Leading Change by John P. Kotter. Harvard Business School Press
(http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b02/en/books/books_home.jhtml), 300 North Beacon
Street, Watertown, Massachusetts 02472, 1996, 208 pages, $26.95 (hardcover).
Nothing endures except change—the only constant. Clearly, only in effective
transformation does one find tangible security and the realization that those
who fail to improvise face an unenviable future. In Leading Change, Prof. John
Kotter, whom this reviewer interviewed at the Harvard Business School, has
written a most thorough, insightful, and provocative process assessment for
effecting organizational renewal. This superb, timely, and practical book is a
must-read for anyone in a leadership position who is engaged in transformation
and development of reengineered organizations for the twenty-first century.
Quite simply, Leading Change is the best book on this subject published to date.
This intensive, well-written volume provides an excellent synthesis for leading
and managing an acceleration process to bring about change. Dr. Kotter presents
a model designed to drive change from small increments to dramatic shifts and
thus adjust organizational systems and structures to better meet mission
requirements. Part 1 of Leading Change’s three parts addresses the change problem and its
solution. Part 2, the heart of the book, considers the author’s eight-stage
process for dynamic and positive change. Part 3 discusses the implications of
change for the twenty-first century.Part 1 includes Dr. Kotter’s analysis of why transforming organizations fail.
He identifies leadership as the engine that drives redirection, maintaining that
a purely managerial mind-set will inevitably fail to produce constructive
revisions, regardless of the quality of people involved. Some key consequences
of failure in transformational-change efforts, primarily based on a lack of
leadership, include the following: reengineering takes too long and costs too
much, promised programs do not deliver hoped-for results, and new strategies are
not implemented well. However, these failures are not inevitable. With a
heightened sense of awareness of the need for change and the application of
relevant leadership competencies, one can avoid these failures or at least
greatly reduce them. The key to preventing failure resides in acquiring a deeper
and first-rate understanding of why organizations resist change, having a
compellingly dedicated champion who sponsors change, and making sure that the
practices to complement and reinforce change are comprehensive and based on a
process model such as that contained in part 2 of Dr. Kotter’s book.In part 2, the author outlines an exceptionally workable and relevant
eight-stage process for creating redirection. He argues that successful
transformations will not happen easily and that one must create a detailed road
map which guides the way. His powerful process for creating major reform makes a
unique contribution to better understanding renovation leadership. It includes
the following steps:
1. Establishing a Sense of Urgency. Examining current realities and identifying
crises, potential crises, or major opportunities for improvement.
2. Creating the Guiding Coalition. Putting together a group with enough
influence to lead the change and getting the group to work together as a team.
3. Developing a Vision. Creating a vision to help direct the change effort and
formulating strategies for achieving that vision.
4. Communicating the Change Vision. Constantly communicating the new vision,
strategies, and behavior expected within the organization.
5. Empowering Broad-Based Action. Getting rid of obstacles that prevent change,
reshaping systems or structures that undermine the change vision, and
encouraging risk taking and nontraditional ideas, activities, and actions.
6. Generating Short-Term Wins. Planning for visible improvements in performance
as well as recognizing and rewarding people who made the wins possible.
7. Consolidating Gains and Producing More Change. Using increased credibility to
change all systems, structures, and policies that do not fit together and do not
meet the transformation vision. Recognizing people who can implement the change
vision and reinvigorate the entire process.
8. Anchoring New Approaches in the Culture. Encouraging more and better
leadership as well as more effective management. Articulating the connection
between new behaviors and organizational success and ensuring the succession of
continued leadership development.After considering the organization of the future, leadership, and lifelong
learning, the author contends in part 3 that the twenty-first-century
organization will become less bureaucratic, contain more effective customer data
systems, and be more risk tolerant as well as more open and candid. He
emphasizes the importance of lifelong learning and enhanced leadership skills to
success in the future.In summary, given the inevitability of change, we must embrace it if we wish
to successfully meet the challenges of the present and the future. In Leading
Change, Dr. Kotter provides us with a detailed road map that highlights
potential dangers and offers solid advice to all leaders and managers trying to
orchestrate effective change throughout their organizations—the principal theme
of this book.
Dr. Richard I. Lester
Maxwell AFB, Alabama
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