Stacking the Deck: How to Lead Breakthrough Change Against Any Odds

Author Q&A with David S. Pottruck, Author of Stacking the Deck:

What led you to write Stacking the Deck?

I taught a course at the Wharton School on leading breakthrough change for almost 10 years, and it seemed to me that we were creating a body of knowledge on this subject that I just didn''t see anywhere else. Most of the books on change are written by consultants or academics—and they''ve written terrific books—but they didn''t have the whole story. They told you what to do, but they didn''t exactly explain why it is so hard, and what do you need to do to overcome the barriers, the steps, the processes. In today''s world, with globalization, technology, and many forces driving an increased pace of change, I thought we needed a book on how to lead breakthrough change.

Is your book only for C-suite executives?

This book is for anyone who is in the C-suite or who aspires to be in the C-suite. The process of leading breakthrough change often gets delegated down to people in upper-middle management type of roles, people who are really in the trenches getting things done. I wrote Stacking the Deck wanting them to understand from a larger perspective what the process is all about. So often a C-suite executive will say: "We need to make this change and I want you to make this happen," and then that person owns that responsibility.

What does the term “breakthrough change” mean?

Breakthrough changes are very disruptive changes that alter the way an organization does things in ways that are uncomfortable for people, ones that cause people to change long-held beliefs and processes. With any breakthrough, you hope to create a big upside, but there is usually a lot of resistance. In my experience, there is always more resistance than you would expect. You as the leader look at the idea, you look at what has to be done, and you think this is a great idea and people are going to love it, and then they don''t. It''s not about whether the idea is great, it''s really about the fact that people are uncomfortable with change. They don''t want to do things in a new way. They like being comfortable and confident about the way they''ve done it for years.

What needs to be changed in how future executives are taught?

I teach executive MBA students who are working and getting their MBAs at the same time. They are shouldering a huge amount of work with a full-time job and a full-time education. However, the opportunity for them to blend their real-work experiences into what they are learning gives them an immediate lab to practice and apply things. It doesn''t mean much to have new knowledge unless you are applying it to solve problems and create opportunities.

Is it okay to fail?

That depends. None of us like to fail. It''s not okay to fail when the failure brings down the whole company or creates a similar risk to the reputation of the company. You''re not allowed to fail if you are going to bring the company to its knees, but you can''t go forward and go after breakthrough changes if you are scared of failing. You can''t be bold without taking some risks.

With many of the best products we implemented during my time at Schwab, the first version of the product was not really that successful. But we went back and took the best parts of the product, we figured out from the consumer what they didn''t like, and then came back with version two or version three—and that''s typically when we hit it big. You can sit around a conference room and wonder how consumers are going to react to the product, but you don''t know until you get it into their hands.