John P. Kotter’s best-selling book Leading Change identifies eight elements common to most successfully executed transformations:
- Establish a Sense of Urgency. Some internal or external stimuli, either recently introduced or predicted to occur soon, create a threatening change in the operational environment.
- Create a Guiding Coalition. The leadership must identify, convert, and align those individuals who can marshal the resources necessary to effect the transformation.
- Develop a Vision and Strategy. A unifying and easily understood vision has the power to direct, align, and inspire the actions of every member of the organization.
- Communicate the Change Vision. An immediate, unified, and relentlessly repeated communication of the leadership’s vision to all members of the organization and its external stakeholders demonstrates the magnitude of the importance placed on the proposed transformation.
- Empower People for Broad-Based Action. Empowering people to overcome obstacles to change plays an important role in maintaining morale.
- Generate Short-Term Wins. A few “first downs” engineered along the way to the ultimate goal line play an important part in maintaining momentum.
- Consolidate Gains and Produce More Change. Leadership must recognize intermediate victories, remind the organization of its ultimate goal, and press forward.
- Anchor New Approaches in the Culture. One must inculcate the new behaviors necessary for success in the new operating environment into the social norms and shared values of the transformed organization’s members.1
