KOTT

ER’S 8

-STE

P CHANGE

MODEL

Sandra Nassif

Natalie Wilson

Phong Doan

This is a product of the Information Systems Department at the

Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston

Authors

• John Kotter is a professor at Harvard Business School and a world-renowned change expert who has spent 30 years researching leadership.

• He introduced his eight-step change process in his 1995 book, “Leading Change.”

Kotter’s Model Importance

1. Create Urgency

2. Pull together the guiding team

3. Create a change vision and strategy

4. Communicate the Vision

5. Remove Obstacles

6. Create Short-term Wins

7. Build on the Change

8. Anchor the Changes in Corporate Culture

8 Steps to Success

- Examine market and competitive realities

1. Create Urgency

- Identify and discuss crises, potential crises or major opportunities

- Everyone want change in order for it to successfully be implemented

- Develop a sense of urgency will let everyone know how important this change is

Encourage the group to work as a team

2. Pull together the guiding teamAssemble a group with enough power to

lead the change effort

Get strong leaders to managing change

- A good leader is crucial to link and correlate the concepts to a unique vision that people can grasp and remember.

- After a vision is formulated, strategically form a guide line to implement the vision.

- In creating a vision, a leader should understand and determine the values that are central to the change.

3. Create a Change Vision And Strategy

- A leader should communicate the vision thoroughly to spark motivation and keep consistency in the changes.

- Applying the vision exhaustingly emphasizes the vision. “walk the talk.” What you do is far more important and believable than what you say.

- Use every communication and opportunity as an avenue to express this vision and simultaneously probe and be open about any concerns that the people have.

4. Communicate the Vision

- Continually analyze and implement a structure for change. Get people involved so they are involve in the issue. This creates power and effectiveness and also helps identify obstacles.

- Creating change leaders whose main goals are to deliver change. Also recognize and reward people whom are making the effort to make the change happen.

- Empowerment connects people with the issue making them more effective and powerful.

5. Remove Obstacles

-Plan for visible performance improvements

-Create those improvements

-Recognize and reward employees involved in the improvements

6. Generating Short-term wins

- Hire, promote, and develop employees who can implement the vision

7. Never Letting Up 

- A leader of a project should never let up before the job is done because critical momentum can be lost and so with regression.

- The consequences of letting up can be very dangerous.

- Reinvigorate the process with new projects, themes, and change agents

Articulate the connections between the new behaviors and organizational success

Develop the means to ensure leadership development and

succession

8. Incorporating Changes into the Culture 

Roots are the most important aspect of a project to remain firmly

planted in the culture

Culture is composed of norms of behavior and shared values.