Igniting organizational change from below: The power of personal initiative

Localized, small-scope organizational changes play an important role in a company's success. In an examination of over 3 dozen such local changes, a common factor was discovered: These changes were championed by someone who saw the possibility for change and personally initiated the change by taking substantial risks. Ultimately, the results of the research reveal the enormous power of individual contributions in effecting organizational change. The challenge, then, is how to encourage this individual initiative and create organizational policies and systems that are less resistant to this behavior.