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The Heart of Change: Real-Life Stories of How People Change Their Organizations
Why is organizational change so hard? Because in order to make any transformation successful, you must change more than just the structure and operations of an organization—you need to change people’s behavior. And that is never easy.
The Heart of Change is your guide to helping people think and feel differently in order to meet your shared goals. According to bestselling author and renowned leadership expert John Kotter and coauthor Dan Cohen, this focus on connecting with people’s emotions is what will spark the behavior change and actions that lead to success. Now freshly designed, The Heart of Change is the engaging and essential complement to John Kotter’s international bestseller Leading Change.
Building off of Kotter’s revolutionary eight-step process, this book vividly illustrates how large-scale business change can work. With real-life stories of people in organizations, the authors show how teams and individuals get motivated and activated to overcome obstacles to change—and produce spectacular results. Kotter and Cohen argue that change initiatives often fail because leaders rely too exclusively on data and analysis to get buy-in from their teams, instead of creatively showing or doing something that appeals to their emotions and inspires them to spring into action. They call this the see-feel-change dynamic; and it is crucial for the success of any true organizational transformation.
Refreshingly clear and eminently practical, The Heart of Change is required reading for anyone facing change and looking to build their leadership skills.
Published by Harvard Business Review Press.
The Heart of Change is your guide to helping people think and feel differently in order to meet your shared goals. According to bestselling author and renowned leadership expert John Kotter and coauthor Dan Cohen, this focus on connecting with people’s emotions is what will spark the behavior change and actions that lead to success. Now freshly designed, The Heart of Change is the engaging and essential complement to John Kotter’s international bestseller Leading Change.
Building off of Kotter’s revolutionary eight-step process, this book vividly illustrates how large-scale business change can work. With real-life stories of people in organizations, the authors show how teams and individuals get motivated and activated to overcome obstacles to change—and produce spectacular results. Kotter and Cohen argue that change initiatives often fail because leaders rely too exclusively on data and analysis to get buy-in from their teams, instead of creatively showing or doing something that appeals to their emotions and inspires them to spring into action. They call this the see-feel-change dynamic; and it is crucial for the success of any true organizational transformation.
Refreshingly clear and eminently practical, The Heart of Change is required reading for anyone facing change and looking to build their leadership skills.
Published by Harvard Business Review Press.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 2002
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3469 people want to read
About the author
John P. Kotter
131 books501 followersJohn P. Kotter, world-renowned expert on leadership, is the author of many books, including Leading Change, Our Iceberg is Melting, The Heart of Change, and his latest book, That's Not How We Do It Here!. He is the Konosuke Matsushita Professor of Leadership, Emeritus at the Harvard Business School, and a graduate of MIT and Harvard. He is co-founder of Kotter International, a change management and strategy execution firm that helps organizations engage employees in a movement to drive change and reach sustainable results. He and his wife Nancy live in Boston, Massachusetts.
http://www.kotterinternational.com/ab...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 118 reviews
April 28, 2008
Harry C. Edwards wrote this review. The Heart of Change is the follow-up to John Kotter's enormously popular book Leading Change, in which he outlines a framework for implementing change that sidesteps many of the pitfalls common to organizations looking to turn themselves around. The essence of Kotter's message is this: the reason so many change initiatives fail is that they rely too much on "data gathering, analysis, report writing, and presentations" instead of a more creative approach aimed at grabbing the "feelings that motivate useful action." In The Heart of Change, Kotter, with the help of Dan Cohen, a partner at Deloitte Consulting, shows how his eight-step approach has worked at over 100 organizations. In just about every case, change happened because the players were led to "see" and "feel" the change. In one example, a sales representative underscores a sense of urgency to change a manufacturing process by showing a videotaped interview with an unhappy customer; in another, a purchasing manager makes his point to senior management about corporate waste by displaying on the company's boardroom table the 424 different kinds of gloves that the company had procured through different vendors at vastly different prices. Well written and loaded with real-life examples and practical advice, The Heart of Change towers over other change-management titles. Managers and employees at organizations both big and small will find much to draw from. Highly recommended. --Harry C. Edwards
December 19, 2012
This book is a follow-up to Leading Change. It illustrates Kotter's change theory (see next paragraph) with real stories. Main finding of The Heart of Change: the central issue is never strategy, structure, culture, or systems - core of the matter is always about changing behavior or people which happens mostly by speaking to their feelings. Highly successful change efforts folow a seeing-feeling-changing pattern.
Kotter's eight stages: push urgency up, put together a guiding team, create the vision and strategies, effectively communicate the vision and strategies, remove barriers to action, accomplish short-term wins, keep pushing for wave after wave of change until the work is done, and create a new culture to make new behavior stick
My favorite stories from the book:
Gloves on the Boardroom Table
Meeting Down Under
The Plane Will Not Move!
The Body in the Living Room
Making Movies on the Factory Floor
Reducing 25 Pages to 2
The Street
The Path to the Patient
The Home Mortgage
Kotter's eight stages: push urgency up, put together a guiding team, create the vision and strategies, effectively communicate the vision and strategies, remove barriers to action, accomplish short-term wins, keep pushing for wave after wave of change until the work is done, and create a new culture to make new behavior stick
My favorite stories from the book:
Gloves on the Boardroom Table
Meeting Down Under
The Plane Will Not Move!
The Body in the Living Room
Making Movies on the Factory Floor
Reducing 25 Pages to 2
The Street
The Path to the Patient
The Home Mortgage
July 8, 2019
This is a sequel to the seminal book “Leading change” by Kotter. I stumbled onto the original book via an HBR article and was surprised by how relevant the book was, even forty years after being written. This book “Heart of change” expounds further on the 8 stage framework for leading transformational change and explains how people need to “see” changes, “feel” deeply about the desired change and only then be able to effectively change. More importantly, the book provides compelling real world stories of how change happened in many companies. If you are trying to effect a transformation of any sort in your org, this book is invaluable. Very relatable and actionable.
November 22, 2021
Step 1: Increase Urgency
Step 2: Build the Guiding Team
Step 3: Get the Vision Right Step 4: Communicate for Buy-In
Step 5: Empower Action
Step 6: Create Short-Term Wins
Step 7: Don't Let Up
Step 8: Make Change Stick
Step 1: Increase Urgency
According to Kotter and Cohen, the first stage of large-scale transformation should be to
create a sense of urgency that the change is necessary. Urgency helps motivate personnel
to overcome complacency, fear, anger, or pessimism, which result in resistance. But how to
increase urgency without also increasing fear and anger? The book suggests first developing
a clear problem definition and then using visual presentations that communicate why the
changes are needed. Some examples include videos of valued customers describing their
frustrations with the company, examples of excessive spending during tight budgets, etc.
Step 2: Build the Guiding Team
Successful change needs effective leadership to provide the vision and to manage the
process. The guiding team requires individuals with the right attitude, skills, and power.
These skills include: relevant knowledge of the competitive environment and internal
operations, credibility, connections, leadership and managerial skills. Useful teams require
real teamwork. They 1) Share a similar sense of urgency, 2) Are guided by clear leadership,
3) Coordinate their efforts through well-managed meetings.
Step 3: Get the Vision Right
The guiding team is empowered to create a compelling picture of the organization's future.
The successful vision will be bold, inspirational, clear, and credible. Though typical strategic
planning activities such as budgeting and action planning fail to be motivators in
themselves, Cohen and Kotter suggest they can provide a useful foundation for guiding the
development of an effective vision. Winning visions avoid evoking resistance by focusing on
2
a positive portrait of the future. Merely concentrating on efficiency raises the twin spectres
of right-sizing and budget-cutting, which in turn raise resistance.
Step 4: Communicate for Buy-In
With a vision in place, the guiding team has a powerful tool for obtaining the buy-in of
management and the workforce. Persuasive communication requires leaders to deliver the
message personally, clearly, and with confidence. According to The Heart of Change, this is
leadership's chance to address the emotional issues raised by change - "You need to show
people something that addresses their anxieties, that accepts their anger, that is credible in
a very gut-level sense, and that evokes faith in the vision" (p. 84).
Step 5: Empower Action
The authors’ take the stand that empowerment is less about giving more power and
responsibility and should, instead, be about reducing employees' impediments to doing their
jobs right. The authors describe four common barriers: 1) the "boss" barrier, 2) the
"system" barrier, 3) barriers in the mind, 4) information barriers.
In addressing the boss barrier, Kotter and Cohen recommend assigning resistant managers
to where the problems are most acute, where they can see and feel for themselves the
results of the problem. Fixing the system barrier often means realigning rewards policies so
employee innovators aren't punished for trying new ways of doing things. Barriers in the
mind are those self-fulfilling prophecies people tell themselves about large-scale change
being impossible. Possible solutions include communicating small success stories and
bringing in people from outside the organization to recount corporate victories in similar
circumstances.
The final barrier listed was the personal information barrier where individuals in the
organization are unaware of their impact on organizational change. Suggestions given in the
book included using videotapes and other types of observation that allowed employees and
teams to view themselves in a non-threatening forum. Using the concept of see-feelchange, barriers to positive change can best be removed when the persons creating them
can experience the barriers from a safe perspective that does not give rise to emotions of
anger or fear, and creates the opportunity for transformation to take place.
Step 6: Create Short-Term Wins
Kotter and Cohen´s Step 6 is about creating short-term wins. Long-term initiatives where
all the successes happen at the end of the initiative leave too much room for doubts to
creep in and deflate change momentum. Good leaders will create or find short-term wins
and then sincerely communicate them throughout the organization. Usually the targets for
these wins are low-hanging fruit – issues that are readily addressed - or important players
to the organization. The objective is to have successes that show clear progress, which is
3
both evident and meaningful. If quick wins address employee concerns, then they: 1)
Provide feedback about the validity of the change effort, 2) Give an emotional uplift, and 3)
Build confidence. However, if they are blown out of proportion, over-hyped, or insincere,
cynicism is deepened and the workforce's trust in management is further eroded.
Step 7: Don't Let Up
Kotter and Cohen assert that it is essential for change leaders to maintain the momentum
created by the quick wins, otherwise urgency fades. With early successes under the belt,
change participants can directly address the more difficult political and organizational
issues. People need to feel motivated by the successes. They should also be empowered to
take further risks without feeling that the cost of failure would be overwhelming. With
momentum behind them, change leaders will have a greater ability to realign organizational
process to better reflect the new strategies. The authors note that organizations can reach a
point of overload, where there is not enough time to do all the old work and adopt new
initiatives. His suggestion is to reduce the workload by simplifying whenever possible and
cutting out anything which is not value-added. For those that are overwhelmed, yet still
seeking to do more, the book offers a useful reminder - "Dying will not help." People need
to take the time to take care of their physical and emotional health in order to be effective
change agents.
Step 8: Make Change Stick
Often, after initial alterations are made in the organization, managers and employees have
a tendency to slip back into old routines. Sustained changes in work processes require
changes in culture and these changes take time. Continued successes help to make the
changes stick, but it also requires committed management. By promoting individuals who
reflect the new norms, management builds a leadership-base around the new culture and
reinforces the type of traits they desire in their managers. Organizations can also use hiring
and the new-employee orientation process as a method for emphasizing the new
expectations into the culture. Sustaining change requires vigilance. By supporting
employees that support the business transformation, companies reinforce the changes they
seek.
Overall, The Heart of Change makes for a quick and interesting read. The authors use their
See-Feel-Change method as their format, letting the personal stories of people they
interviewed illustrate key principles. These anecdotes – which range from the work of an
intern to two former South African enemy generals stranded at see – lend credibility to the
book.
The story of the intern is a quick picture into the power of visuals (the See principle) to
activate motivation for change. A summer student working for a purchasing manager
collected a sample of every type of glove that a company was purchasing across all divisions
and factories. The resulting pile of 424 gloves was laid out in the executive meeting room
4
for a corporate planning session. The massive duplication of purchasing effort and the wide
disparity in prices paid by each division for the very same glove quickly inspired the
managers involved to SEE the problem, FEEL the need for improvement, and then make the
CHANGE.
Kotter and Cohen’s approach as seekers of practical principles rather than as purveyors of
their own expert solution came across as refreshingly honest. They let the people they
interviewed tell their own stories and the lessons they learned from them. As I read the
book, I was struck by the parallels to Appreciative Inquiry and Solution Focused approaches
where the clients are considered the experts and where the consultants respect and
cooperate with the expertise of the individuals involved in a change effort.
Additionally, the authors addressed the very real – but often ignored – issues of human
emotion. The concepts of trust, integrity, honesty, and credibility form the bedrock for their
approach to organizational change. Instead of being manipulated, each participant in the
change effort is made an owner of their part of the sought after changes.
The format of the book makes it accessible for the lay change agent, whether production
supervisor or a corporate manager. Each chapter ends with suggested exercises and a brief
reminder of the chapter’s key lessons. This simple, organized layout makes for an easy
read.
For the experienced professional in organizational development and change management,
this book will be a quick reminder of what works. For those that are just entering the waters
of change management or are looking for a new way of doing things, The Heart of Change
will be an optimistic eye-opener that lends hope to the change process and provide practical
steps along the way.
Step 2: Build the Guiding Team
Step 3: Get the Vision Right Step 4: Communicate for Buy-In
Step 5: Empower Action
Step 6: Create Short-Term Wins
Step 7: Don't Let Up
Step 8: Make Change Stick
Step 1: Increase Urgency
According to Kotter and Cohen, the first stage of large-scale transformation should be to
create a sense of urgency that the change is necessary. Urgency helps motivate personnel
to overcome complacency, fear, anger, or pessimism, which result in resistance. But how to
increase urgency without also increasing fear and anger? The book suggests first developing
a clear problem definition and then using visual presentations that communicate why the
changes are needed. Some examples include videos of valued customers describing their
frustrations with the company, examples of excessive spending during tight budgets, etc.
Step 2: Build the Guiding Team
Successful change needs effective leadership to provide the vision and to manage the
process. The guiding team requires individuals with the right attitude, skills, and power.
These skills include: relevant knowledge of the competitive environment and internal
operations, credibility, connections, leadership and managerial skills. Useful teams require
real teamwork. They 1) Share a similar sense of urgency, 2) Are guided by clear leadership,
3) Coordinate their efforts through well-managed meetings.
Step 3: Get the Vision Right
The guiding team is empowered to create a compelling picture of the organization's future.
The successful vision will be bold, inspirational, clear, and credible. Though typical strategic
planning activities such as budgeting and action planning fail to be motivators in
themselves, Cohen and Kotter suggest they can provide a useful foundation for guiding the
development of an effective vision. Winning visions avoid evoking resistance by focusing on
2
a positive portrait of the future. Merely concentrating on efficiency raises the twin spectres
of right-sizing and budget-cutting, which in turn raise resistance.
Step 4: Communicate for Buy-In
With a vision in place, the guiding team has a powerful tool for obtaining the buy-in of
management and the workforce. Persuasive communication requires leaders to deliver the
message personally, clearly, and with confidence. According to The Heart of Change, this is
leadership's chance to address the emotional issues raised by change - "You need to show
people something that addresses their anxieties, that accepts their anger, that is credible in
a very gut-level sense, and that evokes faith in the vision" (p. 84).
Step 5: Empower Action
The authors’ take the stand that empowerment is less about giving more power and
responsibility and should, instead, be about reducing employees' impediments to doing their
jobs right. The authors describe four common barriers: 1) the "boss" barrier, 2) the
"system" barrier, 3) barriers in the mind, 4) information barriers.
In addressing the boss barrier, Kotter and Cohen recommend assigning resistant managers
to where the problems are most acute, where they can see and feel for themselves the
results of the problem. Fixing the system barrier often means realigning rewards policies so
employee innovators aren't punished for trying new ways of doing things. Barriers in the
mind are those self-fulfilling prophecies people tell themselves about large-scale change
being impossible. Possible solutions include communicating small success stories and
bringing in people from outside the organization to recount corporate victories in similar
circumstances.
The final barrier listed was the personal information barrier where individuals in the
organization are unaware of their impact on organizational change. Suggestions given in the
book included using videotapes and other types of observation that allowed employees and
teams to view themselves in a non-threatening forum. Using the concept of see-feelchange, barriers to positive change can best be removed when the persons creating them
can experience the barriers from a safe perspective that does not give rise to emotions of
anger or fear, and creates the opportunity for transformation to take place.
Step 6: Create Short-Term Wins
Kotter and Cohen´s Step 6 is about creating short-term wins. Long-term initiatives where
all the successes happen at the end of the initiative leave too much room for doubts to
creep in and deflate change momentum. Good leaders will create or find short-term wins
and then sincerely communicate them throughout the organization. Usually the targets for
these wins are low-hanging fruit – issues that are readily addressed - or important players
to the organization. The objective is to have successes that show clear progress, which is
3
both evident and meaningful. If quick wins address employee concerns, then they: 1)
Provide feedback about the validity of the change effort, 2) Give an emotional uplift, and 3)
Build confidence. However, if they are blown out of proportion, over-hyped, or insincere,
cynicism is deepened and the workforce's trust in management is further eroded.
Step 7: Don't Let Up
Kotter and Cohen assert that it is essential for change leaders to maintain the momentum
created by the quick wins, otherwise urgency fades. With early successes under the belt,
change participants can directly address the more difficult political and organizational
issues. People need to feel motivated by the successes. They should also be empowered to
take further risks without feeling that the cost of failure would be overwhelming. With
momentum behind them, change leaders will have a greater ability to realign organizational
process to better reflect the new strategies. The authors note that organizations can reach a
point of overload, where there is not enough time to do all the old work and adopt new
initiatives. His suggestion is to reduce the workload by simplifying whenever possible and
cutting out anything which is not value-added. For those that are overwhelmed, yet still
seeking to do more, the book offers a useful reminder - "Dying will not help." People need
to take the time to take care of their physical and emotional health in order to be effective
change agents.
Step 8: Make Change Stick
Often, after initial alterations are made in the organization, managers and employees have
a tendency to slip back into old routines. Sustained changes in work processes require
changes in culture and these changes take time. Continued successes help to make the
changes stick, but it also requires committed management. By promoting individuals who
reflect the new norms, management builds a leadership-base around the new culture and
reinforces the type of traits they desire in their managers. Organizations can also use hiring
and the new-employee orientation process as a method for emphasizing the new
expectations into the culture. Sustaining change requires vigilance. By supporting
employees that support the business transformation, companies reinforce the changes they
seek.
Overall, The Heart of Change makes for a quick and interesting read. The authors use their
See-Feel-Change method as their format, letting the personal stories of people they
interviewed illustrate key principles. These anecdotes – which range from the work of an
intern to two former South African enemy generals stranded at see – lend credibility to the
book.
The story of the intern is a quick picture into the power of visuals (the See principle) to
activate motivation for change. A summer student working for a purchasing manager
collected a sample of every type of glove that a company was purchasing across all divisions
and factories. The resulting pile of 424 gloves was laid out in the executive meeting room
4
for a corporate planning session. The massive duplication of purchasing effort and the wide
disparity in prices paid by each division for the very same glove quickly inspired the
managers involved to SEE the problem, FEEL the need for improvement, and then make the
CHANGE.
Kotter and Cohen’s approach as seekers of practical principles rather than as purveyors of
their own expert solution came across as refreshingly honest. They let the people they
interviewed tell their own stories and the lessons they learned from them. As I read the
book, I was struck by the parallels to Appreciative Inquiry and Solution Focused approaches
where the clients are considered the experts and where the consultants respect and
cooperate with the expertise of the individuals involved in a change effort.
Additionally, the authors addressed the very real – but often ignored – issues of human
emotion. The concepts of trust, integrity, honesty, and credibility form the bedrock for their
approach to organizational change. Instead of being manipulated, each participant in the
change effort is made an owner of their part of the sought after changes.
The format of the book makes it accessible for the lay change agent, whether production
supervisor or a corporate manager. Each chapter ends with suggested exercises and a brief
reminder of the chapter’s key lessons. This simple, organized layout makes for an easy
read.
For the experienced professional in organizational development and change management,
this book will be a quick reminder of what works. For those that are just entering the waters
of change management or are looking for a new way of doing things, The Heart of Change
will be an optimistic eye-opener that lends hope to the change process and provide practical
steps along the way.
April 21, 2013
I kinda have mixed feelings on this one.
Con: it was a little on the repetitive/boring side.
Pro: repetition is the mother of all learning.
Con: it's written targeted at middle/senior managers (ie, not me)
Con: it doesn't talk about the fundamentals as much as Switch
Pro: it has a more step-by-step framework than Switch
I guess I'd say it's a really good book for a manager type to read (as opposed to Switch, which I would recommend for a peon like myself). But the first book I'd suggest for a manger would be Drive (this is a reasonable second).
Con: it was a little on the repetitive/boring side.
Pro: repetition is the mother of all learning.
Con: it's written targeted at middle/senior managers (ie, not me)
Con: it doesn't talk about the fundamentals as much as Switch
Pro: it has a more step-by-step framework than Switch
I guess I'd say it's a really good book for a manager type to read (as opposed to Switch, which I would recommend for a peon like myself). But the first book I'd suggest for a manger would be Drive (this is a reasonable second).
March 21, 2023
คำโปรยปกหลังทำให้ซื้อหนังสือเล่มนี้มาอ่าน กลไก "มองเห็น รู้สึก เปลี่ยนแปลง" สั้น กระชับ จำง่าย ใช้งานได้จริง เรื่องราวต่างๆในหนังสือทำให้เข้าใจแต่ละขั้นตอนของการเปลี่ยนแปลง
เราอ่านและได้ใช้ประโยชน์จากหนังสือเล่มนี้
เราอ่านและได้ใช้ประโยชน์จากหนังสือเล่มนี้
May 2, 2020
Este libro me ha sorprendido gratamente. Pensaba que iba a ser un libro académico y demasiado teórico, pero se lee con rapidez y deja claros los conceptos. Para aquellas personas que estén interesadas en cómo se gestiona el cambio, pienso que es una lectura imprescindible.
Kotter es precisamente famoso por haber estudiado organizaciones y los cambios que se producen en ellas. En "The heart of change" Kotter recomienda convencer primero los corazones de los empleados (apelar a sus sentimientos positivos), y luego "atacar" sus mentes con planes más detallados. Eso es lo más interesante del libro. Muchas veces he visto presentaciones sobre el cambio que son un torre de diapositivas con datos, gráficos y número tras número, cuando lo necesario para arrancar el proceso son pocas ideas y mucha rapidez. Debemos hablar de meses, no de años (aunque el cambio es algo constante).
Un libro imprescindible para l@s que estén interesad@s en cómo funcionan las organizaciones y se convence a un grupo de personas para actuar
Kotter es precisamente famoso por haber estudiado organizaciones y los cambios que se producen en ellas. En "The heart of change" Kotter recomienda convencer primero los corazones de los empleados (apelar a sus sentimientos positivos), y luego "atacar" sus mentes con planes más detallados. Eso es lo más interesante del libro. Muchas veces he visto presentaciones sobre el cambio que son un torre de diapositivas con datos, gráficos y número tras número, cuando lo necesario para arrancar el proceso son pocas ideas y mucha rapidez. Debemos hablar de meses, no de años (aunque el cambio es algo constante).
Un libro imprescindible para l@s que estén interesad@s en cómo funcionan las organizaciones y se convence a un grupo de personas para actuar
April 5, 2019
Businesses and large organizations need to change in order to stay competitive and relevant. But change is hard and there are many that think that good enough is good enough, or that it's work so far... Kotter has 8 steps and lots of stories to help demonstrate how a manager will lead the change.
Why I started this book: Audio for the win.
Why I finished it: Short audio, with some great but dated stories. (First published in 1994) Video conferencing is going to be a huge management win. Good reminder that humans are emotional creatures and stories and examples that show in concrete and emotional terms the cost of something will stick for a long time. 400+ gloves with the various prices paid on a conference table has a greater impact than just putting it in a power point.
Why I started this book: Audio for the win.
Why I finished it: Short audio, with some great but dated stories. (First published in 1994) Video conferencing is going to be a huge management win. Good reminder that humans are emotional creatures and stories and examples that show in concrete and emotional terms the cost of something will stick for a long time. 400+ gloves with the various prices paid on a conference table has a greater impact than just putting it in a power point.
September 7, 2020
A decent book for managing large-scale change in organizations.
It heavily relies on the stories presented throughout the book, rather than logically justifying the proposed steps (there are 8 steps total). While the steps make sense, I found little presented evidence that omission of the steps has dire consequences, as the book claims.
The editing was a bit rough. In several places, the presented story or the little chart each chapter has were spliced into the main text of the book haphazardly. So you read a 2 page story, and then have to go back to remind yourself what the main text was talking about.
7/10.
It heavily relies on the stories presented throughout the book, rather than logically justifying the proposed steps (there are 8 steps total). While the steps make sense, I found little presented evidence that omission of the steps has dire consequences, as the book claims.
The editing was a bit rough. In several places, the presented story or the little chart each chapter has were spliced into the main text of the book haphazardly. So you read a 2 page story, and then have to go back to remind yourself what the main text was talking about.
7/10.
September 22, 2023
"The Heart of Change: Real-Life Stories of How People Change Their Organizations" is a book written by John P. Kotter, a well-known author and expert in the field of leadership and organizational change. The book was first published in 2002 and offers insights and practical advice on how to lead successful organizational change initiatives.
In "The Heart of Change," Kotter focuses on the human side of change management and highlights the importance of engaging and motivating people to drive organizational transformations. The book is structured around real-life stories and case studies of organizations that have undergone successful change efforts.
In "The Heart of Change," Kotter focuses on the human side of change management and highlights the importance of engaging and motivating people to drive organizational transformations. The book is structured around real-life stories and case studies of organizations that have undergone successful change efforts.
May 22, 2019
A very good book for change management at organisation and successful transformation. Author explain 8 steps for successful change management. As an entrepreneur and business owner, you must have this book in his/her library. This is not just a one-time read but you can refer it several times as a textbook. The Heart of Change can be a guide to helping people think and feel differently in order to meet their shared goals.
Watch our full review for the book here
https://youtu.be/EI3zzIyL8QI
Watch our full review for the book here
https://youtu.be/EI3zzIyL8QI
March 24, 2022
A really great book on understanding how to lead the change. I loved the examples involving real companies and real people, the examples are about successes and failures which makes the sound very true. JP Kotter really emphasizes affecting people feelings and emotions to start the change, continue and not stop in the middle. A great guide with specific steps on how to lead change - highly recommend for any and all leaders!
January 9, 2017
I liked the fact that the book was built around examples, which makes the arguments and ideas more sticky.
On the other hand, I'm skeptic about the whole concept of top-down large scale organizational change. I've read this book in the midst of my study of lean practices and principles and find those very superior in terms of change prescriptions and dynamics.
On the other hand, I'm skeptic about the whole concept of top-down large scale organizational change. I've read this book in the midst of my study of lean practices and principles and find those very superior in terms of change prescriptions and dynamics.
December 2, 2021
I read this for a work book club. I've read a few other change management books and this one provided absolutely nothing new. It also included tired examples that I've seen in other books, like the "gloves" example. If you have never read a change management book, this is useful. If you have, not so much.
November 17, 2024
The book is now over 20 years old but the real-life stories in there may still be relevant if you can apply one of their principles to your situation or company. Certainly, the organizations I have been a part of have not done change very well. I thought it was interesting that they referenced the power of a good story by mentioning the role of parables in the Bible.
March 13, 2018
I really enjoyed this book! I had to read it for my Doctorate, but the author makes the steps of organizational change easier to understand through storytelling. The tactic helps you to absorb the information as well as inspire you to take action. Great book!
January 18, 2025
The Heart of Change has numerous solid examples of tactics you can use to implement an effective change strategy in your organization. Geared toward businesses, these tactics can also be adapted to nonprofits. Some of them anyone can implement, but many require substantial buy-in from leadership.
March 26, 2017
I had to read this book for an organizational change course in my Ed.D. program --- I was not interested in this topic before, but I really did love this book! The practical examples that were included made for a fun and practical read.
July 20, 2017
Had to read this book for a class. It wasn't exactly riveting but it gave some helpful tips.
October 31, 2017
Mi s-a parut greoi scrisa. N-am tras mari invataminte din ea.
February 24, 2018
This appreciate John Kotter's evidence-based approach. I have suggested this book to many clients. Bravo, John!
March 21, 2018
Very practical approach to change. Read for EdD program.
June 13, 2018
Better than I thought, but most management are jerks so I doubt much of it would work.
June 26, 2018
Great case studies of companies who have leveraged the 8 step organizational transformation stages of John Kotter's framework.
September 14, 2018
Explains 8 steps to changing a group of people for a better organization. Good read.
July 18, 2019
So-so
Not, terrible, possibly useful, but underwhelming as one of the “classics” of new management literature. Much preferred Drive or Switch.
Not, terrible, possibly useful, but underwhelming as one of the “classics” of new management literature. Much preferred Drive or Switch.
September 6, 2019
Good academic book for MBA
March 30, 2020
I'm skimmed this a bit, but it was still quite good. I appreciated the real life stories. It was encouraging to read how organizations found ways to get to the heart of change.
May 8, 2020
A lot of stories to prove and show the theory published in book "Leading Change" 6 years previously.
SEE -> FEEL -> CHANGE
Emotion plays big part of it.
SEE -> FEEL -> CHANGE
Emotion plays big part of it.
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