Leading outside the lines: How to Mobilize the (in)Formal Organization, Energize Your Team, and Get Better Results

A SUM GREATER THAN ITS PARTS

There is some chance that Aetna’s turnaround could have succeeded without Rowe and Williams so adeptly mobilizing the informal. However, we believe it is a small chance, and it would have been a much longer and tougher road to victory. Moreover, it is clear that the three earlier transitional change efforts had been derailed by the informal elements of the old Mother Aetna culture.

If you are like most leaders, you are not facing Aetna’s turnaround urgency. However, you are probably shaping a strategy or trying to implement one in a rapidly changing world. Leaders who know how to mobilize and manage simultaneously save lots of time. They are able to make changes to strategies, structures, and processes that are ...