Competition has never been more threatening than it is now. Innovative thinkers challenge the status quo in their organizations. They are often viewed as "troublemakers." They threaten the defenders of the status quo. So competition within an organization can also be brutal. The most effective leaders overcome "the ideology of comfort and the tyranny of custom" by being change agents themselves. They encourage and reward innovative thinking. I have observed that people only resist changes imposed on them by other people.
Rosabeth Moss KanterThe very lack of opportunity the group faces creates a self-defeating cycle and puts pressure on members to limit their aspirations.
Rosabeth Moss KanterPeople who are making decisions about the future often don't have access to some of the best ideas in the company, which may be at the periphery or at lower levels.
Rosabeth Moss Kanterif networks of women are formed, they should be job related and task related rather than female-concerns related. Personal networks for sociability in the context of a work organization would tend to promote the image of women contained in the temperamental model - that companies must compensate for women's deficiencies and bring them together for support because they could not make it on their own. But job-related task forces serve the social-psychological functions while reinforcing a more positive image of women.
Rosabeth Moss Kanter