Theorists Who Impact Revolutionary Change in the Workplace
Tiara Garrett
SPRING15-1-8-ORG100-1– Navigating Organizations and Change
Colorado State University – Global Campus
Dr. Mary Welsh
March 14, 2015

Theorists Who Impact Revolutionary Change in the Workplace
Sometimes, in order to be on top of their game, organizations opt to change their approach or implementation of their products and/or services in the industry. This type of organizational change is considered revolutionary. There have been many articles and books created to advise of strategies or techniques to successfully navigate through the transformation process; as well as advise of what to avoid. The theorists I will focus on are John Kotter, James Womack, and Daniel Jones.
Kotter's “Eight-Step Process”
Not all revolutionary change is successful. John P. Kotter wrote an article discussing eight major errors he's seen to occur during his studies that halted a successful change. Many cannot get out of phase one in implementing the change. That first phase is establishing a sense of urgency (Kotter, 1996). Kotter mentioned that he witnessed more than 50% of the companies he watched fail this phase. One reason being was that some executives did not fully take into account how hard it'll be to drive people out of their fixed mindset. Another reason, lack of patience. He created an eight step process to prevent the errors witnessed from incurring in the future. See Figure 1 for an outline of those steps.
Kotter's impact on revolutionary change can be viewed through major organizations such as: U.S. Department of Defense, Allstate, General Mills INC., Microsoft, Nestle, and many more. From the companies listed, it can be determined that the range of organizations impacted is broad; it shows that his method is widely applicable to many different sectors and industries.

Establishing a