Framework

Kotter's eight-step change model

The question it answers

When a CEO launches a major transformation, which steps, in what order, stop the change stalling halfway and anchor it in the organisation's culture?

Origin
Kotter, 1995; Kotter, 1996; Pollack & Pollack, 2015
Diagram type
Process by phase
Level of analysis
Firm
Topics
Change managementStrategy & leadership
Clay steps with a looping glass arrow, icon for change management

Diagram

Kotter's eight-step change model

  1. Create the climate
  2. Create urgency
  3. Form a guiding coalition
  4. Develop a vision
  5. Engage and enable
  6. Communicate the vision
  7. Remove obstacles
  8. Implement and sustain
  9. Create short-term wins
  10. Build on the change
  11. Anchor in the culture

Sources

References

Listed A–Z by author surname, Harvard style. A source with a DOI links to https://doi.org/…; one without links to its page or says plainly that it has no DOI.

  1. Kotter, J.P. (1995) Leading change: why transformation efforts fail. Harvard Business Review.No DOIhbr.orgSource page
  2. Kotter, J.P. (1996) Leading Change. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.No DOISource page
  3. Pollack, J. and Pollack, R. (2015) ‘Using Kotter's eight stage process to manage an organisational change program: presentation and practice’, Systemic Practice and Action Research, 28(1), pp. 51–66.doi:10.1007/s11213-014-9317-0Source page