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Tempered Radicals: How People Use Difference to Inspire Change at Work by Debra E. Meyerson. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 2001, 221 pp., $24.95, cloth [ISBN: 0-87584-904-9].
Recently, I wanted a book emphasizing self-reflection and personal change to use in an Organizational Change class, to undergraduate business students, given that they were unlikely to initiate organizational change initiatives anytime soon. I also wanted to emphasize systems thinking, particularly the ways in which an individual contributes to the larger system. I discovered such a book about the power of an awareness of and respect for one's personal identity in creating positive changes in the workplace in Debra Meyerson's Tempered Radicals.
My first misgiving was about the book's title. Not a standard management term, tempered radical might be confusing. Also, the local political climate often derided the notion of "liberal," so "radical" might be contentious. However, these fears were, in fact, part of the lessons of the book. In the preface and in the first chapter, Meyerson's defines tempered radicals sufficiently broadly to include "a wide middle ground [that] stretches between the extremes of conformity and pure radicals" (p. xii). Tempered radicals are
People who want to succeed in their organizations yet want to live by their values and identities, even if they are somehow at odds with the dominant culture of their organizations. Tempered radicals want to fit in and they want to retain what makes them different, (emphasis in original, p. xi)
Tempered radicalism negotiates the tension between individuality and group membership, that is, between assertion of the self and its submersion for the sake of the collective goals. It is by attending to both that "tempered radicals contribute to learning and adaptation" (p. xiv), to change, of the larger organization. Meyerson presents a continuum of strategies for negotiating the competing pulls, each of which is addressed in a chapter: Resisting quietly and staying true to one's "self," Turning personal threats into opportunities, Broadening the impact through negotiation, Leveraging small wins, and Organizing collective action.
I assigned the book, and each week, a student team presented a chapter. Whereas I was interested in the strategies themselves, and the sense of empowerment that comes from making choices about how to respond to a perceived affront...