Robert Cullen 
            Leading Change: Why 
         Transformation Effort Fail 
                       John P. Kotter 
                                    
       Change is tough. People resist it for many reasons. It takes time and effort to get 
       transformational change take root. And it must be done carefully, sensitively, paying 
       attention to both reality and perceptions. In Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts 
       Fail, John P. Kotter explains a number of critical errors we make in our organizational 
       renewal efforts and how to turn that insight into eight steps for transforming the 
       organization.  
       The errors we make 
       "The most general lesson to be learned from the more successful cases is that the change 
       process goes through a series of phases that, in total, usually require a considerable length 
       of time”, says Kotter. “Skipping steps creates only the illusion of speed and never produces 
       a satisfying result. A second very general lesson is that critical mistakes in any of the phases 
       can have a devastating impact, slowing momentum and negating hard-won gains. Perhaps 
       because we have relatively little experience in renewing organizations, even very capable 
       people often make at least one big error.”  
       First, let us understand the common errors that lead to transformational failure.  
       Error #1: Not establishing a great enough sense of urgency  
       If something is worthwhile doing, it is worth doing with urgency. Whether its a crises, a 
       potential crises or a great opportunity, unless a sense of urgency communicated, the 
       aggressive cooperation necessary from multiple fronts will not be forthcoming.  
       While this phase of the change process may sound easy, compared with others, it is not. 
       Kotter says more than half the companies he has watched have failed in this phase. Why? 
       Underestimating the difficulty of getting people out of their comfort zones, overestimating 
       their ability in creating a sense of urgency and lack of patience are common reasons.  
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       Having too many managers (whose brief is to maintain the status quo), and not enough 
       leaders who are capable of driving change is a common reason. Hiring or promoting new 
       blood and real leaders into senior level jobs helps get this phase moving.  
       Bad business results make it easy to highlight the pain, but then you lack resources to drive 
       change. Good business results make it harder to justify change, but make resources 
       available for the change efforts. Change occurs when the perceived benefits of change 
       exceeds the potential pain and hassle of the transformation.  
       The urgency rate is high enough to lead change when "about 75% of a company's 
       management is honestly convinced that business-as-usual is totally unacceptable." 
       Error # 2: Not creating a powerful enough guiding coalition 
       Major changes start with a few people and remain that way for a while. But, unless 
       powerful coalitions are built in the early phases, change will be derailed at some point. 
        
       Yes, leadership of the organization must be on board, but a lot more is necessary. In 
       successful transformations, in addition to the chairman, president or division head, 5, 10 or 
       15 others come together to share a developed commitment to the renewal process. The 
       real change begins when the coalition expands to 20 or 50, depending on the organization. 
       Companies that underestimating the difficulties of producing change and therefore fail to 
       develop a powerful guiding coalition fail in this phase. Lack of teamwork and not having 
       strong line leadership onboard also contribute to failure.   
       Error # 3: Lacking a vision 
       Vision matters. Every successful transformation effort is backed by an easy to communicate 
       vision of the desired future. This vision should go beyond numbers and have appeal to not 
       just employees, but also to customers and shareholders of the company.  
       Clarity of vision does not come automatically. It has to be developed gradually and fine 
       tuned. In companies that lack a clear vision, change efforts dissolve into lists of projects 
       which are often confusing and incompatible. Don’t make vision blurry or too complicated.  
       Vision is what gets people to buy-in the need for change. It drives their emotions, passion, 
       endeavors for a better future. Without a vision that ties them all together neatly, the 
       various elements of the transformation process will be less than meaningless; they'll even 
       be harmful. 
       If you cannot communicate the vision to someone in less than five minutes and get a 
       reaction, understanding and interest, your vision is not yet ready for primetime. 
       Error # 4: Undercommunicating vision by a factor of ten 
       Having a clear vision and telling it once isn’t good enough. The vision needs to be 
       communicated again and again using all existing channels.  
       Just speeches by one person, usually the CEO, isn’t enough. Multi layered commitment to 
       the vision must be there. Leaders at all levels must communicate the vision. Executives and 
       managers must build in the vision to their day-to-day efforts. They need to touch on and 
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       elaborate the vision in strategy meetings, solving business problems, performance 
       appraisals, reviews of business performance and routine meetings and other fora.   
       Avoid undermining the vision. If key people make statements that are contradictory, this 
       only breeds cynicism rather than buy-in.  
       Transformation calls for many people to buy-in to the idea and even be willing to make 
       short term sacrifices. People need to be convinced and communication the vision must be 
       an ongoing process. "Without credible communication, and a lot of it, the hearts and minds 
       of the troops are never captured," says Kotter. Because transformations require layoffs and 
       other changes, communications must necessarily address new growth possibilities as well 
       as ways to treat those affected fairly. 
       Error # 5: Not removing obstacles to the new vision 
       Remove the real and imaginary elephants that stand in the way of the change. Once 
       employees come on board the transformation efforts, they will be embolded to bring and 
       test new ideas and approaches and to lend leadership to such efforts. It is important to 
       ensure no obstacles stand in their way, if such actions fit within the overall vision. 
       An inconsistent organizational structure, narrow job descriptions, performance appraisals 
       or compensation systems ill fitting to the new vision make it difficult to drive the vision 
       forward.  
       Not all obstacles can be removed. But, companies must confront and deal with the big ones. 
       Individuals should not be given the power to undermine the change efforts. Prompt and 
       clear action empowers people and reinforces the credibility and commitment to change. 
       Error # 6: Not systematically planning for and creating short-term wins 
       Transformations take time. Small wins and celebrations of short-term goals and milestones 
       help maintain the momentum for change. When major change takes a long time coming, 
       urgency can suffer. Being committed to a series of short-term goals can help sustain the 
       levels of urgency. It also prompts detailed analytical thinking that helps clarify and fine 
       tune the vision. 
       Short-term pressure is a positive element in change.  
       Instead of passively hoping for short-term wins, go about actively creating them. Pick a few 
       projects that can be made a success. Look for clear performance improvements. Establish 
       goals, achieve objectives and reward those involved. Small wins also boost credibility of the 
       renewal process.  
       Error # 7: Declaring victory too soon 
       Premature declaration of victory can sink change efforts and kill the momentum.  
       Its easy to be tempted to celebrate the first signs of performance improvement. There is 
       nothing wrong with celebrations, as noted above, but, as Kotter explains "Until changes 
       sink deeply into a company's culture, a process that can take five to ten years, news 
       approaches are fragile and subject to regression." 
       Both change initiators and resistors play a role. Initiators go overboard in their enthusiasm 
       and resistors join spotting opportunity to stop change.  
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       Rather than declaration of victory, use the credibility of short-term wins to tackle even 
       bigger projects.  
       In "one of the most successful transformations" that Kotter has ever seen, they quantified 
       the amount of change that occurred each year over a seven year period. "The peak", he 
       says, "was observed in the fifth year, fully 36 months after the first set of visible win." This 
       is not uncommon.  
       Error # 8: Not anchoring changes in the corporation's culture  
       Change will stick only when it gets absorbed into social norms and shared values of the 
       organization.  
        
       There are two things that are important for institutionalizing change in the business 
       culture.  
       One is a conscious attempt to show how the new--approaches, attitudes, behaviors--has 
       helped improve performance. Good communication should work on highlighting the right 
       connections, showing how things changed and why.  
       Secondly, its necessary to ensure that the next generation of managers and leaders 
       personify the new approach. To sustain change over successions, replace outgoing change 
       champions with like minded people, rather than those who are resistors or neutral to 
       change.  
       8 steps for transforming the organization 
       Change efforts are fraught with challenges. Too many factors can contribute to failure.  
       In Kotter's words, "just as a relatively simple vision is needed to guide people through a 
       major change, so a vision of the change process can reduce the error rate. And fewer errors 
       can spell the difference between success and failure." 
       The following eight steps in the diagram can help avoid the unavoidable mistakes.  
        
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