Most change programmes do not fail loudly. They just fade.
John Kotter's model of leading change sets out eight steps, in order. Create urgency. Build a guiding team. Form a clear vision. Communicate it constantly. Remove the obstacles. Show early wins. Keep going. Make it how we work.
In my experience, the place most programmes quietly stall is step three.
The urgency is real and the leadership team agrees. Then the vision comes out as a long presentation full of words that sound right in a boardroom and mean nothing in a doctor's office.
My test is simple. Can a first-line manager explain the change to a rep in two sentences? Can the rep say what they will do differently on Monday?
If not, everything after step three struggles. Communication repeats something nobody understands. Obstacles are hard to spot because nobody knows what they are blocking. Early wins cannot be recognised as wins.
So before any announcement, I ask the leadership team to explain the change in plain words, each in their own way. If the versions differ, we are not ready.
"If your managers cannot explain the change, your reps will not follow it."
“If managers cannot explain the change, reps will not follow it.”
Lesson 10 of 15 in Step 7: Leading the leadership team, with the full guide and a checklist for this week.