Change management models compared: ADKAR, Kotter and Lewin

A change management model gives a program a shared language and a sequence of things to get right. The three most widely used models answer different questions.

Lewin: the simple three-stage view

Lewin describes change as three stages: unfreeze current habits, change to the new way of working and refreeze so it becomes normal.

• Strength: easy to explain to any audience.
• Limit: gives little detail on what to do inside each stage.
• Use it for: framing smaller changes and giving leaders a quick mental picture.

Kotter: eight steps for leading organization-wide change

Kotter’s model walks leaders through creating urgency, building a guiding coalition, forming a vision, communicating it, removing obstacles, creating short-term wins, building on them and anchoring the change in culture.

• Strength: focuses on leadership, momentum and visible early results.
• Limit: it describes what leaders do, not how each individual experiences change.
• Use it for: large programs that need sponsorship across many teams.

ADKAR: guiding each person through change

ADKAR follows the individual through five outcomes: awareness of the need, desire to take part, knowledge of how to change, ability to do it and reinforcement to keep it.

• Strength: pinpoints why adoption is stuck for a given group, for example people know what to do but lack the ability.
• Limit: concentrates on individuals, so it needs to be paired with program-level leadership.
• Use it for: planning training, communication and support for the people affected.

How to choose

Whatever you choose

• Name a visible sponsor and an accountable owner.
• Involve the people affected early.
• Measure adoption, not only delivery of the project.
• Plan reinforcement, because habits revert without it.

Our Change Management & Adoption team helps organizations plan change that people adopt and sustain.

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