You would think bad business results are enough to shake people out of complacency.
But approximately 50 percent of companies fail to establish a sufficient sense of urgency to succeed in their transformation efforts, according to John Kotter, author of Leading Change and A Sense of Urgency.
People in organizations are entrenched in maintaining the status quo, even in the face of devastating news such as:
· Shrinking margins
· New competition
· Decreasing market share
· Flat earnings
· Lack of revenue growth
· Declining competitive position
· Global economic recession
In spite of bad news, getting people to change and motivating them to participate in change initiatives are major problems. Starting a transformation program requires full-bore cooperation from many individuals.
And without sustained motivation, people won’t stay with the program long enough to get results, so the effort goes nowhere.
