One of the books I have really found impactful is Influencer by Patterson, Grenny, Maxfield, McMillan, and Switzler. This group of authors work together at VitalSmarts, the company that produced Crucial Conversations that I discussed early on this blog.
Since a picture is worth a thousand words, and a video must be worth many more, here is a "trailer" for the book that came out several years ago before the book did. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4g_xxguWzI
As you see referenced there, across the world there have been many cases of successful change. The areas of change researched include rehabilitation of inmates, eradication of widespread and deadly disease, and smaller scale change as well. The authors identify six sources of influence and explain how these don't work in isolation. Rather they show how to use them in concert to produce needed change.
I strongly recommend this book and all of the VitalSmarts-produced videos and articles related to it.
