The Heart of Change, Real-Life Stories of How People Change Their Organizations

John P Kottev and Dan S. Cohen (Harvard Business School Press: Boston MA, 2002)

Reviewed by Elishia Krauss

 

Niccolo Machiavelli once said:

 

there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its
success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.

 

Like Machiavelli, organizations today recognize the challenges associated with change, but many times, they have difficulty dealing with these challenges. So, how do organizations successfully implement a new order of things, especially in a rapidly changing information society?

 

Most management books would have you believe that you need new technology, processes, or organizational structures to achieve a new order; however, in their new book, The Heart of Change, authors John Kotter and Dan Cohen suggest that the most important element of a successful transformation is changing people's behavior. Specifically, the authors argue that change must influence people's emotions. Although most organizations believe that change is most successful when people are trained to think differently (through their minds), Kotter and Cohen argue that people must feel differently (through their hearts) to affect behavior.

 

Kotter's 1996 book Leading Change introduced an eight-step process associated with large-scale transformation. These steps are:

• Increase urgency.
• Build the guiding team.
• Get the right vision.
• Communicate for buy-in.
• Empower action.
• Create short-term wins.
• Don't let up.
• Make change stick.

In The Heart of Change, Kotter and Cohen dedicate a chapter on tools and techniques in each of these steps to change people's behaviors. The chapters provide stories, examples, and exercises that illuminate the chapter's theme. Kotter and Cohen use the stories to introduce the seeing-feeling-changing concept that explains the methods used to achieve positive change and to illustrate different approaches to changing people's attitudes.

 

Some of the unconventional methods utilized include using video cameras, displaying pictures on a public wall, and presenting other concrete items that spark an emotional response. In addition, useful summaries are included at the end of every chapter to identify what work/ldoes not work when doing a step in the process. More importantly, the authors present, in some chapters, exercises that teach the reader how to identify or accomplish a step in the process. Unfortunately, these useful exercises are not present in every chapter and there is no basis for including or excluding them from a section in the book.

 

This book does not offer any guidance on what needs to change in an organization to be successful in a complex environment. It does, however, show how to implement change successfully and alter people's behavior. Because of the easy-to-read content and layout, demonstrative examples, and practical advice, this book is an excellent how-to resource for successfully managing the process of change in all types of organizations, if not the ultimate goals of change.

 

Elishia Krauss is the branch chief for public works, economic development, and enterprise funds in the District of Columbia's office of budget and planning.