Dr. John Kotter’s 8 Steps for Leading Change

Drawing upon the April 26th class discussion, I was a bit intrigued to investigate Dr. John Kotter’s 8 Steps for Leading Change. The following 8 Steps within Kotter’s theorized process, includes the following key tasks (identified in order of completion):

I. Acting With, or Creating, Urgency
II. Form a Powerful Coalition
III. Develop and/or Create a Vision for Change
IV. Communicate the Vision
V. Remove Obstacles to Empower Broad-based Actions
VI. Generate Short-Term Wins
VII. Build on Changes and Gain Momentum
VIII. Anchor the Changes in Corporate Culture

Derived from Dr. John Kotter’s website, http://www.kotterinternational.com/kotterprinciples.

With over 30-years of research and trial & error efforts to his name, Dr. Kotter has proved that nearly 70% of major changes within organizations FAIL. It is Kotter’s belief, with a high certainty of success that organizations who do not adapt to change will not prosper. Since technology and employee-bases are ever-changing variables, Kotter recommends that executive management teams implement a holistic approach to improve change. Without embracing the holistic approach, the team will identify the lack thereof of change, and management could be taking a one-way ride on a rollercoaster that has already been embarked upon. Remember, the end goal is to Lead Change and eventually Anchor the Changes into the existing framework of corporate culture. Resistance to acknowledge change is only a temporary band-aid to the problem which could ultimately pose negative results.