Be Creating

Productive Workplaces: Organizing and Managing for Dignity, Meaning and Community by Marvin Ross Weisbord Productive Workplaces was recommended to me by a wonderful colleague Sandy Swearingen.  At the time our job, along with a dozen others, was to facilitate school improvement teams across the state of Minnesota. I spent many hours steeped in learning about change, organizational development, and effective classroom practices. I loved this job—it helped feed my curious nature.  When Sandy recommended Productive Workplaces she said “You don’t really need to read the first part of the book, just start with the second section where he shares about how to help manage change.”  I took her advice.  It was very revealing and I still use the information today. It gave me a foundation for knowing when individuals and organizations are ready for change. Weisbord writes about assessing which of the four apartments of change individuals reside in. The first  contentment categoriz