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

Now, Kotter and coauthor Dan S. Cohen delve deeper into the subject of change to get to the heart of how change actually happens. Through compelling, real-life stories from people in the trenches, in all kinds of organizations, the authors attack the fundamental problem that underlies every major transformation: How do you go beyond simply getting your message across to truly changing people's behavior?

Based on interviews within over 100 organizations in the midst of large-scale change, The Heart of Change delivers the simple yet provocative answer to this question, forever altering the way organizations and individuals approach change. While most companies believe change happens by making people think differently, Kotter and Cohen say the key lies in making them feel differently. They introduce a new dynamic-"see-feel-change"-that fuels action by showing people potent reasons for change that spark their emotions.

Organized around the revolutionary eight-step change process introduced in Leading Change, this story-driven book shows how the best change leaders use not just reports or analysis, but gloves, video cameras, airplanes, office design, and other concrete elements to impel people toward positive action. The authors reveal how this appeal to the heart-over the mind-motivates people to overcome even daunting obstacles to change and produce breathtaking results.

For individuals in every walk of life and companies in every stage of change, this compact, no-nonsense book captures the heart-and the how-of successful change.

However, I was told that the book focused this time more on the behavior changes of people that are needed to make change successful...and from experience, I knew that getting employees to really want to make a change makes all the difference to a successful change effort.

The book uses stories to describe how to educate and motivate others to accept change through the 8-step process. If you just look at the eight steps, they appear dry and built on well-worn cliches. Increase Urgency, Build the Guiding Team, Get the Vision Right, Communicate for Buy-In, Empower Action, Create Short-Term Wins, Don't Let Up, and Make Change Stick. Certainly, anyone that has led change can figure this out.

However, I found the stories to be very practical in describing the concept of See, Feel, Change that is needed by all employees to really embrace the change emotionally and not just logically. They have to want to change their own behaviors, not just for the project, but forever. The story I could relate to the most was "The Boss Goes to Switzerland". I have seen this happen numerous times for others and myself.

This book has practical content that can be referred to over and over again...I will use this book each time a new change initiative gets underway. Recommended for all business leaders.


Let us change   December 4, 2002
B.Sudhakar Shenoy (India)
17 out of 19 found this review helpful

This book is the distilled summary of 400 detailed interviews from over 130 companies on the topic of managing change. The common thread across success stories is 1. Change is best done in big leaps than in gradual increments. 2. Change is an EIGHT-STAGE process. 3. The vital challenge at each stage is to bring about change in behavior - not strategy, systems or culture. 4. The "see, feel and change" approach is sustaining than the "analyze, think and change" approach since it influences feelings. The book goes on to explain each of the "eight stages" in detail with relevant case studies or stories narrated in first person. At the end of each chapter there is a small exercise that is recommended done with a team. There is also a crisp summary of what works, what does not work and stories to remember.

It is interesting to see that at the end of the book, it is recommended that to introduce change, it is better not to attempt to change the Culture at the outset. ("A controversial but very important point. In a change effort, culture comes last, not first"). Such an attempt would be futile since culture evolves over a long period. It is the change in behavior through the eight-stage process that is key and cultural change would follow. Each of the eight stages - Increase urgency, build the guiding team, get the vision right, communicate for buy-in, empower action, create short-term wins, don't let up, make change stick- are equally important. There are several examples to reinforce the importance of each stage and also to demonstrate that the lack of attention to any one of these is a prescription for failure.

The "see, feel and change" approach appeals to the heart. Human beings as we are, our hearts will continue to be an indispensable part of our anatomy irrespective of the technological changes and economic compulsions. We would be better off as a society if our hearts guide our decisions and actions affecting human beings. Changes are sweeping across businesses at an increasing pace. This book gives us a winning option - Let us see, let us feel and let us change.


Best Change Management Book I've Read to Date   February 28, 2006
Michael (Texas, USA)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful

I'm now in a "Change Management" role with my work, and decided to read some texts on the subject to further my understanding of the topic. Of those books that I've read, this one has clearly been the most helpful. Kotter articulates the steps of change in a way that connected with me, and made it real with a number of relevant examples. It's not onerous to read (<200 pages) but equally isn't "lightweight." While I would never recommend reading only a single book on the topic, I would definitely recommend that this be one of the books you read!



the John Kotter how-to-do-it change book with good stories   July 12, 2002
Phil Harkins (Boston, MA)
11 out of 14 found this review helpful

What I love about this book is how John Kotter identifies in clear-cut steps the learning from each of the chapters and how the chapters track John Kotter's acid-clear eight steps for leading change. The stories he uses as benchmarks are riveting and easy to read. I frequently get asked by my clients to advise them on how to work through change. This is the book that they need to read. It is much like the same style that Jim Collins uses in his new book, Good to Great. These are the two best books for managers this year--without question. You want to keep this book in a handy spot. I will not put it on my book shelf.


Just what we needed!   July 15, 2006
ACEManager (California)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

This book hits the "heart" of what many managers miss in planning change initiatives. This helps us remember that change isn't all number and business decisions. It's the people. I was able to immediately apply some of the ideas and resteered a change initiative successfully. Now all of my supervisors are reading and learning.