General Concept and Proceeding

This chapter explains the general concept of the book and the rationale behind it. Also, the concept including the questionnaire for the interviews is presented in detail, as this forms the background for the interviews with 22 carefully selected high-level executives and equally experienced professionals. The realization of the interviews and the concept for interview evaluation is described—underlining that the ambition of the book is not to condense a new overarching “reading concept or method” but to give the individual experiences and concepts of the interviewees the appreciation they deserve. Additionally, we will explain why the interviewees are anonymized. One of the leading principles of the book is also that diversity (of both the interviewees and their statements) is welcome and encouraged, whereas the creation of a standardized methodology is not the aim as each organizational situation is unique. Therefore, general findings and principles have to be very carefully tailored to their specific setting. In other words, there is no fixed set of methods and tools set fit for all cases (Nonetheless, the interviews have shown that there are greater similarities and resonances of the interviewees’ change experience at a meta-level.). The book should rather show a broad set of applicable cases representing the diversity of reality. Every reader might choose which tale is fitting best to their own situation and which conclusions can be drawn for them. Thus, the book might be well used for mentoring and coaching purposes.