Agent of Change: My Life, My Practice (Jossey Bass Business and Management Series): Richard Beckhard
Editorial Reviews
The professional memoirs (and insights) from a revered organization consultant.
In this remarkable memoir, Richard Beckhard shares a lifetime of wisdom from his forty-five year career as one of the country’s foremost organization consultants. Written in a highly readable style, this book offers an insiders view of how change management has evolved in the latter half of the twentieth century. Throughout the book Beckhard weaves his life story with the lessons he learned from his role as an influential ?agent of change.? The book thoughtfully outlines his principles of practice to show how they not only shaped his career but how they can be used as a model for anyone who is grappling with the issues of organizational change.
From the Inside Flap
For nearly fifty years Richard Beckhard has worked to help organizations function in a more humane and high-performing manner, and to empower people to be agents of change. A pioneer in organization development (OD), human relations training, and large systems change, he has both witnessed and personally influenced the evolution of the organization development field.Here, in his professional memoirs, Beckhard articulates his principles of practice, reflecting on how they affected his work and how the next generation of OD practitioners can build on them. In recounting his vast and varied experience as a top consultant, Beckhard provides a personal, yet broad and enlightening perspective on the history and theory of organizational change. Readers will gain new insights from the first-hand account of a career that parallels the establishment and growth of the OD field itself?an account in which Beckhard relates his experience creating one of the first professional training programs for OD practitioners, his work as a consultant and leadership trainer throughout the U.S. and abroad, and his development of models and tools that help people become better students and learners.To those grappling with the developments impacting today’s business environments, this book offers a personal and incisive historical perspective on consulting and change management. Academics and practitioners in consulting and human resources management can use Beckhard’s solid guidelines and conceptual models to hone their own expertise and benefit from his wisdom and unique experience.