This is a well written book that provides insight to practical ways change can be implemented and how teams can be encouraged to adapt to the changes.

Only 30 per cent of change succeeds, say authors Kendall Lyman and Tony Daloisio – and a 70 per cent failure rate would be unacceptable outside the ranks of leadership.

That figure comes from a 1996 study by a Harvard Business School professor. The pair authors are partners at The Highlands Group, a US-based management consultancy specialising in strategy, organisational change and leadership development, which has worked with Kellogg’s, KPMG, Merck, Mobil and AT&T.

Getting change right can have win-or-fail and even life-or-death consequences, the authors pair point out in their book Change The Way You Change! 5 Roles of Leaders Who Accelerate Business Performance.

A Kaplan and Norton study found only 10 per cent of employees understood their organisation’s strategy, only 30 per cent of executives had their goals aligned with that strategy and 60 per cent of organisations even aligned their processes to their strategy.

And after the 2003 Columbia crash, an accident board concluded that Nasa’s organisation culture had as much to do with the Columbia crash accident as technical failure.

But change is "awkward and hard", say the authors. Try circling your right leg in clockwise circles while drawing a number six in the air with your right index finger. Would it help if you were offered a promotion or pay rise to do it? No, because most of us are "hardwired" not to be able to do this simple exercise … unless you reverse the six as you draw it. Change involves overcoming resistance, managing transitions and enabling greater engagement.

The book is divided into chapters on accelerating focus, alignment, engagement and leadership and, finally, ensuring sustainability. While there are many tools on offer to help, you’d be forgiven for reading the book to the end and still not knowing where to begin. Neither are the real-life case studies from the authors’ own clients detailed enough to provide good evidence – although there is a bewildering array of studies and statistics.

Still, the authors have decades of combined experience to draw on and there are many useful lists and examples in the book. Perhaps a good way to approach it is to read the chapter summaries first then backtrack to the bits most useful to your situation.