Any company that is seriously considering a heavy investment in a customer intelligence -- or customer relationship management -- initiative, needs to think deep about the challenge of change. This is where many of our "new economy" disappointments and unmet expectations can be traced.

Too often, companies have invested heavily in information technology but have remained relatively ignorant of the potential implications within (and beyond)their organizations. They've failed to build momentum and generate "buy in" from others. They've ignored their existing assets (be they people, processes or relationships). Following the advice of folks like Michael Hammer, they've shoved it down peoples' throats in the name of "creative destruction."

Well, now, an insightful response to the Hammer approach has been issued by a consultant and Columbia University professor named Eric Abrahamson. His book, Change Without Pain, argues that successful and enduring change is most likely to be effected through "creative recombination." Indeed, he offers "dynamic stability" as an alternative to messy and disruptive chaos.

"Rather than obliterating and then reinventing anew, creative recombination seeks sustainable, repeatable transformation by reconfiguring the people, structures, culture, processes, and networks the company already has," he contends. He argues for a "smoother, more cost-efficient, less painful organizational change" and offers guidance in how to achieve it.