ADKAR? What the heck is that?

It always seems amazing when you find others have come to conclusions similar to your own, though exactly why that should be is puzzling. If your thinking is solid, why shouldn't others come up with the same ideas?

One of the deluge of consultants' newsletters recently mentioned a change management acronym I had not heard of previously: ADKAR, but I recognized its similarities immediately. It represents a description of ingredients for change management process: Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, Reinforcement - from work by an organization called Prosci.  I was startled to realize this is very similar to the five key principles that I promote as the core of people skills and leadership.

In short it means people must become aware of the need to change, they must have a desire to change, the knowledge to, the ability (which is different from knowledge) and then they need reinforcement while making the change.  All of these are true and actually very insightful, especially the emphasis that is put on these being the core, key and essentially only ingredients to pay attention to.  It's a dramatic simplification of what's needed to make individual personal or organizational change.

When you find a potentially competitive theory, you want to analyze it carefully to see whether or not it achieves or fails at the objectives you are trying to achieve. This one has some interesting parallels, but also important differences. Because it's so close to what I use as the keys to being effective, I will offer some deeper analysis in a series of posts.  Let me just say the theory seems to make a clear distinction between individual change and organizational change. The same principles apply so I'm not sure why that is.  Therein lie some interesting questions, which we will explore.

In any case I think this is an excellent summary of the ingredients that are required for successful change. What I'm trying to achieve that's a bit different is to show how people actually manage to create these ingredients and get them working together.  How do you help someone become aware of the need, to develop the desire, find the knowledge, build the ability and where will they get the reinforcement?

Comments

[Craig Allen]

Hi Dave,

Your 5 principles have always struck me as referring to one's own change process and one's own effectiveness. The reader learns how to make him/herself more effective.

ADKAR, on the other hand, seems to talk about how to get others to change (perhaps indirectly by bringing about a change in an organization).

Is that an accurate observation? Perhaps your view is that change must first occur within ourselves before we can influence others.

[Dave Crisp]

Thanks Craig. You're definitely right that my view is leaders must begin by looking at how they can change themselves first. It's always interesting, though, that people who have seen some of what I do initially have a bit of a challenge imagining how it applies to quite different situations.

In fact my five principles are designed to work both for individuals and organizations. For instance, as Prosci points out, a group needs to be aware of the need for change. Many companies try in vain to convince people of the need and wonder why it is so difficult. The answer usually is that employees feel they've been sold a bill of goods in the past, that management hasn't been "honest" with them and therefore they see no reason to believe the present appeal for change.

So my emphasis on "honest" is parallel to Proci's underlying meaning when they refer to the need for awareness. Lots of groups of managers will tell you they've made employees aware, but in fact unless employees believe they were being told honestly and factually, management's efforts have been for nothing. I focus more on the important element of how you achieve awareness that really sticks.