Change is inevitable, yet many organizations struggle to manage it effectively. In his book Our Iceberg Is Melting, John Kotter uses a parable of penguins dealing with a melting iceberg to illustrate the urgency and complexity of organizational change in a powerful way. Just like penguins, we too must adapt to survive and thrive amid changing circumstances. There is no avenue where we can avoid adaptation either – in oceans, rocks are shaped and smoothed under the pressure of waves. In forests, mosses and lichens cover surfaces feeding a vibrant ecosystem. Our bodies change and our cells age, showing changes slowly over time. Nothing in the natural world stays the same – and so we should not be fooled into the illusion that somehow our organizations, systems, processes and practices in our organizations should either. Organizations are, after all, living organisms as well though they may not seem it at the surface.

Kotter’s book is about how to effectively manage change, and while the world of change management has exploded over the past two decades, it appears to us still to be a fundamentally misunderstood endeavor.

Organizations bring change management functions in as a support function on large scale projects, and expect that somehow, these amazing agents of change will be able to make a difference while being relegated to a training and communications function at the tail end of implementation. Looking at just one definition, change management is the set of actions, disciplines and processes that prepare, equip and support people moving through change, so that change can be successfully adopted. Depending on how you read this, you can read it as a team that does training and communications - but from all of our collective experience in Agile adoption, transformations and overall delivery improvements (which is fundamentally an exercise in change), we know that the most successful outcomes are the ones that are strongly enabled up front from the start, with substantial support and involvement from leadership. Therein lies a disconnect from what the popular schools of change management teach these days.  

There are many different schools of thought regarding the gold standard of how to enable, enact, or manage change in organizations, and Kotter’s 8 Steps is just one of the few that exist out there. We haven’t selected just Kotter’s because we advocate for him over Lewin’s earlier works or Prosci’s ADKAR model on the same subject matter (though if you can tell from the above, we aren’t their biggest fans. We consider their work overly linear, simplistic and poorly shoe-horned into what change management ought to look like). We selected these because they summarize quite neatly, if also in a simplified linear way, what we need to consider when building organizations that thrive in complexity.  

Below we will explain Kotter’s 8 steps, and then show you what we believe this “ought to” look like.  

Kotter’s 8 Steps Outlined

1. Creating Urgency- The first step in Kotter’s model emphasizes the importance of creating a real sense of urgency. In the story, a penguin demonstrates the melting problem by freezing a water bottle, which breaks, visually emphasizing the need for immediate action. This tangible demonstration is more impactful than data alone, urging the team to recognize and react to the impending threat.
2. Forming a Powerful Coalition- Effective change requires a “coalition” (team or group) of individuals who can drive the initiative forward. This means bringing together a diverse group with different perspectives and skills. A cross-functional team can better understand the problem and develop comprehensive solutions, much like in any business setting.
3. Crafting a Vision- Creating a clear, compelling vision is crucial for guiding the change process. (Ahem** our point as to why leadership needs to be involved). In the story, the vision explains why the change is necessary and how it benefits everyone. It must be simple, relatable, and resonate with all members of the organization, ensuring that everyone is on the same page.
4. Communicating the Vision- Simply having a vision isn’t enough though; it needs to be communicated effectively and relentlessly (most change management as we know it over-indexes on this, often at the expense of the other steps). Varied communication methods help reinforce the message and ensure buy-in from all stakeholders. We recommend this becomes a continuous and ongoing process in co-creating the outcome thus increasing ownership (see point 5 below) and engagement.
5. Empowering Action- Enabling action involves removing barriers and empowering individuals to contribute to the change. The penguins encourage participation by creating an environment where everyone feels capable of making a difference. This step is vital for maintaining momentum and ensuring that the change process continues smoothly.
6. Creating Quick Wins- Small victories are essential for building momentum. In the story, the penguins celebrate each small win to keep the team motivated and demonstrate progress. These quick wins help show that the change is happening and encourage others to join the effort. Also, quick wins help contextualize the iterative and incremental nature of change and offset the burden of friction that change often includes.
7. Building on the Change- Once initial changes are made, it’s crucial to build on them by tackling more significant challenges. The penguins expand their efforts, ensuring that the change is sustainable and ingrained in their daily practices. In any organization, this means maintaining focus and continuously improving processes.
8. Institutionalizing the Change- Embedding new practices into the culture is the final step. The penguins make the new behaviors a part of their everyday life, ensuring that they are prepared for future challenges. For businesses, this means creating a culture that embraces change and is resilient in the face of new obstacles. (We subscribe to the Roger Connors & Tom Smith thinking around culture, from their book “Change the Culture, Change the Game”)

Except Change is NOT Linear

A note about linearity – we know change does NOT happen in a linear manner. Change is not based on a simple proportional relationship between cause and effect – nor should we expect this, since very little (if anything) in our increasingly complex world has predictability (but hindsight is almost always 20/20).

Because we recognize the limitation of this, and the other change models, we recommend seeing the 8 steps as an ongoing cycle:

• where creating urgency becomes “maintaining urgency”
• where the formed guiding coalitions become our strongest change agents
• where forming a compelling vision becomes “re-iterating and contextualizing the compelling vision”
• where communicating the vision becomes a consistent practice of meeting with teams and transparently sharing updates
• where empowering action works in tandem with communication sessions as a bi-lateral feedback and co-creation mechanism
• where creating quick wins becomes second nature and institutionalizes the change

See our model below:

At IncrementOne, we help organizations recognize, enable and lead change. We focus on the importance of leadership paving the way for the change to take place and delivering sustainable processes, practices and approaches to driving successful change.  

We also discuss this topic in our podcast. If you prefer listening over reading, here is the link to the episode or if you want to learn more about how IncrementOne can support your organization through change, book a consultation with us today.