1. Create a sense of urgency. Identify potential threats and start honest discussions about the need for change.
2. Form a powerful coalition. Identify true leaders and ask for emotional commitment.
3. Create a vision for change. Develop a short vision with the coalition and practice communicating it.
4. Communicate the vision. Talk openly about the change vision and apply it to all aspects of operation.
5. Remove obstacles. Take action to identify change leaders and remove their barriers.
6. Create short-term wins. Look for sure-fire projects and highlight their success.
7. Build on the change. Set goals to continue building on the momentum created.
8. Anchor the changes in culture. Talk about the progress at every opportunity and ensure that people tie future success to the change effort.

Kotter’s work is heavily relied on because of its prescriptive nature. Some have even theorized that Kotter’s eight-stages build upon the three-stages developed by Lewin by providing instructions for leaders to follow while unfreezing, changing and refreezing.

Lewin would be flattered.

Too often leaders are unsure of just how to unfreeze an organization and create change ready followers. Many leaders start by casting a grand vision of what the new organization looks like. However, followers, still frozen in their ways, do not receive this new vision because they have yet to see why change is necessary. John Kotter’s (1996) book leading change presents an eight-step model for facilitating change that closely follows Lewin’s (1951) three phases model. If we overlay these two models, we see the first three stages of Kotter’s model providing insight on how to unfreeze an organization. These steps are as follows:

1. Create urgency. Leaders to help the organization see that it can not continue down the same old road.
2. Form a powerful coalition. In order to lead change, leaders at the top must form a team of change champions who hold status from a variety of sources.
3. Create a vision for change. Once the organization has a sense of urgency, the coalition can begin to propose a solution to the organization that will inspire them to work toward change.

Notice that step three is create a vision, step four is to communicate that vision. How often do we hear of a new CEO who enters intensely sharing a vision and who is fired just as intensely. If we want successful change, we must make followers change ready by creating this sense of urgency, getting a powerful team of champions together and writing that vision as a team.

Kotter, J. P. (1996) Leading change. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

Lewin, K. (1951). Field Theory in Social Science. New York, NY: Harper & Row.

Then came Our Iceberg is Melting.

Kotter uses a business fable to present a simplified explanation of the eight-stage model. The story follows a penguin colony that realizes their iceberg is shrinking and that they will need to transition to a new home. The plot takes the colony through all eight stages:

1. Create a Sense of Urgency.
2. Pull Together the Guiding Team.
3. Develop the Change Vision and Strategy.
4. Communicate for Understanding and Buy-in.
5. Empower Others to Act.
6. Produce Short-Term Wins.
7. Don’t Let Up.
8. Create a New Culture.

This playful fable clearly defines the eight stages while keeping the reader entertained. Our Iceberg is Melting is a fast read, which is surprising considering that it presents well-researched conclusions about leading change.