Leading Change

by John P. Kotter

Creating an effective vision • First draft: The process often starts with an initial statement from a single individual, reflecting both his or her dreams and real marketplace needs. • Role of the guiding coalition: The first draft is always modeled over time by the guiding coalition or an even larger group of people. • Importance of teamwork: The group process never works well without a minimum of effective teamwork. • Role of the head and the heart: Both analytical thinking and a lot of dreaming are essential throughout the activity. • Messiness of the process: Vision creation is usually a process of two steps forward and one back, movement to the left and then to the right. • Time frame: Vision is never created in a single meeting. The activity takes months, sometimes years. • End product: The process results in a direction for the future that is desirable, feasible, focused, flexible, and is conveyable in five minutes or less.