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Note that we have some Incomplete Pages That Require Work on this site:-)
Kotter starts with the premise that organizations that have hierarchy and related approaches did so for a reasons of efficiency and these approaches have been highly effective and that if we need to do something that is more innovative we cannot just create a separate “innovation organization” but rather need to set up an side-by-side organization in the existing organization to be innovative. In other words, we need to have two “operating systems” in an organization.
The second organization is set up as a “network” where people effectively volunteer their skills to work the issues (often innovation related) the organization feels like they need to address. The network is flat and empowered to work through issues and leverages all the skills (and passions) of the people who participate. The idea is that, as the network delivers solutions, the learnings are brought back to the hierarchical organization for further optimization and execution, using the same people that did the innovative work in the first place.
The basic structure is self-explanatory: hierarchy on one side and network on the other. But to be effective this structure needs to be guided by principles:
How do we get this done. Because specific actions within networks accelerates activity, especially strategically relevant activity, Kotter calls the basic processes the Accelerators of which there are eight:
The book I've used in the past to guide with work associated with transformations to an agile approach was "Leading Change" - John Kotter where Kotter talked about an eight-step process for managing change with positive results. By outlining the process every organization must go through to achieve its goals, and by identifying where and how even top performers derail during the change process, Kotter provides a practical resource for leaders and managers charged with making change initiatives work. Leading Change is widely recognized as his seminal work and is an important precursor to his newer ideas on acceleration published in Harvard Business Review.
The eight step process talked about was very similar to the steps above:
As you can see, the steps line up pretty well. To my way of thinking there is value both books although you would not have to read both to get the value. The main differences are:
My experience is that you need elements of “Leading Change” when we are doing an agile transformation initially - “Leading Change” to get you to “Accelerate” network model. This is partially because there are a lot of changes to existing thinking that needs to be worked into an agile transformation in many instances.