Does a “Change Agent” need to make change SEEM urgent?

How can you combat the complacency that can kill a key change initiative?

Using a tool like our “Change Agent” program, you can appeal to people's hearts, not just their minds. Consider these tactics suggested by expert John Kotter:

• Bring in emotionally compelling data, people, and images depicting what's going on in the industry, its markets, and the competition -- and showing that the company must alter course to survive.
• In every meeting, face-to-face exchange, and written communication, demonstrate your own sense of urgency -- your conviction that the status quo is more dangerous than the unknown.
• Highlight current crises to further signal the need for change.
• Remove or neutralize those determined to keep a group satisfied with the status quo.

(These tactics were adapted from Chapter 3 of the new book A Sense of Urgency by John P. Kotter. Harvard Business Press, 2008)