books - Building the Bridge As You Walk On It: A Guide for Leading Change, Robert E. Quinn

Building the Bridge as You Walk Out On It is kind of a terrible name but the premise makes sense when you start reading. The book is about how to lead change in organizations. I originally came across it about five years ago when I asked a group of people at a conference for ideas about resources because I was about to launch a major project that would migrate a community I managed into a new space. It was huge change, following on the heels of a major corporate acquisition and the community was in a really bad place - they were confused, worried that they wouldn't be supported much longer and I knew I needed help.

The main focus of the book is the idea of building consistency and reliability into your plan. It's a lot harder than it sounds. It also requires quite a bit of emotional work. In general, I think this book is longer than it needs to be, after a while the examples got a bit repetitive and I wasn't picking up anything new. But as a general resource and something that goosed me in the right direction, it was perfect. I recommend this for anybody who is unsure of how to lead when the path is changing.