John Kotter’s change management model is one of the most enduring and widely referenced approaches to organizational change. First introduced in the 1990s and later refined, Kotter’s work remains influential because it addresses a core organizational reality:

Most large-scale change fails not because of poor ideas, but because of weak leadership, insufficient urgency, and failure to sustain momentum.

For change management professionals, Kotter provides:

• A leadership-centric lens on change
• A macro-level roadmap for transformation
• A framework that emphasizes energy, alignment, and execution

Kotter is not a detailed delivery methodology like Prosci, nor is it an iterative delivery model like Agile. It is best understood as a change leadership framework—focused on mobilizing organizations to move.

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1. The Core Premise of Kotter’s Model

Kotter’s approach is built on several foundational beliefs:

1	Change is emotional before it is analytical
2	Leadership, not management, drives transformation
3	Urgency is the engine of change
4	Momentum matters more than perfection

Kotter observed that many organizations fail because they:

• Move too slowly
• Declare victory too early
• Underestimate cultural inertia
• Delegate change instead of leading it

His model directly addresses these failure modes.

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2. Overview of the 8-Step Change Model

Kotter’s model consists of eight sequential steps, designed to guide organizations from inertia to sustained transformation:

1	Create a sense of urgency
2	Build a guiding coalition
3	Form a strategic vision and initiatives
4	Enlist a volunteer army
5	Enable action by removing barriers
6	Generate short-term wins
7	Sustain acceleration
8	Institute change

While often presented linearly, Kotter emphasized that steps can overlap, but none should be skipped.

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3. Step-by-Step Breakdown

Step 1: Create a Sense of Urgency

Purpose:
To motivate people to move out of complacency and engage with change.

Urgency is not panic. It is a shared belief that:

• The status quo is riskier than change
• Delay has consequences

Typical actions:

• Sharing market threats
• Highlighting performance gaps
• Exposing competitive realities
• Using data and storytelling together

For change professionals:

• Urgency is not a one-time communication
• It must be maintained, not just sparked
• False urgency erodes trust quickly

Common failure:

Leaders announce urgency, but continue behaving as if nothing is urgent.

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Step 2: Build a Guiding Coalition

Purpose:
To assemble a group with enough power, credibility, and influence to lead the change.

This coalition:

• Goes beyond hierarchy
• Includes formal and informal leaders
• Represents different parts of the organization

Key characteristics:

• Position power
• Expertise
• Credibility
• Leadership capability

For change professionals:

• This is not a steering committee
• It is an active leadership group
• Coalition members must model the change

Common failure:

Treating the coalition as a governance body instead of a leadership engine.

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Step 3: Form a Strategic Vision and Initiatives

Purpose:
To clarify where the organization is going and how it will get there.

Kotter defines a good vision as:

• Imaginable
• Desirable
• Feasible
• Focused
• Flexible
• Communicable

The vision is supported by strategic initiatives that make it tangible.

For change professionals:

• Vision is not a slogan
• It must guide decision-making
• It must be simple enough to repeat and defend

Common failure:

Overly complex visions that no one can explain or act on.

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Step 4: Enlist a Volunteer Army

Purpose:
To mobilize large numbers of people to drive change forward.

Kotter argues that:

• Big change requires more energy than formal authority can provide
• Volunteers outperform compliance-driven participants

This step emphasizes:

• Broad engagement
• Emotional commitment
• Distributed leadership

For change professionals:

• This is about activation, not consensus
• Volunteers amplify momentum
• Managers remain critical, but not sufficient

Common failure:

Assuming managers alone can carry the change.

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Step 5: Enable Action by Removing Barriers

Purpose:
To eliminate obstacles that undermine progress.

Barriers may include:

• Outdated processes
• Rigid structures
• Inadequate systems
• Misaligned incentives
• Resistant managers

For change professionals:

• This step requires political courage
• Barriers are often people with power
• Escalation and sponsorship are critical

Common failure:

Acknowledging barriers without removing them.

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Step 6: Generate Short-Term Wins

Purpose:
To build credibility, motivation, and momentum.

Short-term wins:

• Are visible
• Are unambiguous
• Clearly connect to the change vision

They:

• Silence critics
• Energize supporters
• Justify continued investment

For change professionals:

• Wins must be designed, not hoped for
• They must be celebrated deliberately
• They should reinforce desired behaviors

Common failure:

Treating early results as accidental rather than strategic.

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Step 7: Sustain Acceleration

Purpose:
To avoid the “false finish line” problem.

Kotter observed that many organizations:

• Celebrate early success
• Reduce pressure
• Lose momentum
• Revert to old behaviors

Sustaining acceleration means:

• Tackling bigger problems
• Bringing in more change leaders
• Continuously aligning systems

For change professionals:

• Fatigue is real, but complacency is fatal
• The goal is cumulative impact
• Momentum is fragile

Common failure:

Declaring victory too early.

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Step 8: Institute Change

Purpose:
To anchor new behaviors in organizational culture.

This involves:

• Aligning norms and values
• Embedding change into systems
• Reinforcing new ways of working
• Connecting behavior to performance

Kotter emphasizes:

“Culture changes last, not first.”

For change professionals:

• This step takes the longest
• It requires leadership consistency
• Turnover can either reinforce or undermine change

Common failure:

Assuming behavior change automatically becomes culture.

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4. Strengths of the Kotter Model

Kotter’s model remains powerful because it:

• Emphasizes leadership accountability
• Recognizes emotional drivers of change
• Addresses momentum and energy explicitly
• Works well for large-scale, enterprise change
• Is easy to understand and communicate

It is particularly effective when:

• Change is transformational
• Cultural shifts are required
• Organizational inertia is strong
• Leadership alignment is critical

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5. Limitations and Critiques

Despite its strengths, Kotter has limitations.

1. Linear perception

Although Kotter notes overlap, the model is often applied rigidly.

Problem:

• Modern change is often non-linear
• Iterative learning is underemphasized

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2. Limited guidance on execution detail

Kotter explains what must happen, not always how.

Implication:

• Requires complementary methods (e.g., Prosci, Agile)
• Less prescriptive for day-to-day change activities

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3. Heavy reliance on leadership behavior

If leadership:

• Is inconsistent
• Lacks credibility
• Avoids hard decisions

…the model collapses.

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4. Less suited to continuous change

Kotter excels in:

• Discrete, high-stakes transformations

It struggles with:

• Continuous product evolution
• Fast iteration cycles
• Decentralized decision-making

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5. Kotter vs Other Change Approaches (Brief Context)

• Compared to Prosci:
  Kotter focuses on organizational momentum and leadership, while Prosci focuses on individual adoption.
• Compared to Agile/Product-led change:
  Kotter assumes change must be mobilized and led, while Agile assumes change emerges through usage and iteration.

In practice:

Kotter provides the why and who, not the delivery mechanics.

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6. Practical Guidance for Change Management Professionals

To use Kotter effectively:

• Use it to shape leadership behavior, not as a checklist
• Pair it with execution frameworks
• Focus heavily on Steps 1, 2, and 7 (most common failure points)
• Treat urgency and momentum as ongoing work
• Translate vision into concrete decisions

Kotter works best when:

• Leaders lead
• Change professionals act as catalysts
• Execution methods fill in the detail

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Conclusion: Kotter as a Leadership Lens

Kotter’s change model endures because it captures something timeless:

Organizations do not change because they understand — they change because they feel compelled, supported, and led.

For change management professionals, Kotter is:

• A powerful diagnostic tool
• A leadership alignment framework
• A reminder that momentum matters

It should not be used in isolation, but when applied with judgment, it remains one of the most effective ways to mobilize large-scale change.