What's the relationship between the number of cynics and the importance of short-term wins?

Correct answer: As a general rule, the more cynics, the more important the wins.

Explanation

This question tests the reader's understanding of the strategic, political value of short-term wins, particularly in environments with high levels of resistance.

Other questions

Question 1

In the case study of the visionary president of a dollar 1.7 billion division, what was identified as the 'worst mistake' that led to the collapse of his initiatives?

Question 2

According to Chapter 8, what are the three essential characteristics of a good short-term win?

Question 3

What is the typical timeframe in which the first unambiguous wins need to be produced in big organizations?

Question 4

Based on the roles of short-term wins summarized in Table 8-1, how do they help the guiding coalition?

Question 5

Why do managers often fail to plan for short-term wins, according to the author?

Question 6

In Figure 8-2, which quadrant describes a scenario where transformation efforts go nowhere?

Question 7

What is the key difference between planning for short-term wins and simply hoping for them?

Question 8

What is a significant danger of using 'accounting wizardry' as a short-term gimmick?

Question 9

In the insurance company example, how long was the huge reengineering effort expected to take to complete?

Question 10

What is the primary purpose of the first six phases of the transformation process, as summarized at the end of Chapter 8?

Question 11

Which of the following is NOT listed in Table 8-1 as a role of short-term wins?

Question 12

Why do charismatic leaders, who are often poor managers, struggle with generating short-term wins?

Question 13

In the insurance company example, how often were the three mini-projects reviewed by the executive committee?

Question 14

What does the author suggest is the essence of management in the context of creating short-term wins?

Question 15

According to the author, running a transformation effort without serious attention to short-term wins is ______.

Question 16

In Figure 8-1, 'The influence of short-term wins on business transformation,' what does Case number 1 represent?

Question 17

One of the roles of short-term wins is to undermine cynics. How do they achieve this?

Question 18

What is a third element, besides urgency and a clear vision, that undermines the planning for necessary wins?

Question 19

What kind of dialogue is characteristic of organizations that are merely 'praying for results' instead of planning for them?

Question 20

Why can the pressure to produce short-term wins be a 'useful way to keep up the urgency rate'?

Question 21

Which action does NOT qualify as an unambiguous short-term win according to the examples on page 125?

Question 22

What is the primary risk of a transformation effort that has high leadership but low management, according to Figure 8-2?

Question 23

How can the process of producing short-term wins help a guiding coalition test its vision?

Question 24

In the failed transformation led by the visionary president, how long did it take after he was fired for many of his initiatives to collapse?

Question 25

What is the author's view on the idea that there is a trade-off between winning in the short term and winning in the long term?

Question 26

What do visible, unambiguous short-term wins provide to bosses and those higher up in the hierarchy?

Question 27

Why do zealots often stay the course in a change effort no matter what happens?

Question 28

A key role of management in producing wins is 'controlling.' What does this involve?

Question 29

When are short-term gimmicks, such as contrived accounting results, most likely to be eliminated as an option?

Question 30

What is the consequence of having high management but low leadership in a transformation effort, according to Figure 8-2?

Question 31

In the insurance company example, how did creating visible wins help the guiding coalition?

Question 32

What does the author identify as a reason people don't sufficiently plan for wins, related to urgency?

Question 33

Why is 'subtlety' generally not a desirable quality for a short-term win?

Question 34

What is the second role of short-term wins listed in Table 8-1 on page 127?

Question 35

The author suggests that without competent management, what usually happens to measurement systems during a transformation?

Question 36

What does the author state is often the primary concern for managers who kept the current system operating before a change effort?

Question 37

What effect do short-term wins have on 'fence sitters' during a transformation?

Question 38

How can a charismatic leader's personal appeal be 'extremely helpful' in a change effort, despite their potential weakness as a manager?

Question 39

What is the consequence of having a lack of commitment from managers in big, old organizations during a change effort?

Question 40

What's the relationship between transformation, leadership, and management?

Question 41

In the case study of the visionary president, what happened to employee morale after a few years?

Question 42

What does a constant tension for long periods of time do to people driving change?

Question 43

What is the author's response to the question, 'But isn't operating in multiple stages at once complicated?'

Question 44

Why do wins make it 'much more difficult to take cheap shots' at those trying to implement needed changes?

Question 45

What belief system about the short and long run have thousands of managers been taught that hinders planning for wins?

Question 46

In the context of the chapter, what happens when a leader, deep in his heart, thinks people who kept the current system operating were of limited importance?

Question 48

A renewed sense of what is often needed for tired employees twelve to thirty-six months into a major change effort?

Question 49

According to the author, what happens to acquisitions made on the basis of impulse instead of rational support of the vision?

Question 50

What do short-term wins give the guiding coalition concrete data on?