Leading ChangeLeading ChangeJohn P. Kotter

“The rate of change is not going to slowDown anytime soon. If anything,

competitionIn most industries will probably speed

upEven more in the next few decades.”

Leading the Change ProcessLeading the Change Process

PerformanceConsultants

Make recommend-

ations

Translate job requirements into

competencies

Apply Science of Learning & Human

Performance

Generate solution options and

metrics

Conduct effectiveness & cost analysis

(K, S, A, T)

1. Establishing a Sense of Urgency2. Creating a Guiding Coalition3. Developing a Vision & Strategy4. Communicating the Change Vision5. Empowering Broad-Based Action6. Generating Short-Term Wins7. Consolidating Gains & Producing More Change8. Anchoring New Approaches in the Culture

Source: Leading Change, John P. Kotter, 1998

The 8 Stage Process of Creating Major Change

Creating Major ChangeCreating Major Change

Establishing a Sense of Urgency• Examining the market & competitive realities• Identifying & discussing crisis, potential crisis, major

opportunities

Concepts:• Create a crisis: highlight major weaknesses, allow errors to compound• Eliminate obvious examples of excess (company facilities, services,etc• Set goals & targets unrealistically high• Distribute company-wide performance data highlighting deficiencies to

more employees• Force interaction with unsatisfied “customers, suppliers, shareholders.”• Use consultants to force more relevant & honest appraisals• Bombard people with information on future opportunities, rewards for

capitalize on those opportunities, & potential “lost opportunities.”

Source: Leading Change, John P. Kotter, 1998

Creating Major ChangeCreating Major Change

Creating a Guiding Coalition• Putting together a group with enough power to lead the change• Getting the group to work together like a team

4 Key Characteristics of Guiding Coalition:• Positional Power: Are enough key players on board, especially the

main line managers, so those left out can not easily block progress?• Expertise: Are the various points of view, relevant to the tasks at

hand, adequately represented so that informed, intelligent decisions can be made?

• Credibility: Does the group have enough people, with good reputations, that its pronoucements will be taken serious by the other employees?

• Leadership: Does the group include enough proven leaders to be able to drive the change process?

Source: Leading Change, John P. Kotter, 1998

Creating Major ChangeCreating Major Change

Developing a Vision & Strategy• Creating a vision to help direct the change effort• Developing strategies for achieving that vision

Characteristics of an Effective Vision• Imaginable: Conveys a picture of what the future will look like• Desirable: Appeals to the long-term interests of employees,

customers, stakeholders.• Feasible: Comprises realistic, attainable goals• Focused: Is clear enough to provide guidance in decision making• Flexible: Is it general enough to allow individual initiative &

alternative responses in light of changing condition.• Communicable: Is easy to communicate, can be successfully

explained within 5 minutes.

Source: Leading Change, John P. Kotter, 1998

Creating Major ChangeCreating Major Change

Communicating the Change Vision• Using every vehicle possible to constantly communicate the new vision & strategies• Having the guiding coalition role model the behavior expected of employees

Key elements in communicating the vision:• Simplicity. All jargon & technobabble must be eliminated.• Metaphor, Analogy & Example. A verbal picture is worth a

thousand words.• Multiple Forums. Big meetings & small, memos, newspapers, formal

and informal meetings….• Repetition. Ideas sink in only after they have been heard many

times• Leadership by Example. Behavior by important people that is

inconsistent with the vision overwhelms other forms of communication.

• Explanation of Seeming Inconsistency. Unaddressed inconsistencies undermine the credibility of all communications.

• Give & Take. Two way communication is always more powerful and one-way communication.Source: Leading Change, John P. Kotter, 1998

Creating Major ChangeCreating Major Change

Empowering Broad-Based Action• Getting rid of obstacles• Changing systems or structures that undermine the change vision• Encouraging risk taking & non-traditional ideas, activities & actions

Empowering People to Effect Change

• Communicate a sensible vision to employees. • Make sure structures are compatible with the vision.• Provide the training employees need.• Align information and personnel systems to the

vision.• Confront supervisors who undercut needed change.

Source: Leading Change, John P. Kotter, 1998

Creating Major ChangeCreating Major Change

Generating Short-Term Wins• Planning for visible improvements in performance, or “wins”• Creating those wins• Visibly recognizing & rewarding people who made the win possible

1. Provides evidence that sacrifices are worth it.2. Reward change agents.3. Helps fine-tune vision & strategies.4. Undermine cynics and self-serving registers.5. Keep bosses on board.6. Build Momentum.

Source: Leading Change, John P. Kotter, 1998

Creating Major ChangeCreating Major Change

Consolidating Gains & Producing More Change• Using increased credibility to change all systems, structures & policies that don’t fit together and don’t fit the transformation strategy• Hiring, promoting, & developing people who can implement the change vision• Reinvigorating the process with new projects, themes & change agents

• More change, not less. The guiding coalition uses the credibility afforded by the short-term wins to tackle additional and bigger change projects

• More Help. Additional people are brought in, promoted and developed to help with all the changes

• Leadership from Senior Management. Senior people focus on maintaining clarity of shared purpose, keeping urgency levels up.

• People management & leadership from below. Lower ranks in the hierarchy provide both leadership & management for specific projects.

• Reduction of unnecessary interdependencies. To make change easier in both short/long-term, managers identify and eliminate unnecessary organizational interdependencies.

Source: Leading Change, John P. Kotter, 1998

Note: Resistance is always waiting to reassert itself!

Creating Major ChangeCreating Major Change

Anchoring New Approaches in the Culture• Creating better performance through customer- & productivity oriented behavior, more and better leadership, & more effective management• Articulating the connections between new behavior & organizational success• Developing means to ensure leadership development & succession

Concepts:• Culture changes come last, not first. Most alteration in norms & shared values

come at the end of the transformation process• Results matter. New approaches usually sink into a culture only after it is very

clear that they work and are superior to the old methods.• Requires a lot of talk. Without verbal instruction and support, people are

reluctant to admit the validity of new practices.• May involve turnover. Sometime the only way to change a culture is to change

key people.• Makes decision on succession crucial. If promotion processes are not

changed to be compatible with the new practices, the old culture will reassert itself

Source: Leading Change, John P. Kotter, 1998

Creating Major ChangeCreating Major Change