| The ADKAR change model was first published by | | | | effective in a step change initiative. |
| Prosci in 1998. Prosci is the recognised leader in | | | | (2) Fails to distinguish between the roles and |
| business process design and change management | | | | functions of leadership as well as management |
| research, and is the world's largest provider of | | | | Whilst the very definitions change management and |
| change management and reengineering toolkits and | | | | project and programme management emphasise the |
| benchmarking information. | | | | management aspect [and of course this is important] |
| Prosci's own research shows that problems with the | | | | much of the cause of the 70% failure rate in change |
| people dimension of change is the most commonly | | | | initiatives is directly attributable to a lack of |
| cited reason for project failures. | | | | leadership... Leadership that sees the bigger picture - |
| And in terms of change management, study after | | | | that ensures that people will follow - and the discipline |
| study shows that 70% of all business initiatives | | | | of a programme management approach provides the |
| where there is a significant change element [which is | | | | tools and processes to facilitate that. |
| virtually all of them!] fail to realise the envisaged | | | | A step change initiative needs to be led - and it |
| benefits. | | | | needs to be seen to be led. |
| Summary of the ADKAR model | | | | (3) Ignores the need for leadership to address the |
| It is based on 2 basic ideas: | | | | emotional dimension |
| (1) It is people who change, not organisations. | | | | The transition between stage one of the ADKAR |
| (2) Successful change occurs when individual change | | | | model - an awareness of the need for change and |
| matches the stages of organisational change. | | | | stage two - the desire to participate and support the |
| For successful change to occur at the individual level | | | | change can be massive - especially in a step change. |
| people need to move through each of these stages: | | | | One of the main points that William Bridges makes in |
| - Awareness of the need for change | | | | his book "The Way of Transition " is that transition is |
| - Desire to make the change happen | | | | not the same as change. Change is what happens to |
| - Knowledge about how to change | | | | you. Transition is what you experience. |
| - Ability to implement new skills and behaviours | | | | Many thought leaders in the world of change |
| - Reinforcement to retain the change once it has | | | | management and change leadership are now speaking |
| been made | | | | vociferously about the importance of the emotional |
| For organisational change to be successful, these | | | | dimension of leadership and the need to address the |
| individual changes need to progress at or close to the | | | | human dimension of change. |
| same rate of progress through the business | | | | So to summarise, in Bridges' own words: "A change |
| dimension of change. | | | | can work only if the people affected by it can get |
| Prosci define the business dimension of change as | | | | through the transition it causes successfully." |
| including these typical project elements: | | | | (4) Fails to see the macro level of programme |
| - Business need or opportunity is identified | | | | management |
| - Project is defined (scope and objectives) | | | | Steps three to five of the AKBAR model are about |
| - Business solution is designed (new processes, | | | | knowledge of how to change, ability to implement |
| systems and organizational structure) | | | | change and reinforcement - making change stick, and |
| - New processes and systems are developed | | | | these all relate to one of the biggest issues re |
| - Solution is implemented into the organization | | | | implementing change - which boils down to: translating |
| Evaluation of the AKBAR model | | | | vision and strategy into actionable steps. |
| There are 2 quite different streams of thought that | | | | The traditional project approach referred to by the |
| have shaped the practise of change management. | | | | AKBAR model - sees it as a set of tasks which if |
| (1) The engineer's approach to business improvement | | | | executed successfully get a result. In other words |
| with the focus on business process. | | | | the typical process led approach which has failed so |
| (2) The psychologist's approach to understanding | | | | consistently and so spectacularly over the last 20 |
| human responses to change with the focus on | | | | years. |
| people. | | | | There is an important distinction between the micro |
| The single biggest reason for the astonishingly high | | | | level and the macro level perspectives of change |
| 70% failure rate of ALL business change initiatives | | | | management - and which the AKBAR fails to |
| has been the over-emphasis on process rather than | | | | recognise. |
| people - the failure to take full account of the impact | | | | At the macro level the root cause of this is lack of |
| of change on those people who are most impacted | | | | clarity and lack of communication about the people |
| by it. | | | | aspects of how to manage change - and even more |
| Closely allied to that reason is the lack of process to | | | | fundamentally - the lack of a language and contextual |
| directly address the human aspects of change. | | | | framework to articulate and manage the necessary |
| In my view their ADKAR model reflects the BPR | | | | processes of change that will work for people. At |
| background of Prosci and the engineers approach to | | | | this level, a major part of the solution to this lies in |
| business improvement, this is quite apparent in the | | | | employing a programme management approach to |
| language and tone of their description of the model | | | | change, and this is because it is holistic and takes far |
| and with their emphasis on management and process | | | | more account of the many dimensions overlooked by |
| alone. | | | | the narrow scope of a project management led |
| The clear strength of the model is that provides a | | | | approach. |
| useful management checklist of the phases of the | | | | At the micro level, delivering a strategy and changing |
| transition. | | | | a culture requires hands-on detailed management - |
| The weaknesses, in my view, are as follows, the | | | | micro management on occasions - in the specifics of |
| ADKAR model: | | | | how to do it - especially during the early stages. So |
| (1) Fails to distinguish between "incremental change" | | | | at this operational level people need to be enabled |
| and "step change" | | | | and supported to develop the capabilities to deliver |
| If the change involves any of these following factors | | | | your strategy and become what you want them to |
| then it will definitely need to be handled as a "step | | | | become [or as close to that as is realistically possible]. |
| change" and treated as a specific initiative that sits | | | | For more on this: " ADKAR Change Model - An |
| outside of business as usual. The factors are: | | | | Evaluation " |
| complexity, size, scope and priority. | | | | Equip yourself to avoid the 70% failure rate of all |
| The ADKAR model is, in my view, suited to | | | | change initiatives with the "Practitioners' Masterclass - |
| incremental change and is an effective management | | | | Leading your people through change, putting it all |
| checklist. But it misses out far too much to be fully | | | | together and managing the whole messy business. |