Building the Bridge As You Walk On It: A Guide for Leading Change

by Robert E. Quinn

Building the Bridge As You Walk On It tells the personal stories of people who have embraced deep change and inspired author Robert Quinn to take his concept one step further and develop a new model of leadershipthe fundamental state of leadership. The exploration of this transformative state is at the very heart of the book. Quinn shows how anyone can enter the fundamental state of leadership by engaging in the eight practices that center on the theme of ever-increasing integrityreflective action, authentic engagement, appreciative inquiry, grounded vision, adaptive confidence, detached interdependence, responsible freedom, and tough love. After each chapter, Quinn challenges you to assess yourself with respect to each practice and to formulate a strategy for personal growth.

Genres: Leadership, Business

258 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 29, 2004

Reviews

[Rena · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is not terribly impressive. It is like many leadership books on the market. What made it so remarkable and impactful was the discussion I had in my Asian American contexts class. Discussions around culture, contexts, and the leadership practices named in the book made it a richer text for me, and now it is quite unforgettable. This exercise showed me the significance of reading, reflecting, and discussing together... book clubs!

[Kristy · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a relatively newly appointed person IN CHARGE of stuff at work, I've been trying to develop my leadership skills by dipping into some management books and leadership courses and webinars. This is one that was suggested to me and while it has some good information in it, the writing style did not do it for me and even though 2004 does not seem like that long ago, the whole thing felt pretty dated. This is actually a follow up to a very popular book by Quinn from 1996 called Deep Change. I haven't read that one, but it seems like enough of its philosophy is repeated here so that wasn't really necessary. In Building the Bridge as You Walk on It (which is one of the catch phrases Quinn repeats over and over in the book), Quinn focuses on case studies of people who "entered the fundamental state of leadership" as described in Deep Change and how it impacted their professional and personal lives. This state of leadership involves being Internally Directed, Externally Open, Other-Focused, and Purpose-Centered. Quinn then goes into detail on techniques to help a person enter this mystical state of leadership. Beyond the extreme amount of repetition and the kind of dorky exercises at the end of each chapter, I could not get beyond the fact that there were only a few women included in the case studies and the majority of their examples involved them entering this fundamental state of leadership not at work like the men in the case studies but in the context of abusive or unsatisfying marriages or family situations. Bleh. This book definitely has some helpful lessons for leading in the context of change, but be prepared to do a lot of skimming and a little turning off of your inner women's studies major if you want to dive into it.

[John-Randall "J.R." Hofheins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE this book. I know of no other leadership book like it.

[Peter Peerdeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

the concept of the power of authentic self, normal state and leadership state really resonate with me. this book is a helpful collection of observations that clarify these concepts and help you become more aware of the the current organizational state and the actions you can take to be an example of change within that group. Will have to read again to fully get all the finer details, I found the amount of helpful quotes very dense.

[Ike Unger · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first part of the book really feels like a promotion for his book "Deep Change". This was a frustrating section to get through. However part 2 and 3 were excellent. Many great tools for self evaluation.

[Josh Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cross the bridge to ever increasing integrity.

Quinn gets to the heart of leadership with his deep and integrated insights on change, purpose, and meaning. Rich and complex, but still very accessible.

[Han Boon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot of thought provoking and reflection points. Worth the read for leaders who wants to transcend themselves from their existing performance level into fundamental leadership positions.

[Travis Bow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some really solid principles which are worth coming back to and implementing, but a bit wordy and repetitive.

[Christie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, filled with great concepts, but very repetitive and dry.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book as a part of an assignment for Leadership Achieve. Leadership Achieve is a group of 6 people (including me) who take leadership classes from our organization's President & CEO for a year. Graduation from this group is slated to take place in 2 months. I have learned a lot about myself during this process. I have learned how to be a better leader and how to bring about change more effectively.

In this book, the author, Robert E. Quinn, discusses the fundamental state of leadership. When we allow ourselves to enter the fundamental state of leadership, we can operate at our peak level. It also allows provides us with the opportunity to work on our relationships at home and at work. Communication lines are opened up & our awareness of those around begins to increase. During this state, we become purpose-driven, internally directed and externally open. We leave our comfort zone. We are open to learning new things & examining our own behaviors to ensure we are making choices that match our value system.

This book served as a reminder to me that it is okay not to be in complete control of everything, at all times. It is during these times that we often learn the most.

When we try to lead in the normal state, we are often detrimental to those around us. We often drain ourselves & the people around us. I have definitely spent most of my life in the normal state. I am learning to move towards to the fundamental state of leadership. It has been a slow process. It has involved completely leading go of some of my strong beliefs of what leader should look like and do.

I have also discovered that is is much easier to bring about change while in the fundamental state of leadership. By using the open decision-making process, it is much easier to spark the interest& buy-in of others. I have enjoyed being a "change agent" at South Dakota Achieve.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to be a leader! It really causes you to look at what it means to be a "good leader".

[Drick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book because it was a sequel to Quinn's Deep Change, a profoundly helpful book in thinking about myself as a leader, and the need for a leader to constantly being involved in a process of ongoing transformation, i.e. deep change. This book was a disappointment in that in many ways the first part rehearses the insights of Deep Change and continually refers back to it. The second part focuses on Quinn's concept of foundational leadership, in which the process of deep change can be incorporated into one's life. However unlike the first book, this one was far to formulaic and linear in its thinking. While there was nothing objectionable, there was also nothing inspiring.

June 2016

On my first foray into this book, I did not read it deeply, but this time because I find myself in a place where in Quinn's words I am "walking naked in the land of uncertainty" I found the book both instructive and reassuring. At the end of each chapter he has reflection questions, which I sometimes used but more used as an opportunity to reflect on and apply the ideas to my personal life as well as my roles as a teacher of leaders and leader of others. I upgrade my evaluation this second time around.

Quinn brings great insights, which at one level are commonsensical, but yet need repeating. The most important which in many ways is the theme of the book is that a leader is not what you do, but who you are.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a deep dive into the concept of transformational leadership. Having finished the book, I am still working on concepts that Quinn introduced to me; I am writing about them and may share them with people I share time with. The concept of "The fundamental state of leadership" required a great deal of reflection for me, this concept suggests that we can (must!) enter into a primal state of readiness for change at pivotal moments in our lives. Perhaps the greatest leaders among us learn that it is possible to "build the bridge as one walks" at the time of one's choosing. I was very impressed. The format of this book included fairly short chapters, incredible stories of transformation, and big, pithy ideas for leaders.

[Susanne Bartel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book when I first got involved in big change programs.
It definitely was a great help switching from rather well-defined, planned-through technical projects to these 'soft' types of projects.
My biggest learning point from this book: You cannot fully plan a change program in advance, you have to review and adjust as you go. Overall, the book was an important factor in adopting a suitable approach and mind set to change initiatives.
I am planning a second read for another in-depth review. Will be interesting to see how I receive the book now, with a lot more experience in this area.

[Al Soto · Rating 4 out of 5]

"If you are wanting to read a book that will asset you understanding what is real leadership? This book is a must read! Robert E. Quinn will give the reader tools for decision making as well as being fully integrated as a leader. "

[R.M. · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good idea about being in a fundamental state of change. However, I felt he kept circling. It got tiresome.

[Jill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't really speak to me...read parts of it, but not all. Certainly object to a few of his implications but mostly just not all that compelling...

[Susan Hester · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book on leadership/management/change. Read this and "Deep Change" in preparation for a class.

[Joseph Serwach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why we don't change and how we can by building the bridge while we walk on it.

[Amanda Adamek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life-changing

[Lori Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

A should-read book on leadership for knowledge workers, managers, directors, C-levels, and entrepreneurs.

[Erik · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some good insights into leadership here but nothing too interesting. A little dry, a little boring.

[John Crippen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book because of an article by the same author, regarding the Fundamental State of Leadership. I read the article over and over, and will keep re-reading it probably. The first half of this book is about the same subject, the last half is good but more generic. Let me know if you'd like me to send you copy of the article. Over time, I will read the author's earlier works, but am not rushing out to do so. This title alone had a lot of things to think about and work through.

[Brad]

Made it through about half. There are good principles about what leadership is and how anyone can be a leader regardless of what authority or assignments they have. Not interesting enough to keep my attention.