Stage 4 of the 8-Stage Process of Transformation

Communicating the Change Vision

Part of our Series on Leading & Adopting Change

What good does a powerful vision do if no one hears, understands, or supports it?

A great vision can accomplish goals even if it’s only understood by your key leaders, but real transformation happens when that vision sinks deeply into the minds and hearts of most of the people in your organization.

In this series on leading and adopting change, we’re summarizing the book by John Kotter, Leading Change, chapter by chapter. Our goal is to inspire and equip you to bring about lasting change in your Agency – whether that’s successfully navigating a modernization initiative, becoming a leader in innovation, or fundamentally changing how fast or effectively your organization can solve problems.

Stage 3 of the 8-Stage Process of Transformation

Develop a Strategic Vision

Part of our Series on Leading & Adopting Change

Successful transformations are not built upon fear of an organization’s future, a charismatic leader, or perfectly made plans. They are built on a vision that inspires people to turn their ideas into reality.

Stage 2 of the 8-Stage Process of Transformation

Build a Guiding Coalition

Part of our Series on Leading & Adopting Change

If you’re a leader desiring to modernize your agency or transform your organization in some other way, you already feel a strong sense of urgency.

Perhaps the first stage of a transformation effort – establish a sense of urgency – is not only something you understand but are actively doing. Whether you have just started this process or are far along, it’s important to consider what will happen when this urgency has spread through your organization.

Generally, there are three methods for guiding a transformation effort:

1. A single, highly influential leader initiates the effort and through charisma and willpower tries to see it through to completion
2. A visionary leader (perhaps with the blessing of a C-level executive) initiates a transformation effort, and joins or delegates a small committee to try to see the effort through to completion
3. A guiding coalition with the right composition of members is empowered to complete the transformation effort

As soon as an organization begins to build a sense of urgency, it’s important as a leader to know how that new energy is going to be wielded. According to John Kotter in his book Leading Change, the most effective wielder of this energy, the one most likely to succeed in a transformation effort, is a guiding coalition. To understand why, let’s compare these three methods.

Stage 1 of the 8-Stage Process of Transformation

Establish a Sense of Urgency

Part of our Series on Leading & Adopting Change

Many significant transformation efforts fail in part or entirely, and the Government modernization initiative is no exception. While Agencies who set out to modernize usually manage to upgrade legacy software and/or move from on-premise servers to the cloud, true transformation often falls short.

8 Errors that Stop Transformation Efforts

Part of our Series on Leading & Adopting Change

There are many driving forces behind Government Modernization. This may have as much to do with Agencies’ critical need to address aging technology as the fact that many driving forces are required to keep this huge transformation effort moving forward.

Many resources—including technology, technical know-how, and processes like FedRAMP certification—have been put in place to ensure Agencies have what they need to make a smooth and secure move to a modern IT system. With this much support in place to help Agencies achieve Modernization, why does it feel like the initiative moves forward very slowly?

Modernizing Legacy Systems and Culture

Part of our Series on Leading & Adopting Change

For the last five + years, all Government Agencies have started seeking transformation.

This transformation has been termed “modernization,” because the main component of the change is for Agencies to replace legacy software and hardware by moving their data, IT, and software from on-premise servers to the cloud.

This modernization initiative is perhaps the largest and most difficult transformation that Agencies have ever had to face. It is one of the most talked-about topics in Government and in the private industries that support Government.