Your heart allows you to thrive...right? So a book entitled "The Heart of Change" probably should show signs of life! And that it did! I felt that this book was very well written and offered some life-changing information! The real-life stories only encouraged the reader to pursue more and more of what we all want. And that is to FEEL in our HEART that what we are doing is WORTHWHILE and PURPOSEFUL! Page 11 and it's diagram of the concept of See-Feel-Change is terrific! Terrific, not only because it matched the content, but because it met the visual reader as well as the logical reader as well as the emotional reader. The script them backed up it's information with the 8 stages of successful large-scale change. This worked becuase we all know that you usually experience individual/personal change amidst a bigger/greater change! Page 78 and 79 with the story of "the body in the living room" was more than real and humbling, while the story on page 50 about the boat capsizing and the need for "trust" through a change was priceless!
I would recommend this book for those in the educational realm as well as the business world, and even those just pursuing change for their own personal life! As John Kotter said, if we see it and feel it, we will desire the change!

A very well written book on how to lead change in your organization (or family) taking into account how others will react.

This is a must read for any executive facing a large initiative requiring changing the way people do their jobs. Book provides application instead of theories found in most texts.

This book was first published in 2002 and I recently re-read it, curious to know how well John Kotter's core concepts have held up since then. My conclusion? Very well indeed. The Heart of Change is in several respects a sequel to Kotter's previously published classic, Leading Change, in which he observes that "Over the past decade, I have watched more than a hundred companies try to remake themselves into significantly better competitors...Their efforts have gone under many banners: total quality management, reengineering, right-sizing, restructuring, cultural change, and turnaround. But in almost every case the basic goal has been the same: to make fundamental changes in how business is conducted in order to help cope with a new, more challenging market environment. A few of these corporate change efforts have been very successful. A few have been utter failures. Most fall somewhere in between, with a distinct tilt toward the lower end of the scale. The lessons that can be drawn are interesting and will probably be relevant to even more organizations in the increasingly competitive business environment of the coming decade."

Whereas in Leading Change Kotter examines the eight steps people tend to follow to produce new ways of operating, in this volume he and Dan Cohen examine "the core problem people face in all of those steps, and how to successfully deal with the problem." And the central issue is never strategy, structure, culture, or systems. "All these elements, and others, are important. But the core of the matter is always about changing the behavior of people, and behavior change happens in highly successful situations mostly by speaking to people's feelings." (Those who do that effectively have what Daniel Goleman characterizes as "emotional intelligence.") Kotter and Cohen structure this book around the eight steps "because that is how people experience the process. There is a flow in a successful change effort, and the chapters follow that flow."

They duly acknowledge the importance of clear thinking to large-scale change when selecting a strategy, locating information and then determining what to do with it, selecting possibilities for short-term achievements (i.e. picking "low-hanging fruit"), and formulating periodic progress reports. That said, I agree with Kotter and Cohen that effective leaders are sensitive to the emotions that undermine change (e.g. false pride, pessimism, cynicism, insecurity, and fear of the unknown), and they find ways to reduce those feelings.

Effective leaders are also sensitive to the emotions that facilitate change (e.g. faith, trust, optimism, reality-based pride, enthusiasm), and they find ways to nourish and enhance those feelings. Most important of all, effective leaders master the "See-Feel-Change" approach: They help others to recognize a problem or a solution to a problem, then help them to visualize it as concretely as possible, anchored in human terms, so that they will be emotionally committed to the given change initiatives. Kotter and Cohen devote a separate chapter to each of the eight steps, explaining with a series of real-life stories how various people changed their organizations and how others can change theirs. John Kotter and Dan Cohen understand, of course, that change initiatives inevitably encounter resistance. However, they have demonstrated in their book that almost anyone can help give direction to, or energize, at least a part of one the eight steps. "We need more of these people, and there is no reason we cannot have more. We need more people doing what they already do, but better - and there is no reason why that also is not possible." I agree.

I read[[ASIN:0875847471 Leading Change] Change by Kotter first. This follow on is a great compliment to the first book. By using examples of the eight-step process, the authors drive home those principles. My organization is in the midst of a large change process, and I am able to identify those who are the guiding coalition and raise my own visibility by aiding them. I am also able to give useful suggestions and identify the change blockers who endanger the process, and therby, the organization.

Full of anecdotes about how the principles in "Leading Change" were implemented, I found this less helpful than that book in implementing a culture change. None of the scenarios were close enough to our organization to make a meaningful impact on the management team. A good read though, illustrating Kotter's excellent roadmap to change.

In this age of data, management is still about people. This book hits that aspect square on the head. It provides a realistic 8 step process for managing change filled with examples that bring the steps to life. The book is primarily written for managers of change, but the concepts can be useful to anyone at any level of an organization that's in a state of change. (And what organizations aren't?) It can be a bit dry at times, but the stories spice it up and make it bearable. Overall excellent content.

This book hits the "heart" of what many managers miss in planning change initiatives. This helps us remember that change isn't all number and business decisions. It's the people. I was able to immediately apply some of the ideas and resteered a change initiative successfully. Now all of my supervisors are reading and learning.

This book is the textbook for how an organization can successfully lead with change. I have used the 8-step method with various organizations and successfully 'seen-felt-changed' for the better.

This book is the textbook for how an organization can successfully lead with change. I have used the 8-step method with various organizations and successfully 'seen-felt-changed' for the better.

I'm now in a "Change Management" role with my work, and decided to read some texts on the subject to further my understanding of the topic. Of those books that I've read, this one has clearly been the most helpful. Kotter articulates the steps of change in a way that connected with me, and made it real with a number of relevant examples. It's not onerous to read (<200 pages) but equally isn't "lightweight." While I would never recommend reading only a single book on the topic, I would definitely recommend that this be one of the books you read!

This book is Filled with real-life stories about why people fail or succeed and 8 step path to change failure to success. This is also inspiration book story of Nuking the executive floor and the body in the living room as well as box of 424 different pairs of gloves are really nice and eye openers.

This book is Filled with real-life stories about why people fail or succeed and 8 step path to change failure to success. This is also inspiration book story of Nuking the executive floor and the body in the living room as well as box of 424 different pairs of gloves are really nice and eye openers.

real experiences for our daily life at work and looking to the future!

By interviewing 400 individuals from 130 businesses to get their change sagas, authors John P. Kotter and Dan S. Cohen further anchor the fresh approach to organizational change that Kotter presented in 'Leading Change' (1996). Their main insight: organizations change when their people change. And, people change for emotional reasons. Some readers may think that the emphasis on feelings is "soft" or even "distracting," but the authors warn against relying on spreadsheets or reports to promote transformation. They insist that the best way to engage the emotions is not to "tell" but to "show" - in videos, displays or even office design. The visual sense, they point out, processes enormous amounts of complex information instantly. At the end of each chapter, the authors include useful, modestly titled, "Exercises That Might Help." With appreciation for that level of detail, we recommend this illuminating book. Kotter has presented his eight-step change model before, but this practical, compact work demonstrates - with plainspoken stories of real-life managers and companies - how it functions. Thus the form of the book - "showing" - exactly replicates its main point.

I think the book is raising some good questions and is trying to address very important issues and problems in organizational behavior, but the quality of the content leaves plenty room for improvement. The stories and cases that illustrate the concepts of the book are mostly highly artificial and oversimplified, they are poorly written and could not be read with trust. The examples of the ideas that should help to turn the companies around often are on this level: a new screen saver was installed on every computer in the company as a surprise to the employees and it had a graphic image and a slogan "We will be #1 in the UK market by 2001!". Boom! After that, the company turned around and conquered UK market!

This is definitely well below the bar that Harvard Business School Press should have set for its publications.

If you've ever felt like you're not powerful enough to make needed changes in your organization, this book has a powerful message for you: Approach change in the right way and you'll make things happen.

Filled with real-life stories, this book offers lots of inspiration. Perhaps the strongest anecdote is the story of an executive presentation made by a mid-level manager and an intern about revamping a wasteful purchasing process. Instead of cranking out a fancy report, the manager and intern filled a box of 424 different pairs of gloves (with attached price tags ranging from $5-$17) that the company was buying. Then they dumped the box on the boardroom table, clearly making a point that this process needed to be fixed.

The moral: Communicate change by appealing to emotions. And often, emotions are stirred by showing people, not just telling them.

A solid read.

This is a good book. But, I also recommend "Strategic Organizational Change" by Beitler.

In this book Kotter explains how people change less because they are given analysis and facts about why change is needed and more because we show them a truth that influences their feelings. This concept is not adopted by all those writing on change management. Yet it is a concept that does fit with my experience. Unless the facts, figures, and general information presented by those wanting to effect change is compelling enough to generate the feelings that change is a requirement, then change will not happen. Kotter puts it this way: See, Feel, Change. So the information and analysis must be geared toward the "seeing," and the "feeling" in order to prompt people to change. If we do not actively pursue the task of driving necessary change, change management becomes an oxymoron - change forced upon us becomes chaos and we do not manage the change, it manages us.

One of the things I enjoyed most about reading this book was the clear and logical layout with the interesting web-page navigation graphics. Also the case studies from "real life" gave practical examples of what successful change might look like in our companies. His eight steps to successful change are: 1. Increase Urgency, 2. Build the Guiding Team, 3. Get the Vision Right, 4. Communicate for Buy-In, 5. Empower Action, 6. Create Short-Term wins, 7. Don't let up, 8. Make Change Stick.

All of this helps in building a practice of Shaping the Corporate Culture, which is, of course, near and dear to our hearts at dbkAssociates. Many of the insights in this book will be of practical use to us and to our clients.

This book is okay for the novice. But, it is simply more of the same "theory." For "tools" for chance I would recommend Beitler's "Strategic Organizational Change." Kotter's "Leading Change" is a good introduction, but managers need the tools, checklists, and insights found in the Beitler book.

Organizational change is a very difficult endeavor. In John Kotter's book The Heart of Change, he explains in detail using real life stories the steps needed to bring about long term meaningful change.

In his first book Leading Change, he described eight steps people followed to produce new ways of operating. These were sequential steps that organizations utilized as they progressed through their transformation.

In The Heart of Change, Kotter takes the eight steps to a more in depth level. He interviewed over two hundred people in more than ninety organizations. Through his findings during these interviews, he developed his basis for The Heart of Change.

His main discovery is change is not strategy, structure, culture, or systems. These are all important; however, the core of real change involves people's behaviors and feelings. He states, "In highly successful change efforts, people find ways to help others see the problems or solutions in ways that influence emotions, not just through feelings that alter behaviors sufficiently to overcome all the many barriers to sensible large scale change."

As the work world becomes more and more turbulent, change happens whether we want it to or not usually at a fast paced rate. John Kotter gives some sensible strategies that can be utilized by change agents in every type of organization.

As the title indicates it's a "how to" book of real life stories of how people changed their organizations. This is not a quick fix-it remedy book. It has real take-away values and merits applicable not only for the corporate environment but for any organization where people are recognized as the key to success through change. Kotter introduces his book with the premise that people are more willing to change if shown a "truth that will influence their feelings" rather than be bombarded with analytical data that force them to change their thinking. He then introduces his 8-step process which will lead to successful large-scale change. To further validate his viewpoint Kotter includes examples of real stories of individuals(managers, tech people, presidents, etc) who succeeded in bringing about positive change to their companies of course sometimes after much frustration and repeating of certain steps. I strongly recommend this book for those who are "change agents." The book also lists an interactive site for additional tips to one's personal change effort. The book is dynamic and forceful and an excellent resource for those organizations/communities of practice with the vision for the future and a "heart for change."

What is the one, critical factor leaders must consider when seeking real, complete, and sustained change? What is it that will actually minimize or even [destroy] a sincere change effort, if not considered? Whether it be an individual or an entire corporation, what is the single most powerful change-agent one can be exposed to?
In THE HEART OF CHANGE, James P. Kotter not only answers these and other provocative questions, he also provides practical steps and suggestions a leader can implement before, during, and after a period of change. Amazingly enough, Kotter does this, all the while, providing the reader with an interspersal of real-life success stories. This unique combination of practical ideas for change, flavored with true-life tales of change, turns out to be the perfect blend of advice for any leader considering a change effort.
In THE HEART OF CHANGE, Kotter joins the ranks in promoting the idea that people change, not because of a function of their brain, but primarily due to a conversion of their heart. Kotter emphasizes the fact that hard hearts can only be transformed through their emotions. In fact, emotion is the skeleton key that opens even the most resistant heart.
At first glance, some readers may consider this book simply a light-hearted, "Chicken Soup" for leaders, however, after further probing, one soon comes to realize Kotter's recipe of meaty, "Beef Stew".
In the end, influencing, paradigm pioneers seeking complete, sincere and sustained changes must consider what Kotter has to say. Even because of this fact alone, THE HEART OF CHANGE is a must-read for any leader who has been, is in the midst of, or is considering the change process.

This book is the distilled summary of 400 detailed interviews from over 130 companies on the topic of managing change. The common thread across success stories is 1. Change is best done in big leaps than in gradual increments. 2. Change is an EIGHT-STAGE process. 3. The vital challenge at each stage is to bring about change in behavior - not strategy, systems or culture. 4. The "see, feel and change" approach is sustaining than the "analyze, think and change" approach since it influences feelings. The book goes on to explain each of the "eight stages" in detail with relevant case studies or stories narrated in first person. At the end of each chapter there is a small exercise that is recommended done with a team. There is also a crisp summary of what works, what does not work and stories to remember.

It is interesting to see that at the end of the book, it is recommended that to introduce change, it is better not to attempt to change the Culture at the outset. ("A controversial but very important point. In a change effort, culture comes last, not first"). Such an attempt would be futile since culture evolves over a long period. It is the change in behavior through the eight-stage process that is key and cultural change would follow. Each of the eight stages - Increase urgency, build the guiding team, get the vision right, communicate for buy-in, empower action, create short-term wins, don't let up, make change stick- are equally important. There are several examples to reinforce the importance of each stage and also to demonstrate that the lack of attention to any one of these is a prescription for failure.

The "see, feel and change" approach appeals to the heart. Human beings as we are, our hearts will continue to be an indispensable part of our anatomy irrespective of the technological changes and economic compulsions. We would be better off as a society if our hearts guide our decisions and actions affecting human beings. Changes are sweeping across businesses at an increasing pace. This book gives us a winning option - Let us see, let us feel and let us change.

A few worthy stories, but more on the line of the duh factor...for example, the story titled Q and A. The lesson from the experts is prepare for a meeting where you will announce change...duh.

Heartwarming and full of hope is just what this book offers. A very good read!

I thought "The Heart of Change" was terrific. John Kotter did a wonderful job building each new chapter on the preceding chapters, thus knitting everything together into a neat picture. Highly recommended. And, in agreement with other reviews I have read on leadership books, I must say that I too recommend that you also read the only book on understanding the philosophy of GOOD leadership, "West Point: Character Leadership Education..." by Remick.

I will admit to being skeptical when I was first introduced to this book. I had not read the original book, "Leading Change" by John Kotter for the same reason that I was reluctant this time...books that focus on change mangement are generally too dry and formula driven. This book was also driven upon the 8-step process highlighted in the first book.

However, I was told that the book focused this time more on the behavior changes of people that are needed to make change successful...and from experience, I knew that getting employees to really want to make a change makes all the difference to a successful change effort.

The book uses stories to describe how to educate and motivate others to accept change through the 8-step process. If you just look at the eight steps, they appear dry and built on well-worn cliches. Increase Urgency, Build the Guiding Team, Get the Vision Right, Communicate for Buy-In, Empower Action, Create Short-Term Wins, Don't Let Up, and Make Change Stick. Certainly, anyone that has led change can figure this out.

However, I found the stories to be very practical in describing the concept of See, Feel, Change that is needed by all employees to really embrace the change emotionally and not just logically. They have to want to change their own behaviors, not just for the project, but forever. The story I could relate to the most was "The Boss Goes to Switzerland". I have seen this happen numerous times for others and myself.

This book has practical content that can be referred to over and over again...I will use this book each time a new change initiative gets underway. Recommended for all business leaders.

The authors' professed thesis is the following: "The core of [change] is always about changing the behavior of people." [Found in the book's Preface]

After reading this all-encompassing dissertation however, the seasoned scholar may glean a slightly different message. Perhaps the authors say it best in Chapter 8 when they proclaim that: "To use all of the ideas in this chapter, and to avoid the mistakes, it is essential to understand... In a change effort, culture comes last, not first."

In any event, the authors set forth a multitude of stories to support the crux of their argument. This tact falls in line with their firm belief in a "see-feel-change" process. It is clearly evident that they intended to "practice what they preached" in the book's overall design.

Readers who are thoroughly invested in the creation of change for their organization will probably find this book somewhat "eye-opening." The authors' use of stories is exceptional in their dissemination of an eight-step process. Some may also find this book a bit scholarly in its mission to thoroughly pound each point home.

It's probably fair to say that this book is meant to be either read in its entirety or not at all. Each of the eight steps build off of each other. Despite some seemingly lengthy segments however, the authors' larger message is worth taking in.

What I love about this book is how John Kotter identifies in clear-cut steps the learning from each of the chapters and how the chapters track John Kotter's acid-clear eight steps for leading change. The stories he uses as benchmarks are riveting and easy to read. I frequently get asked by my clients to advise them on how to work through change. This is the book that they need to read. It is much like the same style that Jim Collins uses in his new book, Good to Great. These are the two best books for managers this year--without question. You want to keep this book in a handy spot. I will not put it on my book shelf.

I loved Leading Change, but I just couldn't seem to get so into this book. Yes, it's good to give people a "sense of urgency" to get things done. But can that sense of urgency really come from anything outside themselves? The book was too wordy for me and came across as shlock much of the time. Still, it did have some good ideas and so I would say, make up your mind for yourself.