Having just read In Over Our Heads, which was written by one of the two authors for this book, I was expecting another too long and overly theoretical tome. Instead, this one resonated as valuable, practical and worthy of deeper study. I just bought a copy of my own to be able to have time to use the exercises and return to them as needed. Immunity to Change is all about finding the hidden obstacles that keep us from making the changes we know we should make. If course to do that, we also have o figure out what those changes are, being selective enough to have just one focus at a time. The harder work is on the other side of the process: figuring out what ingrained assumptions cause thinking that competes or blocks our change process. The book's case studies seemed unnecessarily long to me, but the whole book is written plainly enough that one can get through those sections. The more valuable part is the actual change process. The authors give a simple framework and clear steps for revealing a practical process for breaking through any type of personal change. The concepts can also apply to groups, with some modification to get the collective aligned. This book is a worthy read for anyone motivated toward personal growth or to develop an organization or team. ( )

"A recent study showed that when doctors tell heart patients they will die if they don't change their habits, only one in seven will be able to follow through successfully. Desire and motivation aren't enough; even when it's literally a matter of life or death, the ability to change remains maddeningly elusive."

A solid introduction to change theory. Includes multiple case studies, but I wish there were additional cases, or even a separate standalone version, with non-business applications. Part 3 focuses entirely on diagnosing and overcoming one's own immunities.

Notes to self:

"Were such advances just a matter of fate and random variation, completely out of our hands? Or could people actually be helped to grow? This took us further down our road, throughout the 1990s, and led us to a second discovery."

"...the change challenges today's leaders and their subordinates face are not, for the most part, a problem of will. The problem is the inability to close the gap between what we genuinely, even passionately, want and what we are actually able to do. Closing this gap is a central learning problem of the twenty-first century."

"Heifetz distinguishes between two kinds of change challenges, those he calls 'technical' and others he calls 'adaptive.'"
Technical: known routine and processes. Adaptive: only met by transforming mindset; i.e., rewriting one's story.

"But an immunity to change is also more than a system for self-protection."
pp. 51-60 all kinds of wrinkled brain! :-)

"Creating a picture of our immunity to change surfaces an optimal conflict."

"Reasons tap into the 'ought' and 'should' realm of inner talk. We must also experience sufficient need or desire; visceral feelings--which is why we say they come from the gut."

"Learning whether it is possible to think and feel that we can still be safe while pursuing a change is the essential change challenge."

The authors present the results of their research on what contributes to personal and organizational change, and they walk the reader through their time-tested process of identifying barriers to change and strategizing to overcome them. ( )

Kegan and Lahey wrote a brilliant and concise Harvard Business Review Article called "The Reeal Reason People Won't Change", (2001) in which they descuss the idea of "competing commitments" which are the true underlying motivators which cause us to act in ways that seem to go against our interests. In "Immunity to Change" the authors elaborate on their theory, and provide extensive worksheets and examples for getting to the root cause of personal and organizational impasse. Kegan and Lahey's work is thought-provoking and well worth the read. It's a little lengthy, however; so reach for the article for the executive summary if you don't have time for the deep dive. ( )