Summary: Built to Change - Edward Lawler III and Chistopher Worley

This work offers a summary of the book "BUILT TO CHANGE: How To Achieve Sustained Organizational Effectiveness" by Edward Lawler III and Christopher Worley. Edward Lawler III is professor of business at the University of Southern California. He is also a founder and director of the university's Center for Effective Organizations. Christopher Worley is a research scientist at the USC Center for Effective Organizations.
In Built To Change, the authors argue that at one time, everyone wanted to build stable companies which would endure indefinitely. In today's rapidly evolving business climate, building an organization which can change rapidly is valued more highly. That allows companies to generate a temporary competitive advantage, exploit that advantage to maximum effect and then move on to something newer and better when everyone else catches up.
Traditional organizations are generally built to resist change with a number of various checks and balances, all of which tend to maintain the status quo. However, in Built To Change, Lawler III and Worley argue that building an organization which embraces change is the best way to move forward. Built to Change is a useful read if you want to find out how to turn your company into a more effective organization.