"It" Happens! How to Become Change-Resilient

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Summary: Practical Tools for Dealing With Change
Review: "It" Happens! does what Who Moved My Cheese? should have done. "It" offers specific, concrete behavioral techniques for learning to live successfully with change. Whether the change is in the corporate setting or one's personal life, these techniques will work if applied consistently. The story is simple yet engaging because of the various levels of application. I applaud Dr. Smith for her insight and her ability to take a subject that can be overwhelming and break it down into manageable steps that empower the reader almost immediately.

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Summary: This Book is Very Cute
Review: A small but mighty little book, "It" will leave you changed after just one read. Julie Smith has interwoven a delightful story with easy-to-remember characters, cleverly conveying the essential concepts of cognitive behavior theory. As a seasoned clinical psychologist, I am all too aware that just talking about change isn't enough. "It" combines story, allegorical characters, cognitive rehearsal, a fun manipulable puzzle, and visual cues. Wow--she used just about every modality to infuse this book with high interest and a lasting memory/imagination imprint. How many books do that? This is obviously a powerful tool for use in organizations of all kinds, as well as in therapeutic work, to facilitate attitude and behavior change in an engaging manner, minimizing defensiveness. The "Change Puzzle" will remain on my desk. Thanks, Julie!

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Summary: The Most Effective Concepts for Handling Change
Review: At first glance, this book seemed almost too simple to take seriously - - but then I began using its concepts and they were so effective that I decided to read the book again. The message in this book is profound, and I believe that Dr. Smith's concepts for handling change are the most effective concepts I've ever used. If you're struggling with how to truly handle change -- try the concepts in this book! They really do work.

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Summary: Finally!
Review: Finally! A practicle guide for navigating change. The impact of other "change" books doesn't last long after the hour it takes to read them. But Dr. Smith's book has provided a tangible way for me to see change as part of the adventure of life. Not only did I learn something new from the book, I learned how to deal with change in a way that will change and grow as I do. And if you're an impatient person like myself and like to see the nuts and bolts of the message first, the book's main points are presented in the last third of the book. This section has also been great as a reference while I've learned to apply her ideas for change. Wonderful book. I hope she writes more.

Rating:
Summary: Practical Tools for Dealing With Change
Review: I always thought of myself as completely adaptable to change, even seeking out change until I read Dr. Smith's delightful story. I realized that I thought I loved change as long as every one I knew and loved went along on the "change" with me. When I was confronted with a change in my life that only I could walk through, Dr. Smith's tools for examining my reactions, feelings, thoughts and beliefs provided a road map to help me on my journey. This book is different than all other "how to adapt to change" books out there, invaluable for anyone facing a change in their lives, unexpected, minor, traumatic and life-altering. Dr. Smith also has a workshop that accompanies the book and I recommended this to my organization as something we should embrace and share.

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Summary: A Self-Help Book That Actually Works
Review: I dislike self-help books, but "It Happens!" is a remarkable exception. It is one of those rare books that actually works. It doesn't just make you aware of your problems - it actually shows you HOW to solve them. Packaged with the book is a foam Change Puzzle, a wonderful, tangible aid that you can take apart and put together in talking through problems with people. I use the book and puzzle with family, friends, and coworkers almost daily.
Here is the point: when you confront a problem or change (like a broken relationship, new job, unemployment, move, new school, loss of loved one, injury, child & teen problems, addiction, etc.), the stress and anguish can destroy you. But "It Happens!", a quick-read fable about change, has given me a concrete method for dealing with each situation. It's so simple that anyone can use it.
I keep the book and Change Puzzle on my desk at work to help coworkers deal with relationships, difficult assignments, money problems, job decisions, etc. I have a copy at home where I use it with family & friends. (My wife is a former drug/alcohol counselor and she uses the book and puzzle with friends who are in trouble.)
When you see how this works, you will become energized by the insights you get, as I have. The Change Puzzle pieces make you examine five things about a problem or change: your feelings about it, your thoughts and beliefs about it, your behavior about it, the consequences of your behavior to yourself, and - most importantly - the impact of your behavior on everyone around you. As you assemble the puzzle around your problem, you suddenly realize, "Oh - THAT'S it. THAT'S what I need to work on." It's pretty amazing.
I am using the book and puzzle today, literally, to help a coworker with a job-change decision, to help myself with a job-change decision, to help a close friend decide to enter counseling for depression, and to help that friend's spouse deal with the family mess. If everyone used "It Happens!" and the Change Puzzle, we'd have a saner, happier world!

Rating:
Summary: A Self-Help Book That Actually Works
Review: I dislike self-help books, but "It Happens!" is a remarkable exception. It is one of those rare books that actually works. It doesn't just make you aware of your problems - it actually shows you HOW to solve them. Packaged with the book is a foam Change Puzzle, a wonderful, tangible aid that you can take apart and put together in talking through problems with people. I use the book and puzzle with family, friends, and coworkers almost daily.
Here is the point: when you confront a problem or change (like a broken relationship, new job, unemployment, move, new school, loss of loved one, injury, child & teen problems, addiction, etc.), the stress and anguish can destroy you. But "It Happens!", a quick-read fable about change, has given me a concrete method for dealing with each situation. It's so simple that anyone can use it.
I keep the book and Change Puzzle on my desk at work to help coworkers deal with relationships, difficult assignments, money problems, job decisions, etc. I have a copy at home where I use it with family & friends. (My wife is a former drug/alcohol counselor and she uses the book and puzzle with friends who are in trouble.)
When you see how this works, you will become energized by the insights you get, as I have. The Change Puzzle pieces make you examine five things about a problem or change: your feelings about it, your thoughts and beliefs about it, your behavior about it, the consequences of your behavior to yourself, and - most importantly - the impact of your behavior on everyone around you. As you assemble the puzzle around your problem, you suddenly realize, "Oh - THAT'S it. THAT'S what I need to work on." It's pretty amazing.
I am using the book and puzzle today, literally, to help a coworker with a job-change decision, to help myself with a job-change decision, to help a close friend decide to enter counseling for depression, and to help that friend's spouse deal with the family mess. If everyone used "It Happens!" and the Change Puzzle, we'd have a saner, happier world!

Rating:
Summary: A Sparkling Contribution!
Review: Most cutesy management books last as long as a piece of chewing gum and like gum can stick to your shoe with minimum impact on one's thinking and performance. What's different about " "It" Happens", is its grounding in solid behavioral theory and the author's brilliance in tieing a fable to principles of change and the creation of resilience. The last part of the book pulls it all together with focusing questions and even provides a foam puzzle as a tactile reminder of the ebb and flow of the steps along the way.
Julie Smith has provided an important strategic tool that could spark improved responses to the uncertainties of today's world.

Rating:
Summary: The book was great!
Review: The book really helped me get ready for some big changes in my life. It helped me get ready for school and become change resilient. I let a teacher borrow it and he loved it. Its a great book for anyone. I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Delightful deceptively powerful approach to handling change
Review: With relentless and sudden "change" now being a way of life, this book is for everyone...for what we confront both in our jobs and in our lives outside of work (for those who have life outside of work). I'm not keen on cute stories as a way to learn, especially in the work world, but this "cute story" hits the mark. Not only are the characters engaging and an entertaining means of learning how to be change-resilient,but the author periodically includes good assessments and tools/processes for learning how to be change resiient (including an interesting three dimensional puzzle to pull it all together!). And, for those of us who don't want to be caught reading a story about two squirrels, a bear and two humans (all playing important roles in the learning process) the author conveniently revisits and consolidates all the change tools in the final third of the book. An easy but very productive read that I accomplished while flying from the East coast to the Midwest.