Leading Change

by John P. Kotter

Eighth, complacency was supported by the very human tendency to deny that which we do not want to hear. Life

Ninth, those who were relatively unaffected by complacency sources 1–8 and thus concerned about the firm’s future were often lulled back into a false sense of security by senior management’s “happy talk.”

Past success provides too many resources, reduces our sense of urgency, and encourages us to turn inward.

A good rule of thumb in a major change effort is: Never underestimate the magnitude of the forces that reinforce complacency and that help maintain the status quo.

Increasing urgency demands that you remove sources of complacency or minimize their impact: for instance, eliminating such signs of excess as a big corporate air force; setting higher standards both formally in the planning process and informally in day-to-day interaction; changing internal measurement systems that focus on the wrong indexes; vastly increasing the amount of external performance feedback everyone gets; rewarding both honest talk in meetings and people who are willing to confront problems;

Creating a strong sense of urgency usually demands bold or even risky actions that we normally associate with good leadership.

Visible crises can be enormously helpful in catching people’s attention and pushing up urgency levels.

When people realize this fact, they often think they have only one alternative: Sit back and wait for someone at the top to start providing strong leadership. So they do nothing, and in the process strengthen the very forces of inertia that so infuriate them.

Vision refers to a picture of the future with some implicit or explicit commentary on why people should strive to create that future. In

Characteristics of an effective vision • Imaginable: Conveys a picture of what the future will look like • Desirable: Appeals to the long-term interests of employees, customers, stockholders, and others who have a stake in the enterprise • Feasible: Comprises realistic, attainable goals • Focused: Is clear enough to provide guidance in decision making • Flexible: Is general enough to allow individual initiative and alternative responses in light of changing conditions • Communicable: Is easy to communicate; can be successfully explained within five minutes

Vision is usually communicated most effectively when many different vehicles are used: large group meetings, memos, newspapers, posters, informal one-on-one talks.

Walk the Talk, or Lead by Example

Words are cheap, but action is not. The cynical among us, in particular, tend not to believe words but will be impressed by action. In a similar vein, telling people one thing and

In short: Nothing undermines the communication of a change vision more than behavior on the part of key players that seems inconsistent with the vision. The implications are powerful: (1) Trying to sell a vision before top management can embody it is tough; and (2) even under the best of circumstances, carefully monitoring senior management behavior is a good idea so that you can identify and address inconsistencies between words and deeds.

Explicitly Address Seeming Inconsistencies

Listen and Be Listened To

If people don’t accept a vision, the next two steps in the transformation process—empowering individuals for broad-based action and creating short-term wins—will fail.