Bestselling Authors Receive the Beckhard Memorial Prize by MIT Sloan Management Review
New research by the authors of the New York Times bestseller and training program of the same title, Influencer: The Power to Change Anything, has received the Richard Beckhard Memorial Prize from MIT Sloan Management Review for the most
outstanding article on planned change and organizational development of the year.
The article titled “How to Have Influence” was originally published in the Fall 2008 edition of MIT Sloan Management Review, the official publication of the Sloan School of Management at MIT. The article features research that shows leaders who combine four to six unique sources of influence are 10 times more successful at producing profound and sustainable change.
“Rather than relying on one or only a few activities … the research supports using multiple sources to ensure success,” said Erik Brynjolfsson, chair of the MIT Sloan Management Review and member of the Beckhard prize committee.
Joseph Grenny, coauthor of Influencer and leading researcher of the study, says the reason quick fixes don’t work is because behavior problems are not fed by a single cause; rather, they are fed by a conspiracy of causes.
“Our research clearly shows the main variable in success or failure is not which source of influence leaders choose,” says Grenny. “By far, the more important factor is how many.”
Grenny’s research outlines the six sources that influence human behavior. Leaders who leverage these sources are 10 times more likely to succeed than those who rely on a single solution.
The Six Sources of Influence:
Personal Motivation — overcome individual reluctance and resistance
Personal Ability — teach and master the necessary skills for
success
Social Motivation — enlist help from leaders or other opinion
leaders
Social Ability — leverage teamwork
Structural Motivation — reward early successes
Structural Ability — create a supportive physical environment
About VitalSmarts
An innovator in corporate training and organizational performance, VitalSmarts is home to award-winning training products that improve end results. The company has three New York Times bestsellers, Crucial Conversations, Crucial Confrontations and Influencer and has taught more than 2 million people worldwide. www.vitalsmarts.com/globalAbout the Richard Beckhard Memorial Prize:
The Richard Beckhard Memorial Prize honors Professor Richard Beckhard—former MIT Sloan School of Management faculty and author of Organizational Development and Organizational Transitions—and is given annually to the authors of an outstanding article on the subject of planned change and organizational development. http://sloanreview.mit.edu/the-magazine/articles/2009/summer/50499/the-richard-beckhard-memorial-prize/
About the Research:
The report is based on three studies. The first study surveyed 25 C-level leaders, the second surveyed 900 managers, and the third surveyed more than 1,000 individuals. The full research report is available at http://www.vitalsmarts.com/userfiles/10xinfluence/index.html.
Note to Editor:
Author and researcher Joseph Grenny can share with your readers/viewers tips on how to secure change by combining multiple sources of influence.