Change for Change's Sake
(by Vermeulen, Puranam & Gulati, from The Harvard Review-June 2010)
A seemingly healthy, well-performing company can be more vulnerable than you might think because of a build up of corporate cholesterol: natural human dynamics that limit communication, creativity and efficient resource allocation. Rather than wait for the heart attack to strike, executives should consider changing their firm's structures, rewards, and processes while performance is still good. Surveying the workforce can help executives determine how urgent the need is for change and what kind of changes to contemplate. Companies that take charge of change in this way are high performers an popular places to work.

The Change Leadership Sustainability Demands
(by Christopher Lueneburger and Daniel Goleman, from the MIT Slone Management Review, Summer 2010)
Sustainability initiatives can't be driven through an organization the way other changes can. They have three distinctive stages (making the case for change, translating vision into action and expanding boundaries) and each requires different organizational capabilities and leadership competences.

The Acceleration Trap
(by Heike Bruch and Jochen I. Menges, from The Harvard Review-April 2010)
If you demand that employees give you the same level of accelerated effort every day, month after month, their energy will fail and the company's performance will suffer. Break free from the acceleration trap. Once you've clarified your business strategy, declare an end to the current high-energy phase and have employees abandon less important tasks.
Avoid the trap in the future. Institute a series of stop-the-action initiatives, limit the company's goals, and require that project management systems put the kibosh on mediocre ideas.
Change the company's accelerated culture. Focus on just one thing for a specified period, institute time-outs that give employees "a breather," and mandate periods of calm between crises.