Kotter 8-Stage Change Management Process for Knowledge Management

Establish a Sense of Urgency

Create a Guiding Coalition
Develop a Vision and Strategy
Communicate the Change Vision
Empower Action
Generate Short-Term Wins
Consolidate Gains and Produce More Change
Anchor New Approaches in the Culture

1. Establish a Sense of Urgency

Source: Richard Adler, DecisionPath
Kotter: examine situational realities; identify crises & opportunities

• Crises
o Extreme budgetary pressures for foreseeable future to do more
with less money
 Unprecedented drain on Treasury from economic crisis
=> urgent needs to cut expenditures and to reduce
deficits will stress all agency budgets
 Demonstrate effective management of stimulus funding
surge…. or else…!
o Drain on institutional memory in agencies due to generational
retirements
 Not just losing facts & procedures, but perspective,
context & lessons learned
 Current methods such as exit interviews are woefully
inadequate
o Information sharing – homeland security: preventing attacks,
improving preparedness
• Opportunities
o Not feasible to address problems on ad hoc, agency-specific
basis
o Productivity, Knowledge Retention, Innovation, Error
reduction/avoidance
 Minimize inefficiencies for “reinventing the wheel” both
intra- and inter-agency
 Minimize time/cost of search (for relevant expertise &
solutions)
 • Frame business case for Federal-scale adoption of KM Center of
Excellence
o Economics of centralized repository & skill set, product &
process reviews, COP
o KM ROI: success stories (anecdotal) & quantifiable cost-
benefits

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2. Create a Guiding Coalition

Source: Art Schlussel, Independent Consultant

The group has to have the capability, in membership and method of

operating, to guide a very difficult change process – creating a
culture of sharing
Find the right people
The head of the Department must be involved,
engaged, and committed to the change
The group must consist of people who show
enthusiasm and commitment to the process
The group’s membership must have strong
position power, broad expertise and diversity,
and high credibility within their circle of
influence
The group must consist of proven leaders who can
drive the change, tout the vision, and empower
others, and good managers who can develop
plans and control the processes
The group’s membership must be devoid of large
egos, those who gossip and create mistrust, and
those who are reluctant players
Create trust a and work well together

Developing trust causes barriers to come down,

meaningful and honest discussion to take place,
and positive momentum to flow
 Meetings should be formatted to minimize
frustration, and events planned that encourage
bonding, sharing, and mutual understanding
Develop a Common Goal
Only when all the members of the group want to
achieve the same objective does real teamwork
become feasible
That objective should be anchored in a
commitment to excellence and a real desire to
change

A group with these characteristics will have the capacity and potential
to do the hard work involved in creating and communicating the
vision, empowering a broad base of people to take action, ensure
credibility, build short-term wins, lead multiple change projects, and
anchor new approaches in the organization’s culture

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3. Develop a Vision and Strategy

Source: Richard Detsch

25 Feb 09

General Vision Requirements:

1. Clear, sensible, sound
2. compelling, rallies the team
3. O.K. to be a bit blurry at first
4. Elicit reaction of understanding and interest in < 5-minutes
5. Makes team willing to sacrifice for success by
6. Including new growth possibilities
7. Makes team unhappy with status quo
8. Easy to tell if behavior is consistent with vision
a. rewards
b. short term wins
9. Easy to communicate, understand by regular people
Vision is not:
1. Mind-numbing detail
 2. Confusing
3. A plan or program
Misc:
1. Dare to dream
2. Reflects what is most important
3. Reflects our values

_____________________________________________________________
______
Sample Vision Statements:
“Five years from now, Tiny Tots Diaper Service will be the top
grossing diaper service in the Lower Mainland by consistently
providing a reliable, affordable service for Moms and Dads with small
children.”

"No child in our city will go hungry to bed in the evening." (Soup
kitchen)

Bill Gates - There will be a personal computer on every desk running

Microsoft software

Draft Vision
_______________________________________________________
____________
For Federal Decision Makers For all Federal Knowledge Workers
BACKGROUND: The federal BACKGROUND: Everyday federal
government is facing an workers are called on to solve
unprecedented time of comp tough, complex, time-critical
lexity. Your staff needs re ady problems. They must process vast
access t o, and analysis of, amounts of information and apply
reams of data. They need the innovative methods. They don’t
tools to quickly process this data, have time to reinvent the wheel.
to collaborate and innovate within
dynamically formed teams, and to
be empowered to rapidly act as
needed.
DRAFT VISION:

Every federal worker will have the information &

collaboration tools needed to solve the complex
problems facing the Nation in this time of exponential
change. We will team. We will share. We will reinvent
government.

Obama Drivers http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/

1. Change way Wash does business

2. Need to make tough choices
3. Sophisticated financial eng pt of prob. But market oversight down
4. Gov play maj role in solution, e.g. G.I. Bill
5. Eroding trust and accountability
6. ? expand to stimulus programs, e.g. health care records
7. Reform DoD acquisition
8. < /STRONG>

Make gov more effective

9. CTO Chief Tech Officer

10.Measure gov performance
11.Competative with China

WHAT'S NEX T (as of 2 Mar 09 - Detsch):

1. Rectify this Kotter vision with Federal KM Initiative Vision by Neil
Olonoff at http://wiki.nasa.gov/cm/wiki/?id=6414
2. Develop Strategy part of Kotter's "Vision and Strategy"

Back To Top 4. Communicate the Change Vision (a work in progress)

Source: Mike Novak

Kotter's fourth stage, "Communicating the Change Vision," entails two basic
activities, namely, using every vehicle possible to constantly communicate
the new vision and strategies; and having the guiding coalition role model
the behavior expected of employees. These are not sequential steps; rather,
they are accomplished simultaneously.

Organizational leaders and the guiding coalition must talk the talk and
walk the walk at every opportunity. If they only talk about the change,
but do not follow up with behaviors that reflect the talk, then the rest
of the organization will realize that the organization's leaders and the
guiding coalition are not serious or sincere about wanting the change
to come about.

Assuming they are serious and sincere, what can/should the leaders
and guiding coalition do?

First, they articulate the change vision -- clearly and concisely -- in a form
and format that can be understood by all. It must be free of jargon and
acronyms and abbreviations. In a multi-lingual or multicultural
organizaiton, it must be free of words that could be misunderstood or
misinterpreted, or that could be construed as offensive or exclusionary.
This includes nonverbal communications such as the use of hand gestures
while speaking or in graphics. The change vision must be made accessible
to all; resonable accommodation must be afforded to individuals with
disabilities. In a government environment, we must be particularly careful
to avoid using words like "citizens" and "Americans" when addressing or
referring to our audiences, customers, and stakeholders.

Leaders need to synopsize the change vision -- one line, no more than ten
words -- so that it will be easy for all to remember. (No $2.00 words! Keep
it short and simple!)
The vision should, in our case, be posted in plain view on the wiki. The
synopsized version should be everywhere: on the wiki, in every listserv
message, on all KM Initiative communications.

Leaders and the guiding coalition should write articles and white papers that
mention the change vision; they should deliver presentations at conferences,
meetings, education sessions, and at every public forum where the
opportunity presents itself. The leaders of the organizaiton can also issue
press releases that publicize the organization's change vision to the external
world.

At the risk of being "kitrchy," the vision can be communicated by putting it

on pins/buttons, coffee mugs, pens/ pencils, stationery, memo pads, sticky
notes, and other organizational gew-gaws.

At every opportunity, state the vision and ask, “Are we there yet?” If
not, ask, “When?” If so, revisit the Vision, because it needs to be revised.

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< /A>5. Empower Action

Source: Maureen Hammer

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6. Generate Short-Term Wins

Source: Anthony Watkins, Bridgeborn

• Why Generate Short Term Wins?

 o Federal KM adoption will not be defined by an on/off switch.
We must break up activities into smaller more manageable
pieces to demonstrate effectiveness, secure increased and
continued support, and grow the segment of Federal
Government that implements KM initiatives until we ultimately
build enough of a case to secure mandates in Federal
Government doctrine.
o Establish feeling of progress among employees, leadership, and
KM teams (people in KM team and on listserv are drivers of
effort and need to see ROI for their personal time)
o Opportunity to Reward standout employees and organizations
that are exemplars in the KM effort. Rewards establish
importance to initiative.
o Opportunity to Communicate effective methods. Methods may
be adopted by other organizations within the Federal
Government. Federal employees will begin to recognize
importance of KM to their jobs.
• List of activities related to Generating Short Term Wins that will help
achieve cultural change towards adoption and use of KM
o Planning
 KM Spotlight: Don't start from scratch. Many good KM
implementations are occurring right now with results.
Action: Identify KM initiatives that are people focused
and not technology oriented for case studies (the Web 2.0
team will focus on those projects). Example: Pause and
Learn (PaL) process developed by Dr. Edward Rogers,
the Chief Knowledge Officer of NASA’s Goddard Space
Flight Center.
 For existing KM programs as well as KM concepts,
create a directory containing program name, description,
goals/outcomes, length of time to implement, required
resources, and POC information. This information will
serve as a guide to leaders interested in implementing
KM in their organization and let them to quickly hone in
on the efforts that are most aligned with their goals and
fit within their established timeframe.
 Identify people and organizations that are open to
piloting KM programs. We can provide them with
informatio n gathered in the fi rst two steps to quickly
 give them a range of viable options (of course they are
not limited to this list).
o Implementation
 Ensure the goal of the effort is focused on the people in
your organization and changing the way they work as
opposed to successful installation of a system. Likewise,
establish metrics that are based on changes in the culture
and behavior of the employees.
 Establish recognition/reward system that provides
immediate feedback to employees when they are
instrumental in KM effort.
 Constantly solicit employee feedback and participation.
o Communication
 I dentify communication mediums best to spr ead the
message of success before project even begins (listserv,
web, DKO, blog, word of mouth, print, etc).
 Communication occurs before, during, and after the KM
practice implemented. Several opportunities will be
missed if you just wait until the end to talk about efforts.
 Publicizing efforts beforehand:
 Gives workforce a heads up from leadership
that effort is about to begin and is of
importance.
 Effort may have been tried in another
segment of Federal Government, so it allows
others to contact you with advice and pitfalls
to avoid prior to investing your resources.
 Establishes a Community of Interest that
will want to be kept apprised of your
progress before they attempt similar efforts.
 Communication during:
 Lets your employees know you are tracking
their progress and whether they are falling
below, meeting or exceeding expectations.
 Allows you to keep your COI engaged with
your effort by communicating your
challenges and successes.
 Communicating After:
 Allows you to publicize a comprehensive set
of steps to implementation, lessons learned,
 and overall outcome of effort. This
inititative can be used as a case study for
presenting KM's case within the Federal
Government and be added to the directory
mentioned in the planning phase.
 Provides your organization a sense of ac
complishment and further denotes the
importance of KM as part of their daily task
• As a closing note, I listened to a webinar this week given in part by
Randy Adkins, Director of the Air Force Center of Excellence for
Knowledge Management. He ended his presentation with a lessons
learned from implementing KM practices within the Air Force. I
thought many of the items dovetailed nicely with Generating Short
Term Wins and Change Management in General:
o Start Small, Think Big
o Adapt Your Approach to the Culture
o Provide a Strong Support Structure
o Work with the Willing
o Keep Stakeholders on Board

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7. Consolidate Gains and Produce More Change

(another work in progress)

Source: Mike Novak

Kotter's seventh stage, "Consolidate Gainas and Produce More Change,"

focuses on the role of early success as an enabler of future success. Here,
Kotter looks at three aspects of the task (again, not sequential steps, but
things that should happen concurrently): (1) using increased credibility to
change all systems, structures, and policies that don't fit together and don't
fit the transformation vision; (2) hiring, promoting, and developing people
who can implement the change vision; and (3) reinvigorating the process
with new projects, themes, and change agents.
 A number of things can be done to accomplish this. When the change
initiative achieves a success -- no matter how large or small -- it should be
publicized. Write an article or press release about it. Talk about it at staff
meetings, professional society meetings, conferences, social gatherings ("Let
me tell you what hapepned at work today!"). Craft a short story or even a
novel around the success. (Goldratt's "The Goal" and Denning's "Squrrel,
Inc." come immediately to mind.) Make a movie, even!

Share the success widely in best practices data bases; bring them to life in
peer assists and mentoring. Do the same with not-so-successful events:
share them widely via lessons learned (a.k.a. "worst practices") data bases,
peer assists, mentoring, and coaching.

Incorporate the success stories into training: Include in training materials,

curricula, and (again) coaching and mentoring.

Integrate the change with HR systems: Seek, engage, and recruit employees
who embody the change or
who can facilitate the change. Hire them. But don't stop there. Integrate
them into the mainstream of the
organization -- and keep them there. (This is called "onboarding.").

Meanwhile, ensure your managers leverage your organization's HR

processes to develop retain,
recognize, reward, and promote employees who embody the change or who
can facilitate the change

And what about those employees who do not embody the change or who can
facilitate the change?

Continuously ask of the old ways of doing things, “Is it consistent with the
change?” If so, keep it and

tweak it. If not, reengineer it to make it support the change inititative.

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8. Anchor New Approaches in the Culture

Establish senior executive Chief Knowledge Officer po sitions.

• Executive leadership is required to promote the vision

and champion the cause

Institute new forms of management and leadership.

• Eliminate traditional forms of management that are no

longer applicable (e.g., dysfunctional bureaucracy, command and
control, management by fear)

• Hire and promote individuals capable of effectively b

alancing management and leadership competencies

• Instills trust (openness, integrity, consistency,

competency, fairness)

• Empowers workers

Establish specific knowledge and learning strategies, goals and objectives

tied to organizational missions.

Hire and promote individuals that embody KM and are skilled in knowledge
management practices.
 • Include a dynamic and diverse mix that includes
different KM schools of thought and practice.

• Avoid staffing the will result in group think

Invest in organizational knowledge and learning.

• Establish budgets and plans to allocate resources

• Establish succession plans

• Establish a formal Federal Government KM training

program/learning institution along the lines of OPM’s
Management Training Center, USDA’s Graduate School and
Defense Acquisition University –this will bring more awareness
and credibility to KM as a discipline

Establish performance measurements and reward systems that incorporate

metrics linked to organizational strategies and specific outcomes.

• Allow for monetary, time off and peer-based awards

when outcomes meet desired goals and objectives.

Employ Peter Senge’s five disciplines, which are arts and practices of
learning organizations.

• Systems thinking/approaches –Agencies must work

together, and with stakeholders and the public to yield results
greater than working separately.

• Teamwork, partnering, relationship building

• Existing and proposed business models and strat egies

must be critically analyzed and changed as required
 • Reject complacency and continuously seek to improve
business processes, organizational knowledge and learning
capabilities. Learn from failures and build on success.

Sponsor communities of practice

• COPs are broad based and include those internal and

external to the agency

Remove barriers that hinder knowledge, information sharing, creativity and

innovation.

• Includes people, processes and structures

• Establish organizational structures, processes and

information technologies that facilitate relationships, networking,
knowledge and information sharing.

• Flatten excessive bureaucracy and use matrix and hybrid

structures that may include individuals working across agencies
and business lines via intra and inter agency agreements, details,
etc.