Step Six: Create Short-term Wins

Success breeds success - so early wins are very motivational and very important for morale and
for overcoming resistance.

You can help achieve this by setting achievable and believable short-term targets.

This is very much in line with Ken Blanchard's ideas in "The One Minute Manager" of "catching
them doing something right" [and praising them for it].

6) STEP 6 = CREATE SHORT TERM WINS (p125-141)

[1] The nature and function of short-term wins (p126-127)

Short-term "WINS" are essential since they serve four important purposes:
(p127)

(1) Wins provide feedback to change leaders about the validity of their visions
and strategies

(2) Wins give those working hard to achieve a vision a pat on the back, an
emotional uplift

(3) Wins build faith in the effort, attracting those who are not yet actively
helping.

(4) Wins take power away from cynics.

[2] Focus is essential! (p127-129)

[3] The power of visible, unambiguous, and meaningful wins (p129-134)

[4] Choosing what to target first (p134-137)

[5] And if we can't produce... (p137-139)

[6] An exercise that might help (p140)

[6] SUMMARY STEP 6 = CREATE SHORT-TERM WINS (p141)

Produce sufficient short-term wins, sufficiently fast, to energize the change

helpers, enlighten the pessimists, defuse the cynics and build momentum for the
effort!

WHAT WORKS =

WHAT DOES NOT WORK =

STORIES TO REMEMBER =
Step 6: Create Short-Term Wins

Kotter and Cohen´s Step 6 is about creating short-term wins. Long-term initiatives where all the
successes happen at the end of the initiative leave too much room for doubts to creep in and deflate
change momentum. Good leaders will create or find short-term wins and then sincerely communicate
them throughout the organization. Usually the targets for these wins are low-hanging fruit – issues that
are readily addressed - or important players to the organization. The objective is to have successes that
show clear progress, which is both evident and meaningful. If quick wins address employee concerns,
then they: 1) Provide feedback about the validity of the change effort, 2) Give an emotional uplift, and 3)
Build confidence. However, if they are blown out of proportion, over-hyped, or insincere, cynicism is
deepened and the workforce's trust in management is further eroded.

Creating Short Term Wins

Creating short-term wins is different from hoping for short-term wins. The latter is passive, the former
active. According to Kotter, in a successful transformation managers actively look for ways to obtain clear
performance improvements, establish goals in the yearly planning system, achieve these objectives, and
reward the people involved with recognition, promotions, or money.
In change initiatives that fail, systematic effort to guarantee unambiguous wins within a matter of months
is much less common. Managers either just assume that good things will happen or become so caught
up with a grand vision and the long term that they don't worry much about the short term.
People often complain about being forced to produce short-term wins, but under the right circumstances
this kind of pressure can be a useful element in a change process. When it becomes clear that quality
programs or cultural change efforts will take a long time, urgency levels usually drop. Commitments to
produce short-term wins can help keep complacency down and encourage the detailed analytical thinking
that can usefully clarify or revise transformational visions.
Why are short term wins so critical to the overall success of change efforts? They are very important
because they help to:
• Create many milestones instead of just one final target or goal. Planning for, and achieving,
quick wins provides important milestones people can look forward to while achieving the actual
wins gives them a chance to pat themselves on the back sooner rather than only later
• Provide evidence that the sacrifice is worth it
• Justify the costs involved
• Give change agents credibility
• Provide opportunities to celebrate and to build morale and motivation, which are needed to
keep change efforts moving forward down the long road ahead
• Fine-tune vision and strategies
• Give senior management and the guiding coalition concrete data on the viability of their ideas
• Undermine cynics and self-serving resisters; Clear improvements in performance make it
difficult for people to block the need to change

Leading Change: Eight Steps Core Challenge Desired Behaviour

4. Communicate the change
vision (and, communicate it
over and over again)
Get as many people as
possible acting to make the
vision a reality.
People begin to buy into the
change and this shows in their
behaviour.
5. Empower broad-based
action
Remove key obstacles that
stop people from acting on the
vision.
More people feel able to act, and
do act, on the vision.
6. Create short-term wins Produce enough short-term
(quick) wins fast enough to
energize the change helpers,
enlighten the pessimists,
defuse the cynics and build
momentum for the effort.
Momentum builds as people try to
fulfil the vision, while fewer and
fewer resist change.
7. Consolidate gains and
produce more change
Continue with wave after wave
of change, not stopping until
the vision is a reality - no
matter how big the obstacles.
People remain energized and
motivated to push change forward
until the vision is fulfilled – fully
realized.
8. Anchor new approaches in
the culture
Create a supporting structure
that provides roots for the new
ways of operating.
New and winning behaviour
continues despite the pull of
tradition, turnover of change
leaders, etc.
Creating Short Term Wins
Creating short-term wins is different from hoping for short-term wins. The latter is passive, the former
active. According to Kotter, in a successful transformation managers actively look for ways to obtain clear
performance improvements, establish goals in the yearly planning system, achieve these objectives, and
reward the people involved with recognition, promotions, or money.
In change initiatives that fail, systematic effort to guarantee unambiguous wins within a matter of months
is much less common. Managers either just assume that good things will happen or become so caught
up with a grand vision and the long term that they don't worry much about the short term.
People often complain about being forced to produce short-term wins, but under the right circumstances
this kind of pressure can be a useful element in a change process. When it becomes clear that quality
programs or cultural change efforts will take a long time, urgency levels usually drop. Commitments to
produce short-term wins can help keep complacency down and encourage the detailed analytical thinking
that can usefully clarify or revise transformational visions.
Why are short term wins so critical to the overall success of change efforts? They are very important
because they help to:
• Create many milestones instead of just one final target or goal. Planning for, and achieving,
quick wins provides important milestones people can look forward to while achieving the actual
wins gives them a chance to pat themselves on the back sooner rather than only later
• Provide evidence that the sacrifice is worth it
• Justify the costs involved
• Give change agents credibility
• Provide opportunities to celebrate and to build morale and motivation, which are needed to
keep change efforts moving forward down the long road ahead
• Fine-tune vision and strategies
• Give senior management and the guiding coalition concrete data on the viability of their ideas
• Undermine cynics and self-serving resisters; Clear improvements in performance make it
difficult for people to block the need to change
• Keep bosses on board; Provides those higher in the hierarchy with evidence that the
transformation is on track
• Build momentum; Turn neutrals into visible supporters, get fence sitters off the fence, turn
reluctant supporters into active and willing participants
Case Study
Dale, an IT manager, was by nature a "big ideas" person – a very good visionary and long term thinker.
With assistance from two other IT managers, he developed a concept for how a Configuration
Management Database (CMDB) could be developed to help with improving knowledge and control of IT
assets. In fact, the more the three thought of the opportunity, the more they realized that a CMDB could
bring many related benefits to the business as well as the IT operation. The three managers gained
approval for their initiative and plugged away at implementing their vision for more than a year.
By their own standards, they accomplished a great deal: new discovery and audit tools and methods were
developed, new processes and activities were defined, and a master CMDB was defined and populated.
However, by the standards of skeptics, especially the CIO and divisional controller, who wanted to see
more tangible and financial benefits to offset the costs, the managers had produced nothing. When
questioned, they explained that big changes require time. The CIO and controller accepted that
argument for over a year and then pulled the plug on the project.
In Dale’s case, if he and his colleagues had deliberately incorporated a couple of short-term wins into
their plan, the very useful project would probably have survived and helped IT and their organization.
ITIL Quick Wins
Many IT organizations start implementing ITIL’s IT Service Management Process Model with the Service
Desk together with a combination of one or more of the five support processes – Incident, Problem,
Change, Release, and Configuration Management. Service Level Management is also sometimes
considered. The reason that these areas are specifically included as common starting points is because
they tend to be highly visible and therefore taking these processes to at least a process maturity level of
“Control” can provide extremely meaningful quick wins.
But again, it’s important to stress that everyone’s situation is different. That’s why it’s necessary to
conduct a process maturity assessment before identifying priorities, and planning and organizing
implementation activities.
To understand more about how to create your own ITIL “road map” and identify ITIL implementation quick
wins, refer to the Special Edition PinkLink June 2005 Issue, which provides a very in-depth and detailed
white paper on this subject, written by Troy DuMoulin, one of Pink’s most experienced executive
consultants.
In Conclusion
Remember, a key challenge for leaders including CIOs, IT directors, project managers, process owners
and change agents is to identify early successes as part of the overall planning process. Short term wins
have to be created by deliberate planning and action.
Short term wins must be:
• Visible to everyone
• Meaningful
• Achieved within a short period of time
6. Generate Short-Term Wins
Source: Anthony Watkins, Bridgeborn

• Why Generate Short Term Wins?

o Federal KM adoption will not be defined by an on/off switch. We must break
up activities into smaller more manageable pieces to demonstrate effectiveness,
secure increased and continued support, and grow the segment of Federal
Government that implements KM initiatives until we ultimately build enough of a
case to secure mandates in Federal Government doctrine.
o Establish feeling of progress among employees, leadership, and KM teams
(people in KM team and on listserv are drivers of effort and need to see ROI for
their personal time)
o Opportunity to Reward standout employees and organizations that are
exemplars in the KM effort. Rewards establish importance to initiative.
o Opportunity to Communicate effective methods. Methods may be adopted
by other organizations within the Federal Government. Federal employees will
begin to recognize importance of KM to their jobs.
• List of activities related to Generating Short Term Wins that will help achieve
cultural change towards adoption and use of KM
o Planning
 KM Spotlight: Don't start from scratch. Many good KM
implementations are occurring right now with results. Action: Identify KM
initiatives that are people focused and not technology oriented for case
studies (the Web 2.0 team will focus on those projects). Example: Pause
and Learn (PaL) process developed by Dr. Edward Rogers, the Chief
Knowledge Officer of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
 For existing KM programs as well as KM concepts, create a
directory containing program name, description, goals/outcomes, length
of time to implement, required resources, and POC information. This
information will serve as a guide to leaders interested in implementing
KM in their organization and let them to quickly hone in on the efforts that
are most aligned with their goals and fit within their established
timeframe.
 Identify people and organizations that are open to piloting KM
programs. We can provide them with informatio n gathered in the fi rst
two steps to quickly give them a range of viable options (of course they
are not limited to this list).
o Implementation
 Ensure the goal of the effort is focused on the people in your
organization and changing the way they work as opposed to successful
installation of a system. Likewise, establish metrics that are based on
changes in the culture and behavior of the employees.
 Establish recognition/reward system that provides immediate
feedback to employees when they are instrumental in KM effort.
 Constantly solicit employee feedback and participation.
o Communication
 I dentify communication mediums best to spr ead the message of
success before project even begins (listserv, web, DKO, blog, word of
mouth, print, etc).
  Communication occurs before, during, and after the KM practice
implemented. Several opportunities will be missed if you just wait until
the end to talk about efforts.
 Publicizing efforts beforehand:
 Gives workforce a heads up from leadership that
effort is about to begin and is of importance.
 Effort may have been tried in another segment of
Federal Government, so it allows others to contact you
with advice and pitfalls to avoid prior to investing your
resources.
 Establishes a Community of Interest that will want to
be kept apprised of your progress before they attempt
similar efforts.
 Communication during:
 Lets your employees know you are tracking their
progress and whether they are falling below, meeting or
exceeding expectations.
 Allows you to keep your COI engaged with your
effort by communicating your challenges and successes.
 Communicating After:
 Allows you to publicize a comprehensive set of
steps to implementation, lessons learned, and overall
outcome of effort. This inititative can be used as a case
study for presenting KM's case within the Federal
Government and be added to the directory mentioned in
the planning phase.
 Provides your organization a sense of ac
complishment and further denotes the importance of KM
as part of their daily task
• As a closing note, I listened to a webinar this week given in part by Randy Adkins,
Director of the Air Force Center of Excellence for Knowledge Management. He ended his
presentation with a lessons learned from implementing KM practices within the Air
Force. I thought many of the items dovetailed nicely with Generating Short Term Wins
and Change Management in General:
o Start Small, Think Big
o Adapt Your Approach to the Culture
o Provide a Strong Support Structure
o Work with the Willing
o Keep Stakeholders on Board

Error #6: Not Systematically Planning For and Creating Short Term Wins

Real Transformation takes time, and a renewal effort risks losing momentum.

6) PLAN FOR A CREATE SHORT-TERM WINS

Since real transformation takes time, the loss of momentum and the onset of disappointment are real
factors.
Most people won’t go on a long march for change unless they begin to see compelling evidence that their
efforts are bearing fruit. In successful transformation, leaders actively plan and achieve some short term
gains
which people will be able to see and celebrate. This provides proof to organization members that their
efforts
are working, and adds to the motivation to keep the effort going. "When it becomes clear to people that
major
change will take a long time, urgency levels can drop. Commitments to produce short-term wins help
keep the
urgency level up and force detailed analytical thinking that can clarify or revise visions".
Step Six: Create Short-term Wins
Nothing motivates more than success. Give your company a taste of victory early in the
change process. Within
a short time frame (this could be a month or a year, depending on the type of change), you'll
want to have
results that your staff can see. Without this, critics and negative thinkers might hurt your
progress.
Create short-term targets - not just one long-term goal. You want each smaller target to be
achievable, with
little room for failure. Your change team may have to work very hard to come up with these
targets, but each
"win" that you produce can further motivate the entire staff.
What you can do:
• Look for sure-fire projects that you can implement without help from any strong critics of
the change.
• Don't choose early targets that are expensive. You want to be able to justify the
investment in each
project.
• Thoroughly analyse the potential pros and cons of your targets. If you don't succeed with
an early
goal, it can hurt your entire change initiative.
• Reward the people who help you meet the targets.

Step 6: Create short-term wins

If you want to lose weight, and you are trying for two weeks, but don’t see any results,
what happen? You lose interest.

It the same with change management. Everyone needs to see quick short-term wins.

What you can do is:

• Set short-term goals. Identify these wins and set a time line.
• Make a big fuzz if you have achieved it. Let everyone knows about it.
• Link it directly to the vision.

• Make sure that the employees feel the win. Reward the people who helped you
achieve these wins.