(ISBN 9781422172063, Harvard Business School Publishing (c) 2011)
John P. Kotter
Idea in Brief
Most major change initiatives generate only lukewarm results. Many fail miserably. Why? Kotter maintains that too many managers don't realize transformation is a process, not an event. It advances through stages that build on each other. And it takes years. Pressured to accelerate the process, managers skip stages. But shortcuts never work.
Equally troubling, even highly capable managers make critical mistakes--such as declaring victory too soon. Result? Loss of momentum, reversal of hard-won gains, and devastation of the entire transformation effort.
By understanding the stages of change--and the pitfalls unique to each stage--you boost your chances of a successful transformation. Payoff? Your org flexes with tectonic shifts in competitors, markets, and technologies--leaving rivals far behind.
The most general lesson to be learned from the more successful cases is that the change process goes through a series of phases that, in total, usually require a considerable length of time. Skipping steps creates only the illusion of speed and never produces a satisfying result.
A second very general lesson is that critical mistakes in any of the phases can have a devastating impact, slowing momentum and negating hard-won gains. Perhaps because we have relatively little experience in renewing organizations, even very capable people often make at least one big error.
Eight step process:
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title: Eight steps to leading change
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flowchart TD
step1["**1. Establish a sense of urgency**
- Examinging market and competitive realities
- Identifying and discussing crises, potential crises, or major opportunities"]
step2["**2. Form a guiding coalition**
- Assembling a group with enough power to lead the change effort
- Encouraging the Group to work together as a team"]
step1 --> step2
step3["**3. Create a vision**
- Creating a vision to help direct the change effort
- Developing strategies for achieving that vision"]
step2 --> step3
step4["**4. Communicating the vision**
- Using every vehicle possible to communicate the new vision and strategies
- Teaching new behaviors by the example of the guiding coalition"]
step3 --> step4
step5["**5. Empower others to act**
- Getting rid of obstacles to change
- Changing systems or structures that already undermine the vision
- Encouraging risk taking and nontraditional ideas, activities, and actions"]
step4 --> step5
step6["**6. Plan for/create short-term wins**
- Planning for visible performance improvements
- Creating those improvements
- Recognizing and rewarding employees involved in the improvements"]
step5 --> step6
step7["**7. Consolidate improvements, produce more change**
- Using increased credibility to change systems, structures, and policies that don't fit the vision
- Hiring, promoting, and developing employees who can implement the vision
- Reinvigorating the process with new projects, themes, and change agents"]
step6 --> step7
step8["**8. Institutionalize new approaches**
- Articulating the connections between new behaviors and corporate success
- Developing the means to ensure leadership development and succession"]
step7 --> step8
step8 --> step8
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Last modified 28 April 2025