Introduction

We turn now to analyses of actualities of influence and change. Ironically, rather than in professional successes, the basic dynamics of influence are best illuminated in dioramas of natural enterprise, that is, in the evolved ways we have influenced one another, whether for good or for ill, whether successful or not.

Therefore, prior to considering professionally organized change operations, I begin with an analysis of reliably successful, phylogenetically or historically evolved “natural” behavior change systems whose stories are known – and one huge, dramatic failure. Each of these intentional programs of change will be discussed in terms of Delta Theory’s concepts: psychosocial systems and their phases, development through the zone of proximal of development, and the means and sources of influence.