Kotters 8 steps leading change
Summary
TLDRJohn P. Kotter's 8-stage process for creating major change is a renowned model for change management. It's divided into three phases: creating a sense of urgency, forming a guiding coalition, and establishing a vision; engaging and enabling the organization; and finally, implementing and sustaining change. The model emphasizes the importance of clear communication, short-term wins, and institutionalizing new approaches to ensure lasting change. However, it has faced criticism for its rigidity and lack of flexibility in different organizational contexts.
Takeaways
- 📘 John Kotter's 8-step process for leading change is a widely recognized model in change management.
- 🏫 John Kotter is a retired Harvard Business School professor and co-founder of Kotter International.
- 📅 Kotter's 8-step model was first introduced in a 1995 article in the Harvard Business Review, and further elaborated in his 1996 book 'Leading Change'.
- 🌐 The model is divided into three phases: creating a climate for change, engaging and enabling the organization, and implementing and sustaining change.
- 🚨 Step 1 is about establishing a sense of urgency by examining market trends and potential crises.
- 🤝 Step 2 involves forming a powerful guiding coalition with enough power to lead the change effort.
- 🔮 Step 3 focuses on creating a clear vision that guides the change and is easily communicable.
- 📢 Step 4 emphasizes the importance of effectively communicating the vision across all levels of the organization.
- 💪 Step 5 is about empowering others to act on the vision by removing obstacles and encouraging risk-taking.
- 🏆 Step 6 involves planning for and creating short-term wins to maintain momentum and credibility in the change effort.
- 🔄 Step 7 focuses on consolidating gains and producing more change to build on early successes.
- 🏛️ Step 8 is about institutionalizing new approaches, ensuring they become part of the organizational culture.
- 💡 Critics of the model argue that it is rigid and may not apply to all types of organizational changes, as some steps might be irrelevant in certain contexts.
Q & A
Who is John P. Kotter and what is his association with the eight-stage process for leading change?
-John P. Kotter is a retired Harvard Business School professor of leadership and a co-founder of Kotter International. He is widely recognized for his eight-stage process for leading change, which was first introduced in a 1995 Harvard Business Review article and later expanded in his 1996 book 'Leading Change'.
What are the three main phases of Kotter's eight-stage process for leading change?
-The three main phases of Kotter's eight-stage process are: 1) Creating a climate for change, covering steps 1-3; 2) Engaging and enabling the organization, covering steps 4-6; and 3) Implementing and sustaining change, covering steps 7-8.
What is the first step in Kotter's model and what actions are needed at this stage?
-The first step in Kotter's model is 'Establishing a sense of urgency'. Actions needed at this stage include examining the market and competition for potential crises and opportunities, and convincing at least 75% of managers that maintaining the status quo is more dangerous than the unknown.
What are some common pitfalls associated with the first step of establishing a sense of urgency?
-Common pitfalls include underestimating the difficulty of driving people out of their comfort zones and management becoming paralyzed by risks, which can hinder the transformation effort.
What is required to form a powerful guiding coalition in the second step of Kotter's model?
-To form a powerful guiding coalition, you need to assemble a group with a shared commitment and enough power to lead the change effort, encouraging them to work as a team outside the normal hierarchy.
What is the significance of creating a vision in the third step, and what are the potential pitfalls?
-Creating a vision directs the change effort and helps develop strategies for realizing the vision. Potential pitfalls include presenting a vision that is too complicated or vague, making it difficult to communicate and gain understanding and interest within a short time.
How should the vision be communicated according to the fourth step, and what should be avoided?
-The vision should be communicated using every possible channel, including emails, meetings, and presentations, with leaders exemplifying the vision through their actions. Avoid under-communicating the vision, as inconsistent actions by leadership can quickly undermine the effort.
What actions are necessary to empower others to act on the vision in the fifth step?
-Necessary actions include removing or altering systems or structures that undermine the vision, encouraging risk-taking and non-traditional ideas, and realigning incentives and performance appraisals to reflect the change vision.
Why are short-term wins important in the sixth step, and what are the risks of failing to achieve them?
-Short-term wins are important to maintain momentum and ensure the overall change initiative's success. Failing to achieve short-term wins can lead to a loss of support and enthusiasm for the change effort.
What should leaders do in the seventh step to consolidate improvements and produce more change?
-Leaders should use increased credibility from early wins to change systems, structures, and policies undermining the vision. They should also hire, promote, and develop dedicated employees who can help implement the vision and reinvigorate the change process with new projects and change agents.
How can new approaches be institutionalized according to the eighth step, and what pitfalls should be avoided?
-New approaches can be institutionalized by articulating connections between new behaviors and corporate success, showing how these behaviors improve performance, and promoting individuals who personify the new approach. Avoid failing to create new social norms and shared values consistent with the changes.
Outlines
📚 Kotter's 8-Step Change Management Model
The paragraph introduces John P. Kotter's renowned 8-stage process for managing major change, a framework that has been influential since its publication in the Harvard Business Review in 1995. Kotter, a retired Harvard Business School professor and co-founder of Kotter International, emphasizes the importance of this model in helping organizations adapt to a constantly evolving world. The model is divided into three phases: creating a climate for change, engaging employees in the process, and implementing and sustaining change. Each of the eight steps is crucial for a successful organizational transformation, with the first step focusing on establishing a sense of urgency by examining market conditions and convincing managers of the need for change. Pitfalls such as underestimating the difficulty of moving people out of their comfort zones and the paralysis of management by risks are highlighted as areas to avoid.
🗣️ Communicating and Empowering the Vision for Change
This paragraph delves into steps four and five of Kotter's model, which involve communicating the vision for change and empowering others to act on it. It stresses the necessity of using all available channels to disseminate the new vision and the importance of leaders exemplifying the desired behaviors. The paragraph also discusses the pitfalls of inadequate communication and inconsistent actions by leadership, which can undermine change efforts. Furthermore, it highlights the need to remove or alter systems that hinder the vision and to encourage risk-taking and innovative ideas, while also addressing the challenges of dealing with individuals resistant to change.
🏆 Achieving Short-Term Wins and Consolidating Improvements
The focus of this paragraph is on steps six and seven of Kotter's model, which are about planning for and creating short-term wins and consolidating those improvements to produce more change. It underlines the importance of defining and achieving visible performance improvements to maintain momentum and the risk associated with neglecting short-term performance. The paragraph also discusses the need to use early wins to change systems and policies that undermine the vision, as well as the challenge of reinvigorating the change process with new projects and agents to prevent regression and premature declarations of victory.
🛠️ Institutionalizing New Approaches and Addressing Criticisms
The final paragraph discusses step eight of Kotter's model, which is about institutionalizing new approaches by creating new social norms and shared values that align with the changes. It emphasizes the importance of promoting individuals who embody the new approach into leadership positions. The paragraph also provides an example of a high-pressure valve manufacturer applying Kotter's model to address market share loss and financial losses, detailing the steps taken from establishing urgency to changing customer collaboration approaches. Finally, it addresses criticisms of the model's rigidity and its applicability in various organizational contexts, acknowledging that while the model provides a logical path, it may not cover all scenarios and that change management can be complex and situation-dependent.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Change Management
💡John P. Kotter
💡Urgency
💡Guiding Coalition
💡Vision
💡Communication
💡Empowerment
💡Short-Term Wins
💡Consolidation
💡Institutionalization
💡Transformation
Highlights
John P. Kotter's 8-stage process for creating major change is a widely recognized model for change management.
Kotter is a retired Harvard Business School professor of leadership and co-founder of Kotter International.
His article on the 8-stage process was published in the Harvard Business Review in 1995, previewing his 1996 book 'Leading Change'.
The model is divided into three main phases, each covering specific steps for leading change in an organization.
Phase one focuses on creating a climate for change and a shared understanding of the difficult assignment ahead.
Phase two is about engaging employees in the process and enabling them to effect change.
Phase three involves implementing and sustaining change within the organization.
The first step is establishing a sense of urgency by examining market and competition for potential crises and opportunities.
Step two involves forming a powerful guiding coalition with shared commitment and power to lead change.
Creating a vision to direct the change effort is step three, with strategies for its realization.
Step four emphasizes communicating the vision and strategies through various channels and by example.
Step five is about empowering others to act on the vision by removing or altering systems that undermine it.
Step six involves planning for and creating short-term wins to ensure the success of the overall change initiative.
Step seven consolidates improvements and produces more change by changing systems and structures and hiring dedicated employees.
The final step, step eight, is institutionalizing new approaches by creating new social norms and shared values.
An example of applying Kotter's model is provided with a manufacturer of high-pressure valves facing market share loss.
Criticism of the model suggests it is rigid, with some arguing that changes can happen at different speeds within an organization.
The model's time frame, measured in years, may not accommodate rapidly changing circumstances.
Despite limitations, the model provides an overview of the logical path through a change process and conditions to consider.
Transcripts
John P cutters 8 stage process for
creating major change is one of the most
widely recognized models for change
management John piccata is a retired
Harvard Business School professor of
leadership Kotter is also a co-founder
of Kotter international based in Seattle
and Boston cutters article about the
eight stage process for leading change
was originally published in the spring
of 1995 in the Harvard Business Review
this article previewed Coty's 1996 book
leading change
professor kata has proven over his years
of research that following the eight
step process for leading change will
help organizations succeed in an
ever-changing world in general the model
consists of three main phases these
phases cover eight individual steps they
are sometimes also called stages in
phase one which covers the first three
steps it is about creating a climate for
change and getting a shared
understanding of the difficult
assignment which lies ahead of the
organization in Phase two which covers
the steps four through six it is about
engaging the employees in the process
and enabling the employees to affect
change in the organization in Phase
three which covers the last two steps of
the eight steps it is about implementing
and sustaining change in the
organization now we shall review each of
the eight steps individually we start at
the top of the model and then we go down
through the model one step at a time
each step is necessary when you want to
transform your organization to give your
transformation effort the best chance of
succeeding you have to take the right
actions at each stage
and avoid common pitfalls the first step
is establishing a sense of urgency
actions needed in this stage you have to
examine the market and competition for
potential crises and untapped
opportunities you have to convince at
least 75% of your managers that the
status quo is more dangerous than the
unknown pitfalls in this stage
executives sometimes underestimate how
hard it can be to drive people out of
their comfort zones management can also
become paralyzed by risks a
transformation of the organization
requires leadership from executives step
2 is forming a powerful guiding
coalition actions needed in this stage
you have to assemble a group with a
shared commitment and enough power to
lead the change effort you also have to
encourage them to work as a team outside
the normal hierarchy a major
transformation generally demands
activity outside of formal boundaries
expectations and protocol pitfalls in
this stage no prior experience in
teamwork at the top level of the
organization top management appoints
team leadership to a person without
enough power no matter how capable or
dedicated the members of the team are
groups without strong line leadership
never achieve the power that is required
to change the organization step 3 is
creating a vision actions needed in this
stage the team has to create a vision to
direct the change effort the team also
has to
velop strategies for the realization of
the vision pitfalls in this stage
presenting a vision that's too
complicated or too vague to be
communicated in five minutes if you
can't communicate the vision to someone
in five minutes or less and get a
reaction that signifies both
understanding and interest you are not
done step 4 is communicating the vision
actions needed in this stage use every
possible way to communicate the new
vision and strategies for achieving it
the vision will be referred to in emails
in meetings in presentations it will be
communicated anywhere and everywhere
teach new behaviors by example of the
guiding coalition if the focus of the
vision is on the environment the
management has to drive more
environmentally friendly cars executives
have to walk the talk professionally and
privately pitfalls in this stage the
guiding coalition is under communicating
the vision a single memo announcing the
transformation or even a series of
speeches by the CEO and the executive
team are never enough actions speak
louder than words
nothing undermines a communication
program more quickly than inconsistent
actions by leadership Step five is
empowering others to act on the vision
actions needed in this stage the guiding
coalition has to remove or alter systems
or structures undermining the vision an
organization that claims to want to be
customer focused finds its structures
fragment resources and responsibilities
for products and services they have to
change this to unleash people to do
their
best work the Coalition has to encourage
risk-taking and non-traditional ideas
activities and actions realigning
incentives and performance appraisals to
reflect the change vision can have a
profound effect on the ability to
accomplish the change vision pitfalls in
this stage failing to remove powerful
individuals who resist the change effort
they may not actively undermine the
effort but they are simply not wired to
go along with what the change requires
easy solutions to this problem don't
exist step 6 is planning for and
creating short-term wins actions needed
in this stage the guiding coalition must
define and engineer visible performance
improvements running a change effort
without attention to short-term
performance is extremely risky for
leaders in the middle of a long-term
change effort short-term wins are
essential getting these wins helps
ensure the overall change initiatives
success the leaders must recognize and
reward employees contributing to those
improvements pitfalls in this stage
failing to score successes early enough
management is leaving short-term
successes up to chance short-term wins
rarely simply happen
short-term successes are 12 to 24 months
into the change effort we are planning
for short-term wins not praying step 7
is consolidating improvements and
producing still more change actions
needed in this stage leaders must use in
increased credibility from early wins to
change systems structures and policies
undermining the vision they also have to
hire promote and develop dedicated
employees who can help them implement
the vision leaders also have to
reinvigorate the change process with new
projects and change agents pitfalls in
this stage while celebrating a win is
fine declaring the war one can be
catastrophic
until changes sink deeply into a
company's culture a process that can
take five to ten years new approaches
are fragile and subject to regression
ironically it is often a combination of
change initiators and change resistors
that creates the premature victory
celebration in their enthusiasm over a
clear sign of progress the initiators go
overboard allowing resistors to convince
troops that the war has been won the
useful changes that have been introduced
slowly disappear if nobody is pushing
the change forward step 8 is
institutionalizing new approaches
actions needed in this stage leaders
must articulate connections between new
behaviors and corporate success they
must show employees how the new
approaches behaviors and attitudes have
helped improve performance change sticks
when it becomes the way we do things
around here
pitfalls in this stage management is not
creating new social norms and shared
values consistent with changes and they
are promoting people into leadership
positions who don't personify the new
approach
now we shall review an example of the
use of the kata eight steps model with a
manufacturer of high pressure valves the
founder of the company who was an
ingenious engineer died a long time ago
today the company is a major player in
the industry and they are still living
by the mantra of the founder we deliver
solutions before the customer knows he
has a problem in recent years the
company has had problems the company has
lost market share and they have made
losses in the last two years the new CEO
wants to address the problem by using
Coty's eight steps to solve the problem
the new CEO has established a sense of
urgency his message is clear the
existence of the company is threatened
to back this message he also makes it
public in the Start magazine that the
company has lost an important customer
in step two the CEO forms a powerful
guiding coalition with himself as leader
he knows he has to assemble 20 to 50
important persons from the organization
with shared commitment and enough power
to lead the change effort he knows that
a major transformation generally demands
activity outside of formal boundaries
expectations and protocol therefore he
hires consultants from kata
international and invites a key customer
to participate in the coalition a market
survey shows that the company's brand
reputation is high but the products have
become too expensive and the products
contain too much indifferent
functionality in step 3 the guiding
coalition has to
creative vision that is relatively easy
to communicate and appeals to both the
internal and external stakeholders the
coalition wants to change the old mantra
into a vision centralized around the
customer the new vision is we invent
jointly with our lead customers the team
also has to develop strategies for the
realization of the vision in step four
the guiding coalition has to communicate
the vision to the employees of the
organization and external stakeholders
all the members of the coalition have to
communicate the same message anywhere
and everywhere the CEO and other
executives have to visit customers and
participate in fairs where customers
come instead of tech fairs they also
have to prioritize the marketing and
sales department executives have to walk
the talk externally as well as
internally in step 5 the coalition
encourages executives as well as
employees from different departments to
get in contact with customers the top
management changes the rules about
contacting and working together with
customers before it was only the key
Account Manager who had contact with the
customer now the rules are changed
employees from the logistics department
R&D department and other departments are
encouraged to contact their counterparty
in the organization of the customer the
company is shifting from key account
management butterfly leveraging to
diamond collaboration with the customer
the role of the key account manager is
totally changed management will have to
layoff those who resist the change
vision
step six the guiding coalition has to
announce some short-term wins the CEO
goes public with a new product developed
jointly with one of the lead customers
the product development phase only took
12 months which is twice as fast as
normal the materials of the new product
are recyclable and the production costs
are cut by 30% this is due to the fact
that all departments have optimized
together in partnership with the
customer the CEO publicly recognizes and
rewards the employees who have
contributed to the success with the
strategy of developing new products
together with the customer in step 7 the
guiding coalition must use the increased
credibility from the win in step 6 to
change other conditions undermining the
vision their next battle to win is to
integrate their value chain with lead
customers and share big data some
executives do not want this openness
with the customers they will try to
stall further developments in this
direction therefore the guiding
coalition has to reinvigorate the change
process again and again they have to win
a lot of battles before the war is won
in the eighth and last step leaders must
create new social norms and shared
values consistent with changes they have
to promote people into leadership
positions who personify the new approach
they must want to work together with
customers they have to see them as
allies the company has reached the
vision when leaders and employees do not
behave differently in terms of whether
it is a colleague or a partner from a
customer they are working together with
the war is one
now it is time for a new vision and a
new beginning at step 1 let us now
consider a criticism of the model it is
a rigid approach that you can only take
one step at a time some scholars argue
that you can have 8 different speeds in
an organization the vision is the same
but the changes happen at different
speeds in different parts of the
organization some steps are not relevant
in some contexts a simple example is the
replacement of major software used to
process operations or the change of
equipment on a manufacturing line in
these cases the changes are often
irreversible and so step 7 and 8 might
not be relevant dealing with
difficulties during change management
planning changes according to Coty's
framework should limit those obstacles
but the model is not detailed enough to
provide help in all scenarios Coty's
time frame is measured in years
short-term wins are within 12 to 24
months the circumstances may have
changed radically
before all eight steps have been
completed the model gives you an
overview of the different steps in a
change process in an organization and
that there is a logical path through a
change process the model shows you what
conditions to consider during a change
process
you
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