority to make decisions, does not mean that simply making strategic decisions, executing and imposing them on the people within the organization, is going to change it in any way. Quinn understands the truth of Drucker’s line—the “culture” of the organization, or as Edwin Friedman would say, the “emotional system of relationships” within the organization, is more powerful than any leader’s ability to plan a new strategy.

The brilliance of Quinn’s work, in my view, is that the deep change for the organization begins with the deep change of the leader, or at least, the ability and capacity of the leader to embody the qualities required for this type of process. So, while Quinn discusses the change process, as well as the urgency for organizations to either engage deep change otherwise experience a “slow death,” he emphasizes the need for the leader to develop the necessary qualities and capacity to lead in this way.

While I have only just begun to work on the Field Guide, I am eager to spend the time needed to work through the workbook having read the actual book ten years ago. There is no way a leader can complete the Field Guide course in one week. My plan is to do a chapter a week this summer, over the next eight weeks. My hope is that my experience doing this “course” will improve my self-awareness, and hopefully give me a few more leadership tools to create more leadership capacity as I begin to build and lead a new organization.”

About the Author

Chris Pritchett

One response to “Culture Eats Strategy For Breakfast”

1. M Webb says:

   June 28, 2018 at 10:56 pm

   Chris,
   Nice job linking Quinn with Drucker, Friedman, Heifetz et al’s work. Bayard would be proud of your “librarian” lens to see multiple books, authors, and ideas! Well done.
   While Quinn says the leader must change before organizational change, my experience suggests there are many variables at play by both the leader-organization and between the context of their relationship.
   Hope to see you in HK.
   Stand firm,
   M. Webb

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