Kotters 8 Steps Leading Change

Phase 1 (steps 1-3) - It is about creating a climate for change and getting the shared
understanding of the difficulty of an assignment.
Step 1 - Establishing a sense of urgency
Actions needed – convince 75% managers that the status quo is more
dangerous than the unknown (change). Find the “Why” for a change;
Pitfalls – executives can be paralyzed for a change.
Step 2 – Forming a coalition
Actions needed – assemble a group with a shared commitment, convince to
work as a group outside of the normal hierarchy. Find “change champions”;
Pitfalls – No experience of teamwork at the top of leadership.
Step 3 – Creating a vision
Actions needed – create vision and develop a strategy for realization of the
vision. Vision has to be short, understandable, emotional, creative and
relevant to the people;
Pitfalls – vision has to be communicated in 5 minutes, no complexity, simple
and clear.
Phase 2 (steps 4-6) - It is about engaging employees in the process and enabling the
employees to affect change in the organization.
Step 4 – Communicating the vision
Actions needed – vision has to be communicating anywhere and everywhere.
Teach by example, “walk the talk”;
Pitfalls – vision can and will be under-communicated, actions can be
inconsistent.
Step 5 – Empowering others to act on the vision
Actions needed – change structures and implement new incentives, remove
obstacles. Collect feedback from employees and assess what is working well
and what needs to be improved;
Pitfalls – failure to remove powerful individuals, who resist the change.
Step 6 – Planning and creating short-term wins
Actions needed – define visible performance improvements, notice small
wins and communicate them, reward people. Chop the project into small
peaces;
Pitfalls – planning short term wins not praying.
Phase 3 (steps 7-8) - Implementing and sustaining change in the organization.
Step 7 – Consolidating improvements and producing more change
Actions needed – use credibility to change systems, hire dedicated
employees to help envision the change. Repeat the steps for them to be
embedded into organization;
Pitfalls – declaring the victory too soon.
Step 8 – Institutionalizing new approaches, “anchor the change”.
Actions needed – leaders must show employees how new approaches help
to improve performance. Make sure that change sticks;
Pitfalls – management is not creating new norms and shared values.
Model Critisism:

1. Model has a rigid approach that can be done only one step at a time;
2. Some steps are not relevant in some contexts;
3. Dealing with difficulties, there is not much information about what to do in case
when problems arise;
4. Kotter’s timeframe for a change is measured in years. Short term wins are 12-24
months long.

Reference:
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QWiMkXyTP4
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qlJ_Y8w5Yk