Most change initiatives fail or at least fall far short of original expectations and reasons vary from one debacle to the next. John Kotter has identified what he believes are the eight most common mistakes that are made and what he doesn’t know about the subject really isn’t worth knowing.
As is frequently the case with prominent business thinkers, Kotter wrote an article published by Harvard Business Review (“Leading Change,” March 1995) that was later developed into a book, Leading Change, published by Harvard Business Press in 1996.
“The most general lesson to be learned from the more successful cases is that the change process goes through a series of phases that, in total, usually require a considerable length of time. Skipping steps creates only the illusion of speed and never produces a satisfying result. A second very general lesson is that critical mistakes in any of the phases can have a devastating impact, slowing momentum and negating hard-won games. Perhaps because we have relatively little experience in renewing organizations, even very capable people make at least one big error.”
That “one big error” is almost certainly one of these:
1. Not establishing a great enough sense of urgency
Comment: Rather, anchor rational arguments within an emotional context by appealing to self-interests.
2. Not creating a powerful enough guiding coalition
Comment: Weak leaders attract weak followers and strong opponents.
3. Lacking a vision
Comment: Without a compelling vision, why bother?
4. Undercommunicating the vision by a factor of ten
Comment: Communicate! Communicate! Communicate!
5. Not removing obstacles to the new vision
Comment: And eremove them well in advance of the project launch.
6. Not systematically planning for, and creating, short-term wins
Comment: Pick “low-hanging fruit” to generate momentum, increase morale, and attract support.
7. Declaring victory too soon.
Comment: As a recent U.S. President declared, “Mission Accomplished!”
8. Not anchoring changes in the corporate culture
Comment: Changes must become the new status quo.
Kotter concludes, “There are still more mistakes that people make, but these eight are the big ones. I realize that in a shirt article everything is made to sound a bit too simplistic. In reality, even successful change efforts are messy and full of surprises. But just as a relatively simple vision is needed to guide people through a major change, so a vision of the change process can reduce the error rate. And fewer errors can spell the difference between success and failure.”