The Heart of Change by John Kotter and Dan Cohen - Book Report/Review Example

Review/Analysis of John Kotter and Dan Cohens book, The Heart of Change Introduction The book, the Heart of change: real-life stories of how people change their organization produced by John P. Kotter and Dan S. Cohen shows an ideal method of achieving organizational change. All organizations reach a point where change is required to effect production and capacity to be effective (Floyd, 2002). The authors identify with the fact that unless people see some dramatic event that motivates them to react emotionally, they cannot be able to change their old and ineffective habits at work. The book provides an argument that emotion is important than money, memos and meetings and therefore a strong emotion arising from things than are observed is the biggest motivator for change to the things surrounding us. Whether the emotion is positive of negative, the idea relates to how strong it is felt and what is seen becomes irrelevant. However, what is seen needs to assert itself in the mind forever and be memorable enough for it to be able effect change. The two writers assert that people are not able to change what they do because they are presented with an analysis of what can shift their thinking instead of being presented with the truth of what would shift their feelings. This is more of a psychological case which influences the behavior of individuals thus identifying with inner feelings and attitudes. The book is mainly geared towards large scale organizational change initiatives which deal with globalization, mergers and acquisitions, new technological advancements, e-business, cultural transformations, new strategies and restructurings. The book identifies with the idea that successful organizations know how to go about change and are able to grab new opportunities and prevent any hazards that may accrue with it (Kotter & Cohen, 2002). They realize that taking big leaps leads to winning big and that it is not enough to have proportional gradual change. Large scale change as provided in the book is difficult and takes place in eight phases relating to pushing urgency up, putting together a guiding team, creating the visions and strategies, effectively communicating the visions and strategies, removing the barriers to action, accomplishing short term wins, pushing for wave after wave of change until the work to e achieved is done and eventually creating a new culture so that newly acquired behavior can stick. The first of the eight strategies to achieving organizational change entails pushing urgency up which involves basically recognizing the need for change and communicating it to the people (Kotter & Cohen, 2002). This addresses the failures the older system to meet the objectives of the firm and the needs of the human resource. As result, to achieve a reversed goal, there is need to create urgency in the change process which invokes different reactions from the workers and thus driving the need for changes. This identifies with the truth of what is being done currently and what need to be done in the future to effect changes in the firm. The second agenda entails coming up with a guiding team. The main focus of the team is to show the rest of the people the direction to follow by coming up with a plan to execute the transformation. Putting together a guiding team requires visionary people who see the need for alterations in the firm. The teams should possess the ability to influence the mental thinking of others by achieving effective emotional transformations in people which is the drive to change. The third phase entails coming up with vision and the strategies of the firm. The main idea of this is to help the workers identify with the needs of the organization, work towards a goal and show them a direction in which to operate (Floyd, 2002). The strategies of the firm are used to evaluate the output after every financial period. Setting up these new objectives involves various considerations of whether they are achievable, the production capacity of the firm and market trends. Fourthly, the eight steps include effectively communicating the visions and strategies (Kotter & Cohen, 2002). This move employs efficient communication channels and modes so as to ensure that the message conveyed to the recipients is clear, understandable and to the point. For the communication to be effective the message should be well received, interpreted and proper feedback or reaction expected needs to be as per the instructions. The employees of the firm need to master these vision and goals of the firm which present the underlying bases of work and adapt to the new changes both mentally and physically. The fifth phase involves removing barriers to action. The authors explain that this process is difficult and involves psychological transformations of the staff. Barriers may be attitudes to change and work, cultural and political interferences, culture and beliefs, legal issues and the environment. Eliminating the barriers to action provides a way forward for easy execution of duties. It reduces the interferences at work and thus the company can comfortably execute its duties. Another stage relates to accomplishing short term wins which then translate to long term achievements. Activities that can be effectively done during the short run should be executed first as Kotter says. These enable the managers to reflect on what is to be achieved in the future and is a motivating factor for continuous production. This is because, when short term goals are successful, it follows that the long term activities are likely to do well therefore acting as incentives to work. It is the role of the managers to keep pushing for wave after wave of change is accomplished up to the point when the complete work is done. The process of achieving change is not easy and people are bound to give up in the middle of it or even lose focus. Kotter and Cohen instill the need for continuous motivation until the tasks are completed. Work in progress does not provide incentive. However, when completed, people are able to look where they came from, evaluate all the steps to achievement and be glad they undertook the journey. Organizations need to be able to press forward to achieve change if progress is to be obtained (Floyd, 2002). The heart of change provides the final step of achieving organizational revolution which involves forming a new culture to make the newly acquired behaviors stick (Kotter & Cohen, 2002). The process of changing culture of the firm is difficult and often is met with resistance. Habits, as they say are second nature and as such are not easily altered. Eliminating creating a new culture will involve changes in perception and behaviors and managers should note the importance of promoting cultural integration and respect as well as professional ethics when incorporating this culture. Organizations culture is important in any firm as Kotter says as it promotes a culture of mutual interactions, respect and coexistence. Kotter and Cohen provide that changing the behavior of people in an organization is the biggest challenge in the eight step process. It shifts the emphasis on what people do and the significant shifts to these actions. It involves getting people to see the truth to influence their feelings and pattern of thought. Despite thinking and feelings being important, the heart of change, as the authors point out is in the emotions (Kotter & Cohen, 2002). Organizational change therefore becomes hard as it necessitates not only structural and operational modifications in the firm, but also behavior alterations. Kotter provides that the heart of change lies in the ability to make people think and feel differently so as to achieve shared objectives. The book has been written in a systematic manner to draw a people-driven approach where individuals are called to see the reason for revolution and feel it then change based on the emotions they have. They write that, `` In the most successful change case, individuals had a sense of passion. On the other hand, where change was less successful, individuals tended to intellectualize change’’ (Kotter & Cohen, 2002). In this case, emotion is at the heart of change. The first three of the eight steps create an environment for change, the next three present means of enabling and engaging the firm and the subsequent two show means of implementing and sustaining revolution. In conclusion, the eight-step change model recognizes the need for commitment, stakeholder engagement and a well formulated plan. Besides this, requires a clear vision, appropriate communication and good leadership. The authors have formulated a great approach and simplified the means through which managers can effectively achieve organizational modifications without necessarily affecting much of the success of the firm. They have prepared an excellent book for transformational change whose ideas have been well researched and formulated. The book comes highly recommended to individuals and businesses with an agenda of transforming and obtaining a great organizational culture. The various real life stories and examples presented are compelling and enhance the concept of how successful change can happen. In reality the book is interesting to study and has a more specific approach towards gaining what most organizations need which entails an organization culture that promotes business growth. References Kotter, J. & Cohen, D. (2002). The heart of change: real-life stories of how people change their organizations. Boston, Mass. Harvard Business School Press. Floyd, P. (2002). Organizational change. Oxford. Capstone Pub. Read More