WHO SHOULD READ THE ROOT CAUSE AND WHY?

            Personal experience as a change manager, and a project manager who implements his own change management advice, taught me that little changes significantly without what I call Executive Sponsorship for Change; i.e. delegation of authority to a dedicated change/project manager, and allocation of all necessary resources.

            Consequently, the impetus for writing THE ROOT CAUSE is to raise awareness of this impediment to, or main source of, resistance to change. There’s an easy explanation for this phenomenon. The higher one climbs on the hierarchical ladder the greater one’s AUTHORITY to make changes to the system and thus the greater one’s RESPONSIBILITY for success AND failure. Ultimately, at the Executive level, one’s authority is (practically) ULTIMATE, and so is one’s responsibility.

            ULTIMATE refers to EVERYTHING! Every link in the Value Chain and EVERY interdependency among each and every individual link—i.e. the complexity of the business system. No one can ever grasp every aspect of complexity, let alone predict how a system will behave when new and unforeseen circumstances unfold.

            Unfortunately, few if any executive is sufficiently trained and versed in perceiving business as a singular, unique, integrated and open system. Consequently, they are overwhelmed by the intricately interdependent nature of the processes under their control. This undesirable state of mind becomes blatantly visible when new and unforeseen circumstances disrupt system integrity, and inhibits them from providing Executive Sponsorship for Change. After all, a confused mind says “NO.”

            Failing to solve stubborn systemic problems adequately and in a timely fashion is the ACHILLES HEEL of Executives and their tenure at the top. Therefore, these kind of business problems are a CEO’s PERSONAL problems. The target audience of THE ROOT CAUSE is thus every current and future Chief Executive.

            Rather than prescribing WHAT to do, HOW to do it, and WHEN to do it, THE ROOT CAUSE motivates readers to Rethink Your Approach To Solving Stubborn Enterprise-Wide Problems. After all:

You give leaders a best practice solution, and you help

them solve ONE symptom ONE time only. You teach them

to eliminate the root cause of a systemic problem, and they

will solve ALL its symptoms for the rest of their careers.

―Hans Norden

            THE ROOT CAUSE is also intended for other C-suite executives, consultants, coaches, advisors, counselors, and board members who assist CEOs in their decision-making processes. In order for them to be effective, they will have to rise to the chief executive’s new level of thinking. Their thinking must be aligned, because opposing thoughts combined with a conviction of their validity will inevitably lead to unnecessary friction and conflict with little chance of reconciliation or compromise.

                THE ROOT CAUSE is also intended for educators of the aforementioned categories of people, because they are instrumental in shaping their students’ minds and thus their perception of good business practices and how they should go about creating authentic solutions for stubborn systemic problems.

            Last but not least, THE ROOT CAUSE is also intended for venture capitalists and angel investors. After all, their understanding of the importance of motivating executives responsible for the businesses in which they invest to rethink their approach to solving stubborn enterprise-wide problems, improves these financiers’ influence on increasing the return on their investment.

            BEFORE deciding to order a copy for yourself and/or for colleagues, friends and family, take a look inside the book at Barnes & Noble. The Root Cause makes for a wonderful gift!

            Signed copies are available here at RootCauseTheBook.com