Another gem of a posting by Dr. Marc Pierson is his Leading Coalitions article. I particularly like Item #5, Making it up as you go... http://www.wwpp.org/users/0000002/2003/04/30.html#a399
Or as I refer to it: Become the King of Wing (ing it).
In my mind, this ties with the 2nd bullet about bringing in revolutionary leaders. I have found that some things just happen because of strength of will. Good leaders are able to assimilate all change into their plans and just make it work. They have an inner compass with a direction set, and know how many degrees off that azimuth they can stray before they have to intervene.
It takes a confident leader, and also an organization that trusts that leader because they have seen them pull off 'miracles' before. And because of that they make miraculous things happen (unknowingly too). When you get to that point in an organization they also seem to have a sense of community or a realization that what they are involved in is special. The adopt a separate language, there are lots of inner jokes, and as Marc says stories come alive, become rally points. This type of organization not only works well together, but pulls together emotionally and away from the workplace.
One thing that also happens: this confidence in self and their community spreads to others. Its contagious.
Let's start a virus.
