In Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail (HBR OnPoint 2000), John Kotter identifies and discusses eight “pitfalls” to avoid when embarked upon organizational transformation. Here they are, accompanied by my brief comments:

1. Not establishing a great enough sense of urgency
Comment: People will wonder, “What’s in it for me?” If you don’t have a credible answer, forget about creating a sense of urgency.

2. Not creating a powerful enough guiding coalition
Comment: Senior-level executives need to embrace change and convey a strong sense of genuine excitement about how it will nourish personal as well as organizational renewal.

3. Lacking a vision
Comment: Identifying the “what” of change is relatively easy. Failure is certain unless and until people understand the “why.” (See #1.)

4. Undercommunicating the vision by a factor of ten
Comment: People must “get” the vision or there will be no buy-in. Try explaining it to a child. If they “get it,” you’re in business. Otherwise….

5. Not removing obstacles to the new vision
Comment: Most resistance to change is cultural in nature, the result of what Jim O’Toole characterizes as “the ideology of comfort and the tyranny of custom.” Remember: Those who defend the current status quo were probably among those who replaced the previous status quo.

6. Not systematically planning for and creating short-term wins
Comment: The LEGO Group was transformed “one brick at a time.” Never underestimate the importance of grabbing all the “low-hanging fruit.”

7. Declaring victory too soon
Comment: Success is a process not a destination. Take no one and nothing for granted. More often than not, “progress” is a subjective measurement and usually exaggerated.

8. Not anchoring changes in the corporation’s culture
Comment: In the healthiest organizations, people use first-person plural pronouns. If the folks you work with don’t, that’s a very significant early-warning sign, if not a symptom, of organizational decay.