BUY THE BOOK! If your organizaiton is failing in its re-organization then read his book. He will describe in infinte deatil the correct steps that your organizational leaders must perform. He provides real life examples of success and failure.

Louis

This book is what I needed and I enjoy the book. I received fast service.

This is one of the founding titles in the field of Organizational Change Management. For those who are just entering the field, I recommend reading this book to gain a sense of what the field used to be like in the mid 1990s. It will help you to baseline your current insights and understanding about Organizational Change Management today. The book below is another must read, must understand for those just entering the field. Happy reading!

Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change

John Kotter is a business professor at Harvard University who writes "Leading Change" as a guide to business leaders, helping them to transform their stagnant, ineffective, hierarchical companies into more effective, responsive, team-oriented ones. To help companies and leaders make this transition, he presents eight sequential steps that must be followed in order and done well.

These eight steps are:

1. Establish a sense of urgency (fight complacency)

2. Create a guiding coalition (both influential leaders and effective managers)

3. Develop a widely inspiring vision and strategy for achieving it

4. Communicate the vision, communicate the vision, and communicate the vision even more.

5. Give the employees authority to creatively experiment concerning how to best make the vision a reality

6. Make sure you point out things to celebrate as you make progress toward your goals; it rewards appropriate behavior and, besides, people need to celebrate once in a while.

7. Understand Bowen Family Systems Theory--that when you change one thing, everything else changes with it. Systemic change is difficult work that produces a whole lot of anxiety and unintended consequences.

8. Make sure that, once the changes are made, they become engrained in the new culture of he company; make them "the way we do things around here."

Kotter does get credit for being comprehensive and for being among the first to write a leadership book of this sort (copyright 1996). He appears correct in all of his arguments and this reader has difficulty finding flaws in his eight steps. He appropriately balances task-orientation and relationship-orientation and distinguishes between leading and managing. Furthermore, he is the only author I've come across that understands how Family Systems Theory plays out in an organization undergoing change.

However, the book is outdated. Newer authors like Jim Collins, John Maxwell, and Kouzes & Posner have refined Kotter's ideas and presented them in a more readable, more applicable, and more modern way (again, 1996 copyright).

Kotter limits his ideas and examples to the large, highly structured business world; other authors deliberately address leadership within smaller businesses, schools, non-profits, and other environments. Kotter writes before the internet was widely used; other books keep rapid communication advancements in mind. The obligatory quotes from people I've never heard of who praise the book say over and over again how highly readable Kotter's prose is; I found the prose dry and could cite many examples from this genre which are much more readable.

The ideas Kotter presents are not bad; in fact they're quite good and have blazed the trail for other leadership books. However, "Leading Change" could certainly use an updated edition. Other authors have taken many of Kotter's ideas, refined them, re-worked them, and present them in a manner much more helpful to a wider audience.

I neither recommend this book nor do I contest it. You would do well to read "Leading Change," but you would do better to read some of the authors listed above.

Very well written book and easy to read and follow. Since change is a modern requirement for any business, it simply makes sense to focus in on what it takes to provide the necessary leadership to do so.

This book is phenominal! An excellent guide for the leader experiencing change. If I had no other resource, this book would be enough for survival in the business world of change. Definitely worth the investment.

The book came right on time, and was delivered in the best of conditions. It is always very good doing business with you. I can trust that my books will arrive on time and the shipping is done with the urgency they deserve. Thanks once more. Teresa

The book I bought is a new copy.
It is in very good condition and also delivered in time, as mentioned.
When coming to the content of the book [It is a prescribed book for our course], It is good, worth reading once atleast.

i found this book is still very applicable today and could help government do a better job in conducting its "business".

I was initially concerned of the applicability of the work on a smaller-sized company. Even though some references are made regarding layers of organization, most of the ideas can be applied to almost any company. I've listened many times and will glean new thoughts and ideas with each review. This work is a very comprehensive study on the subject.
I have since purchased 4 sets of the CDs and to give as gifts to those inside and outside of our organization who we know will appreciate it.

One of my top ten most influencing books I have ever read. It was an easy read, and very useful for any size organization. In fact, it can be implemented at any level of management. If you have anything that needs to be changed or implemented, private or public sector, you need to read this book.

Great book with a different twist on change. I've been involved with change efforts in the past and these principles make sense to me.

In this book, Kotter methodically and carefully explains his eight-step process for creating major change in business organizations. He notes that the rate of organisational change has been increasing in recent years. The rapid and continual innovation in technology is driving changes to organisational systems and processes. There are also increased expectations of employees as they move more freely between organisations.

Kotter highlights the critical importance of leadership in any change programme. Strong, sustained leadership is crucial to changing deeply rooted corporate cultures and successfully implementing the change process.

John Kotter describes a helpful eight step model for understanding and managing change. Each stage acknowledges a key principle identified by Kotter relating to people's response and approach to change, in which people see, feel and then change.

In spite of the importance and permanence of organisational change, most change initiatives fail to deliver the expected organisational benefits. This book should help those involved in the change process to avoid the pitfalls and follow the eight steps that are explained in detail in the book.

Anyone planning or implementing a change programme will find the book useful, helpful and handy. The author presents the subject in a simple, concise, and easy to follow format.

Kotter's book is a roadmap of how to introduce a culture change effectively into an organization. Similar to "Good to Great" (Jim Collins), the book is much better organized and thorough.

Have no further words to describe how increrable John Kotter brings in a easy way a subject so complex and important now-a-days. Indeed, it is recommend for all leaders who wants to take right decisions during turbulent times.

I have been working in the change arena for the last 15 years and Kotter's book on Leading Change is still the definitive work. Based on his seminal 1994 HBR article "Leading Change: Why Transformations efforts fail" this is the best down-to-earth guide for both consultants and managers leading change. It has good practical examples and straightforward arguments - no psychological mumbo jumbo.

Kotter gives us here a valuable handbook on how to visualize, introduce, and sustain change in an organization. Here are a few quotes:
"Handling new initiatives quickly is not an essential component of success in relatively stable or cartel-like environments. The problem for us today is that stability is no longer the norm. And most experts agree that over the next few decades the business environment will become only more volatile."
"Useful change tends to be associated with a multistep process that creates power and motivation sufficient to overwhelm all the sources of inertia."

So you want to change something in the way people are working? Where to begin? Why is nobody paying attention? Or you thought the change was going great but then everything fell apart? This book takes concepts like leadership, urgency, vision, strategy, and communication and puts them in an easy-to-understand order.

Changing an organization or even your own team may not be easy, but at least if you read this book, the challenges won't be surprises as well.

When I first read this book, I had just emerged from a painful and failed change effort that I was leading. I quickly was able to say to myself, "But of course, now I know why I failed in this effort: Not enough communication, not enough internal support, to big of an initial project, just to name a few". I really wish that I had read this book first. It would have reduced the pain and frustration that I went through. Would the change effort have been successful? I do not think so but I also would not have been attempting to lead the charge into oblivian.

I feel that if you are trying to create change in a community, you a foolish not to read this book. If you follow the well researched and documented eight steps necessary to lead change, you will have a much higher success rate. A must read for those of us who are change agents.

What happens when an organization needs to change (if it hopes to be successful in the future) but hasn't put much thought into what the process of change itself looks like? More than likely: failure.

John Kotter outlines here a critical difference between change efforts that have been successful, compared to change efforts that have failed. Drawing on decades' worth of experience consulting with firms and coaching leaders, and attentive to ever-increasing globalization of markets and competition, Kotter offers an eight-stage change process. The eight stages are:

1. Establishing a sense of urgency
2. Creating the guiding coalition
3. Developing a vision and strategy
4. Communicating the change vision
5. Empowering broad-based action
6. Generating short-term wins
7. Consolidating gains and producing more change
8. Anchoring new approaches in the culture

Successful change, Kotter argues, "is 70 to 90 percent leadership and only 10 to 30 percent management. Yet for historical reasons, many organizations today don't have much leadership." Kotter articulates what effective leadership -- not management -- actually looks like.

Kotter provides a helpful, clear, and concise chapter devoted to each of the eight stages. He articulates precisely what is needed at each critical moment in the transformation process. He provides numerous examples of what happens when any stage is ignored (basically, he suggests that to ignore any of the eight stages will likely lead to failure). Specific guidance and steps are offered at every point along the way. A useful summary of the whole process is provided on page 21.

The final couple chapters provide a glimpse into the organizations and leaders of the future. "The rate of change in the business world is not going to slow down anytime soon. . . . The typical twentieth-century organization has not operated well in a rapidly changing environment. . . . If environmental continues to increase, as most people now predict, the standard organization of the twentieth century will likely become a dinosaur." The winning enterprise of the twenty-first century will have a persistent sense of urgency, teamwork at the top, people who can create and communicate vision, broad-based empowerment, delegated management for excellent short-term performance, no unnecessary interdependence, and an adaptive corporate culture. Leaders of the future are going to be people with high standards and a strong willingness to learn. Arguing that leadership traits can be learned, Kotter provides examples of people he has known over an extended period of time who once upon a time showed little promise, but who developed superlative leadership skills and have become highly effective, successful, influential leaders. Just as organizations need to continue to continue to change and grow, so too will organizations' future leaders.

Overall, this is a highly readable, useful book. It is obviously useful for leaders in the corporate world. I would argue that it is also highly useful for leaders in ANY organization that is trying to thrive in the twenty-first century. I wish I had read it years ago!

What happens when an organization needs to change (if it hopes to be successful in the future) but hasn't put much thought into what the process of change itself looks like? More than likely: failure.

John Kotter outlines here a critical difference between change efforts that have been successful, compared to change efforts that have failed. Drawing on decades' worth of experience consulting with firms and coaching leaders, and attentive to ever-increasing globalization of markets and competition, Kotter offers an eight-stage change process. The eight stages are:

1. Establishing a sense of urgency
2. Creating the guiding coalition
3. Developing a vision and strategy
4. Communicating the change vision
5. Empowering broad-based action
6. Generating short-term wins
7. Consolidating gains and producing more change
8. Anchoring new approaches in the culture

Successful change, Kotter argues, "is 70 to 90 percent leadership and only 10 to 30 percent management. Yet for historical reasons, many organizations today don't have much leadership." Kotter articulates what effective leadership -- not management -- actually looks like.

Kotter provides a helpful, clear, and concise chapter devoted to each of the eight stages. He articulates precisely what is needed at each critical moment in the transformation process. He provides numerous examples of what happens when any stage is ignored (basically, he suggests that to ignore any of the eight stages will likely lead to failure). Specific guidance and steps are offered at every point along the way. A useful summary of the whole process is provided on page 21.

The final couple chapters provide a glimpse into the organizations and leaders of the future. "The rate of change in the business world is not going to slow down anytime soon. . . . The typical twentiety-century organization has not operated well in a rapidly changing environment. . . . If environmental contines to increase, as most people now predict, the standard organization of the twentiety century will likely become a dinosaur." The winning enterprise of the twenty-first century will have a persistent sense of urgency, teamwork at the top, people who can create and communicate vision, broad-based empowerment, delegated management for excellent short-term performance, no unnecessary interdependence, and an adaptive corporate culture. Leaders of the future are going to be people with high standards and a strong willingness to learn. Arguing that leadership traits can be learned, Kotter provides examples of people he has known over an extended period of time who once upon a time showed little promise, but who developed superlative leadership skills and have become highly effective, successful, influential leaders. Just as organizations need to continue to continue to change and grow, so too will organizations' future leaders.

Overall, this is a highly readable, useful book. It is obviously useful for leaders in the corporate world. I would argue that it is also highly useful for leaders in ANY organization that is trying to thrive in the twenty-first century. I wish I had read it years ago!

This book is excellent for anyone going through or planning to make changes in any organization. The material is straight forward, concise, and right on target. I only wish I had read this book last year before attempting to make major changes in our organization

I would recommend this book to any manager who is currently leading an organizational change effort. It's very practical. Kotter's Eight Steps are easy to follow.

In Leading Change, Dr. John Kotter, a Harvard Business professor with twenty-five years of leadership training experience, and foremost expert on business leadership carefully argues his eight-step process for creating major change in business organizations. From "establishing a sense of urgency" amongst the work force to "anchoring new approaches in the culture," Kotter weaves a highly coherent and exacting guide to the successful implementation of new initiatives and strategic goals in business organizations.

Kotter is careful to not only give a thorough explanation of each step, but to provide diagram models which assist in re-enforcing his concepts. Each step of the process is based on careful research, as Kotter uses many first-hand experiences with CEO's, Senior Managers, and Harvard graduate students to solidify his arguments. This is the ultimate "how to" manual for individuals who want to make important changes to their companies and organizations.

Leadership and Management are both needed to implement major change in an organization: Kotter gives equal weight to the importance of both managers and leaders, arguing that while leaders are often the impetus for successful change - mangers are key to organizing and maintaining successful business transformations. According to Kotter, if an organization has the correct balance between leaders and managers, and follows the eight-step process - then successful change is imminent.

Establishing the ground work and planning ahead in an organization are the key elements to having a successful transformation: Inspiring a sense of urgency and building a guiding coalition, according to Kotter, are the initial steps to successful change. As complacency is one of the more widespread shortcomings of major organizations, it is imperative for leaders to raise the level of urgency amongst employees and other managers. Kotter notes a subset of ways to accomplish this goal such as increasing the amount of communication and creating a relevant crisis in the work force. Once a clear and widespread sense of urgency is established, it is even more important to have support from a strong coalition. According to Kotter, the composition of this team must have four essential elements to be successful: a sufficient amount of power (front line mangers), experts, credibility, and proven leadership. In essence, Kotter notes urgency and team building as essential elements of the change environment - without them transformations will be fruitless and will ultimately fail.

Changing the culture of an organization is difficult, but one of the most important steps to finalizing major transformation in an organization: Noting that culture transformation is the final major step in the major change model, Kotter uses a system of tying the new changes in with the old systems. To make his point, Kotter uses an excellent example of a CEO who implements major changes in his organization. Essentially, the CEO called an all-hands meeting and strategically placed the company's volumes of program policies where they would be seen by all. The CEO noted that the volumes had served the company well for ten years, but it was now important to re-vamp these manuals for modern challenges. This example illustrates that effective culture change has to have a connection to the past to be effective, as many employees have been embedded in current culture so long - that they need a "bridge" from old to new, in order to effectively make a transformation. Kotter refers to this process as "anchoring in" to new cultural approaches. And unless this final step is utilized effectively, then old world ways will ultimately stagnate major change.

Leading Change was named the number one management book of the year by Management General. In general, Kotter simplifies a complex topic and allows for the laymen to easily understand his eight step process for major change. Moreover, Kotter is an expert in his field that sets the standard for business leadership.

It was great to have a direction for change through this book. I especially appreciated the definitions of leader and manager which was very beneficial in leading our change. The eight principles were a great spring board to work from in our organizational change.

It's a great help in how to manage change and things we usually ignore when they are basic for a successful leading

Kudo's to Kotter for bringing the much needed attention to the impending business issues of change. My company is in the middle of great changes, specifically...offshoring, globalization and outsourcing. We used "Leading Change" and followed up with "The Black Book of Outsourcing" to get all our middle and senior managers in the right frame of mind.

Through interviewing influential executives at top technology companies Kotter has crafted a first-person's report intertwined with personal anecdotes. Our corporate trainers have now used "Leading Change" and "The Black Book of Outsourcing" as guide books to implement sound executive education programs.

These books are more practically written and concise - strangely many of us discussed that even though they were assinged books from corporate, that we couldn't them ut down until we finished -- I ran through them each in just 2 hours. Also, THE BLACK BOOK OF OUTSOURCING by Doug Brown & Dr Scott Wilson is a book I dog-earred and highlighted and post-it noted as a perfect outsourcing reference manual. It sits directly on my desk for regular use and resources.

THE BLACK BOOK OF OUTSOURCING has just been released in the last six months through Wiley Publishers, and it begins where Kotter left off. Not only does it encapsulate Kotter's message of Change in just a few short pages, it goes on to provide thought-provoking ideas for action.

Actually, together, they may an awesome team of books in your business arsenal.

Most Importantly, you don't have to be a decision-maker, executive, globalist, economist or a free tank thinker to get the topic of change and outsourcing down pat.

Botton Line: I recommend that you buy both books together at the double-offer discount. No better career advance training is so ready to lead you to a new global business player and change agent executive.

The author conveys practical and relevant information for leading and managing change. I highly recommend the book.

"Leading Change" is the best small business book pn leadership I've read in a long time. It changed our enterprise with fresh thinking and actionable advice.

Particularly, when used with another great small business guide, THE BLACK BOOK OF OUTSOURCING: How to Manage the Changes, Challenges, and Opportunities, by Dr. Douglas Brown & Dr. Scott Wilson.

There is a complete section for small business entrepreneurship with the outsourcing focus...and it takes you from basics to expert in one volume!

I've read these books dozens of times and marked them with post its and notes.

No one treats the business operation and manager with the scope and practicality of these two books. They will provide you with mammoth leaps in strategic and conceptual guidance.

Thanks to Kotter, Brown & Wilson for sharing their knowledge and insights. These are gems.

This is a good guide to what makes a change effort successful and unsuccessful. Read this before embarking on a major change that involves a group, business or otherwise.

I first ran into this book several years ago in my MBA program. (It was used as a textbook.) I was very impressed. As I sudied its content and began to use the knowledge I gained, this soon became my "Bible" for change. I have used it everywhere I have done work across the country. Its principles are timeless and one can be successful with even the most difficult of work environments.

This is a second recent book I've ordered that is WAY overdue and not yet delivered. Very unsatisfactory.

There is a "critical need" for leadership, especially in an ever changing world (144). Kotter discusses the many aspects of "change." Change starts with vision, so he shares the six "key characteristics" of effective vision and the "key elements" of communicating vision. Understanding that change occurs with a good leader, Kotter establishes the characteristics of a true leader and emphasizes how effective leadership helps the realization of vision. In communicating a vision, the leader must keep in mind how the vision will affect constituents since "everyone needs to be served well" (74). There are positive and negative aspects of this book. A negative aspect is that the book is written from a secular perspective. The focus is on satisfying constituents rather than glorifying God. However, there are many positives to Kotter's book. For example, Kotter discusses ways in which people can become better employees. He shares the importance of "attitudinal change"(108), and also mentions that a certain amount of pressure is good for people (127). Kotter's suggestions are designed with the organization in mind, but some of his methods would be beneficial for personal change. For instance, a way to "anchor change" in a culture is to provide "a lot of talk" (157). When a church acquires a new convert, "verbal instruction and support" are necessary ingredients for personal spiritual growth. In fact this is the key ingredient for discipleship and mentorship. Another way to "anchor change" is to realize that shifting the norms and values of people and organizations does not grow into fruition until the end of the "transformation process" (157). New converts must be taught that they will continue to make mistakes, but they must persevere because all believers are in the process of sanctification and their final transformation will not be realized until they have gone to Heaven. Knowing that the Lord can come back at any time (1 Thessalonians 5:2), should spark a sense of "urgency" in telling others about Jesus Christ , which is a way of leading change in the life of the individual (162).

John Kotter, a Harvard Business School professor, has been dubbed the "world's foremost expert on business leadership." This book has far from a professorial 'ivory tower' tone however. Prof. Kotter relied on his hands-on experience with over 100 organizations that were trying to reinvent themselves. The result is an amazing series of eight sequential steps that lead to the landing of an effective change. These steps are so clear, so defined and so well thought out that one easily recognizes their wisdom and usefulness in business, or even in politics.

The firs four steps enable the breaking through of the status quo. They are: establishing a sense of urgency, creating a guiding coalition, developing a vision and strategy, and communicating the change vision.

The fifth through the seventh step introduce new practices. They are: empowering employess, generating short-term wins and consolidating gains to produce more change.

The last step, a step that most companies try to take first, is the institutionalizing of the new approaches in the corporate culture.

Kotter also shares the pitfalls of not taking each step, the qualities of successful companies and the mental habits leaders possess (or should acquire). Inspiring.

Five stars

As usual, John Kotter brings the theory of management and leadership, in this case the concept of change, from the research laboratory and the classroom right to the rock face of actuality. His 8-step process is now famous and it is famous for its effectivity.
Kotter's writing style invites the reader into the subject and, with plenty of tables, lists and action steps, makes the process of change into an appealing challenge.
Since change in an organization is not limited to those huge mind-bending events that take place every ten years or so, all of us can benefit in our everyday lives from Kotter's advice and guidance.
Part III, The Implications for the Twenty-First Century, is so good that it is almost worth the price of the book on its own.

I was a little concerned when I started reading this title, wondering if it would apply to churches as well as corporations. I was not disappointed. Kotter's ideas here are valid for any organization that is in the change process. The author's eight steps are nuggets of truth that will help pastors as well as CEOs. I recommend this book highly for pastors of growing, changing congregations.

The picture on the cover of John P. Kotter's book tells it all: a group of penguins are shuffling their feet nervously on an icy precipice, while one brave bird leaps for the water below. The question is, which penguin are you? In too many organizations, executives shy away from the precipice, while someone lower down in the pecking order jumps in to test the landing conditions. Kotter says managers and leaders are quite different. A manager, he explains, is trained to think in a linear, one-two-three, risk-limiting way. Transformational change, however, can only be attained when true leaders push forward on several fronts at once - eight of them to be exact. Every successful change initiative begins with a coalition of leaders who create a sense of urgency. Kotter's book stems from a 1995 Harvard Business Review article titled, "Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail." It will probably sound hauntingly familiar to managers who have watched change initiatives begin in the front courtyard with a marching band and end a few months later, ushered out the back door like a diner who can't pay the tab. If you want to know why your last change initiative fizzled, we say read this book. Better yet, study it to ensure that your next leap of faith is a flying success.

Organisations need change. We all know that. But how can an organisation adopt great ideas, tools, and methods, absorbing them in a way to stimulate change and get superior results?

Harvard-professor John P. Kotter has been observing this process for almost 30 years. What intrigues him is why some leaders are able to take these tools and methods and get their organizations to change dramatically - while most do not.

How many times have we not seen somebody get very excited about some new tool (CRM, e-business, etc.)? Yet two years later there is no performance improvement at all. Often because most of the organisation has rejected the change needed to make it happen.

When people need to make big changes significantly and effectively, Kotter finds that there are generally eight basic things that must happen:

1. INSTILL A SENSE OF URGENCY. Identifying existing or potential crises or opportunities. Confronting reality, in the words of Execution-authors, Charan and Bossidy.

2. PICK A GOOD TEAM. Assembling a strong guiding coalition with enough power to lead the change effort. And make them work as a team, not a committee!

3. CREATE A VISION AND SUPPORTING STRATEGIES. We need a clear sense of purpose and direction. In less successful situations you generally find plans and budgets, but no vision and strategy; or the strategies are so superficial that they have no credibility.

4. COMMUNICATE. As many people as possible need to hear the mandate for change loud and clear, with messages sent out consistently and often. Forget the boring memos that nobody reads! Try using videos, speeches, kick-off meetings, workshops in small units, etc. Also important is the teaching of new behaviours by the example of the guiding coalition

5. REMOVE OBSTACLES. Get rid of anything blocking change, like bosses stuck in the old ways or lack of information systems. Encourage risk-taking and non-traditional ideas, activities, and actions. Empowerment is moving obstacles out of peoples' way so they can make something happen, once they've got the vision clear in their heads.

6. CHANGE FAST. Little quick wins are essential for creating momentum and providing sufficient credibility to pat the hard-working people on the back and to diffuse the cynics. Remember to recognize and reward employees involved in the improvements.

7. KEEP ON CHANGING. After change organizations get rolling and have some wins, they don't stop there. They go back and make wave after wave of other actions necessary for long-term, significant change. Successful change leaders don't drop the sense of urgency. On top of that, they are very systematic about figuring out all of the pieces they need to have in place before they declare victory.

8. MAKE CHANGE STICK. The last big step is nailing big change to the floor and making sure it sticks. And the way things stick is through culture. If you can create a totally new culture around some new way of managing, it will stay. It won't live on if it is dependent on one boss or a couple of enthusiastic people who will eventually move on.

We can divide these eight steps in three main processes. The first four steps focus on de-freezing the organization. The next three steps make change happen. The last step re-freezes the organization on the next rung on the ladder.

I've personally used Kotter's change process in several e-business projects. It has helped me a lot. I highly recommend that you buy this easy-to-read and affordable book. Alternatively, read his Harvard Business Review article from Mar/Apr 1995 on the same subject.

Peter Leerskov,
MSc in International Business (Marketing & Management) and Graduate Diploma in E-business

I agree with some of the earlier reviews that recommend this book along with "Execution" by Bossidy & Charan, "Strategic Organizational Change" by Beitler, and "Good to Great" by Collins.

This book is a little light on practical tools, but it does offer a good overview for managers who are dealing with change.

One of the great books on self help practical leadership that has come out in recent years. You can complete your philosophical knowledge on leadership of character by going on to read the Remick book, "West Point: Jefferson: Character Leadership..." when you finish Kotter's "Leading Change".

If you match Peter M. Senge Fifth Dicipline together with this book, you have a very good idea how to upgraded management.

Keep reading !

Robert

This book is OK for a start. But get "Strategic Organizational Change" by Beitler, if you are a practicing manager.

Donald Close
Change Consultant
Milwaukee, WI

John Kotter has been around for ever it seems and his work is still valuable to the field of leadership and change. The style is highly readable and held my interest as I slogged my way through three texts for a doctoral class in leadership. The topics are valuable and provide current insight into both successful efforts and organizational failures. I liked the work and plan to buy other works of his as a result.

John's "Leading Change" is a classic. I recommend it to all of my clients. It's easy-to-read and easy to apply.

Dr. Michael Beitler
Author of "Strategic Organizational Change"

I have to question the seriousness of any manager who hasn't read this pivotal book. It has established itself as the definative book on leadership and change. In fact, its title, "Leading Change," may be a misnomer. This book is about leading implementation and execution -- regardless of the type of initiative. Together with Ulrich, Zenger, and Smallwood's "Results-Based Leadership" and Fogg's "Implementing Your Strategic Plan," this is the best book ever written on leadership and implementation. In fact, as a strategy consultant, I find myself recommending this book to clients again and again. It is the book I wish I had written. Overall grade: A/A+.

This is the best book I've read dealing with how to lead a major change project. Abundant in useful information, concise, complete and logical, it really is a gem of a book . You need to remember the 8-step outline of the process and use the book as a reference when more detailed guidance is needed. I have succesfully used dr. Kotter recipe for change many times over in my career. Also, check out his articles in the Harvard Business Review with further details on the strategies of change as well as further insights into how to align others with your change vision.

A must and easy read for anyone looking for a step by step way to lead change in any organization. Great book but I was dissapointed on his seminars which are very boring and somewhat improvised. His "Book is Better Than His Seminars".

I goofed. I submitted a large proposal for a new product to my superiors before reading this book. It was shot down, and now that I've read Leading Change, I know why. Kotter puts together a strategy that will help you influence and alter your organization for the better. There isn't magic or voodoo. He explains why there are only 8 steps to change a business practice regardless of what it is. This is a good book for those in management who have good ideas that keep getting shot down. You'll learn why and how to prevent the failure in the future. That is, if you can do the 8 steps.

John P. Kotter is Professor of Leadership at the Harvard Business School. He has written several books and articles on general management and leadership issues. This particular book builds on his 1995 Harvard Business Review-article 'Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail'.

The book is split up into three parts. In the first part - The Change Problem and Its Solution - Kotter discusses the eight main reasons why in many situations the improvements have been disappointing, with wasted resources and burned-out, scared, or frustrated employees. Each of these eight errors are discussed in detail, using simple, clear examples. "Making any of the eight errors in common to transformation efforts can have serious consequences." But Kotter argues that these errors are not inevitable. And this is why Kotter has written this book. "The key lies in understanding why organizations resist needed change, what exactly is the multistage process that can overcome destructive inertia, and, most of all, how the leadership that is required to drive that process in a socially healthy way means more than good management." In Chapter 2, Kotter discusses the reasons why organizations (can) need changes and improvements. Although some people suggest otherwise, Kotter believes that organizations can implement change successfully. "The methods used in successful transformations are all based on one fundamental insight: that major change will not happen easily for a long list of reasons." Kotter introduces an eight-stage process for creating major change.

This eight-stage process is discussed in Part Two of this book:
(1) The first stage of the process involves the establishment of a sense of urgency, which is required to overcome complacency. The nine sources of complacency are discussed, whereby Kotter emphasizes that "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." He further discusses methods for raising urgency levels, the role of crises, and the role of middle and lower-level managers.
(2) The second stage involves the creation of a guiding coalition. "A strong guiding coalition is always needed - one with the right composition, level of trust, and shared objective." According to the author the four key characteristics to effective guiding coalition are position power, expertise, credibility, and leadership. And he emphasizes that management and leadership must work in tandem, teamwork style.
(3) The third stage requires the development of a vision and strategy. Good vision clarifies the general direction for change, motivates people to take action in the right direction, and it helps coordinate people's actions. The characteristics of an effective vision are imaginable, desirable, feasible, focused, flexible, and communicable. But vision alone is not enough. "This is where strategy plays an important role. Strategy provides both logic and a first level detail to show how a vision can be accomplished."
(4) The power of a vision is most powerful when all people within an organization have a common understanding of its goals and direction. Although the general myth is that failures to communicate vision are attributed to either limited intellectual capabilities among lower-level employees or a general human resistance to change. But that is not really the problem. The vision needs to be communicated in a clear, simple message (focused and jargon-free). Kotter discusses each of the seven key elements in the communication of vision.
(5) Empowering employees for broad-based action - "Discouraged and disempowered employees never make enterprises winners in a globalizing economic environment. But with the right structure, training, systems, and supervisors to build on a well-communicated vision, increasing numbers of firms are finding that they can tap an enormous source of power to improve organizational performance. They can mobilize hundreds or thousands of people to help provide leadership to produce needed changes."
(6) Major change takes time and it is therefore advisable to pay serious attention to short-term wins. Short-term wins should be visible, unambiguous, and related to the change effort. Short-term wins play various roles in a change effort, most notably building the necessary momentum.
(7) Many forces can stall a change process short of the finish line. And we should be aware that irrational and political resistance to change never fully dissipates. We should not let the celebration of short-term wins allow complacency back into the organization. We should also be aware that progress can slip away for two reasons: corporate culture (see more in the next stage) and increased interdependence as a result from interconnections.
(8) "Culture refers to norms of behavior and shared values among a group of people." In large organizations, there are some social forces (corporate culture) that affect everyone. Corporate cultures have a powerful influence on human behavior, since it is almost impossible to change and invisible. Kotter believes that "culture is powerful for three reasons: (i) Because individuals are selected and indoctrinated so well. (ii) Because the culture exerts itself through the actions of hundreds or thousands of people. (iii) Because all of this happens without much conscious intent and thus is difficult to challenge or even discuss." He provides with one other important warning: "most cultural change happens in stage 8, not stage 1."

Part III - Implications for the Twenty-First Century - consists of two chapters. In the first chapter, Kotter discusses the organization of the future. In particular, the impact of the future on the eight stages in the change process. There is an interesting table, which compares the differences in structure, systems, and culture between 20th-century and 21st-century organizations. "The key to creating and sustaining the kind of successful 21st-century organization is leadership - not only at the top of the hierarchy, with a capital L, but also in a more modest sense (l) throughout the enterprise." These two notions are discussed in detail in the final chapter of the book.

Yes, this is an excellent book on controlling change. The book provides an extremely useful framework for a change process and should be kept as a checklist. Although the process looks rigid, the stages are flexible and take place concurrently. I recommend this book to all people involved in a major change process within larger organizations. The author uses simple business US-English.

I can not remember now how many times I have referenced this book in the past. John Kotter hits the mark perfectly with this easy to read highly applicable book that will help any person dealing with or leading change. I have used the principles in the book to lead changes in my company, projects I have worked on, in my church, and even in my family. This book is a must read!