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COMPEL Glossary / kotter-8-steps

Kotter 8 Steps

John Kotter's organizational-level change method with eight sequenced steps: create urgency, build a guiding coalition, form strategic vision, enlist volunteer army, enable action by removing barriers, generate short-term wins, sustain acceleration, institute change.

What this means in practice

Canonical reference for enterprise-scale AI transformations; steps 1–4 establish the conditions that make Step 5 execution feasible.

Synonyms

Kotter 8-Step Process , Kotter change model

See also

  • ADKAR — Prosci's five-stage individual change model — Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, Reinforcement — that describes the sequence through which a single person adopts a change.
  • Bridges Transition Model — William Bridges' three-phase psychological transition model — Ending (letting go of the old), Neutral Zone (disorientation and exploration), New Beginning (adoption of the new).
  • Lewin's unfreeze-change-refreeze — Kurt Lewin's foundational three-state change model: unfreeze the current equilibrium, introduce change, refreeze the new state into a stable equilibrium.
  • Communication strategy — A multi-channel, multi-audience plan for transformation messaging with two-way feedback loops — distinct from one-way announcements because it explicitly accepts and responds to worker concerns.