Leading Change [Audiobook, CD, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

"Over the past decade," John P. Kotter writes, "I have watched more than a hundred companies try to remake themselves into significantly better competitors. They have included large organizations (Ford) and small ones (Landmark Communications), companies based in United States (General Motors) and elsewhere (British Airways), corporations that were on their knees (Eastern Airlines), and companies that were earning good money (Bristol-Myers Squibb). 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."
In this context, John P. Kotter lists the most general lessons to be learned from both (I) the more successful cases and (II) the critical mistakes as follows:
I. Lessons from the more successful cases:
1. Establishing a sense of urgency
* Examining market and competitive realities
* Identifying and discursing crises, potential crises, or major opportunities
2. Forming a powerful guiding coalition
* Assembling a group with enough power to lead the change effort
* Encouraging the group to work together as a team
3. Read more ›

Comment | 

I highly recommend this book for its easy-to-read-and-grasp approach to managing change. The book outlines an eight-stage change process that is intuitive and methodical. Kotter shows a change agent what to look for, what to emphasize, and how to orchestrate and maneuver through any organizational change. I appreciate the book's instructional tone without all the business jargon. As a leadership book, I consider it one of my two must reads (the other is Leadership 2.0).

Here's what's inside "Leading Change":

Part I: The Change Problem and Its Solution

1. Transforming Organizations: Why Firms Fail

2. Successful Change and the Force That Drives It

Part II: The Eight-Stage Process

3. Establishing a Sense of Urgency

4. Creating the Guiding Coalition

5. Developing a Vision and Strategy

6. Communication the Change Vision

7. Empowering Employees for Broad-Based Action

8. Generating Short-Term Wins

9. Consolidating Gains and Producing More Change

10. Anchoring New Approaches in the Culture

Part III: Implications For the Twenty-First Century

11. The Organization of the Future

12. Leadership and Lifelong Learning

Comment | 

The leaders of some organizations have no idea how to make successful changes, and are likely to waste a lot of resources on unsuccessful efforts. Professor Kotter has done a solid job of outlining the elements that must be addressed, so now your organization will at last know what they should be working on.
On the other hand, if you have not seen this done successfully before, you may need more detailed examples than this book provides or outside facilitators to help you until you have enough experience to go solo. I suspect this book will not be detailed enough by itself to get you where you want to go.
Here's a hint: The Harvard Business Review article by Professor Kotter covers the same material in a much shorter form. You can save time and money by checking this out first before buying the book.
I personally find that measurements are very helpful to create self-stimulation to change, and this book does not pay enough attention in that direction. If you agree that measurements are a useful way to stimulate change, be sure to read The Balanced Scorecard, as well, which will help you understand how to use appropriate measurements to make more successful changes.
If you want to know what changes to make, this book will also not do it for you. I suggest you read Peter Drucker's Management Challenges for the 21st Century and Peter Senge's Fifth Discipline.
Good luck!