The Eight Stage Process of Creating Major Change

Leading Change by John P. Kotter

1. 1. Establishing a Sense of Urgency
      • Examining the market and competitive realities
      • Identifying and discussing crises, potential crises, or major opportunities
   2. Creating the Guiding Coalition
      • Putting together a group with enough power to lead the change
      • Getting the group to work together like a team
   3. Developing a Vision and Strategy
      • Creating a vision to help direct the change effort
      • Developing strategies for achieving that vision
   4. Communicating the Change Vision
      • Using every vehicle possible to constantly communicate the new vision and strategies
      • Having the guiding coalition role model the behavior expected of employees
   5. Empowering Broad-Based Action
      • Getting rid of obstacles
      • Changing systems or structure that undermine the change vision
      • Encouraging risk taking and non-traditional ideas, activities and actions
   6. Creating Short-Term Wins
      • Planning for visible improvements in performance, or “wins”
      • Creating those wins
      • Visibly recognizing and rewarding people who make the wins possible
   7. Consolidating Gains and Producing More Change
      • Using increased credibility to change all systems, structure, and policies that don’t fit together and don’t fit the transformation vision
      • Hiring, promoting, and developing people who can implement the change vision
      • Reinvigorating the process with new projects, themes, and change agents
   8. Anchoring New Approaches in the Culture
      • Creating better performance through customer- and productivity-oriented behavior, more and better leadership, and more effective management
      • Developing the means to ensure leadership development and succession