ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE Applying John Kotter’s Leading change model into Political Campaigning Guiding change may be the ultimate test for a leader1. According to John P.Kotter(2007), leaders of transformation do eight things right, but most importantly they do them in the right order. This assignment will explore the possibilities of leading change through a political aspect. Even though most of change practices have been created in order to fit the needs of a business, still the idea of presenting a country as a dysfunctional business where change practices can be applied is possible. Using Kotter’s “8 steps” model, I am going to present how political electoral campaigns are in essence the change plan the top management presents for the company. Top management is a Political Party and as aforementioned the company is a Country. In a weird way, looking into this subject, one can realize that business and politics are interlinked, therefore you can be sure that every business plays by political rules, and politics is just another business at the same time. According to leadership guru J.P.Kotter(2007), 70% of all major change efforts fail. After more than 30 years of research, he established an 8 step guide to achieve change, and if used correctly 100% successful. Political electoral campaigns have been through tremendous transformations throughout the years. Due to the fact that technological development in every country is different, we observe how practices used previously in one country; other countries were ready to apply those years later. Nowadays, even though we still speak about countries, things are different. Information is shared through word of mouth but not with the traditional way. Internet empowered people to speak their mind freely by bypassing any obstacles that wanted to Andrea Solomonidou | Organization Development and Change
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brainwash or manipulate their minds. But most importantly, people seized the opportunity to spread the word globally. Therefore one might say that in year 2010, technology and practices in the global political scene, are almost completely aligned. Looking deeper into electoral campaigns is easy to lose track of what is supposed to be the message. Of course the ultimate goal for a Party is to win the elections at stake. If a Party always stands the same ground though, socialists – communists – democrats etc, what’s the actual purpose of a campaign? If people know what you stand for, why bother create a campaign for advertising who you are? This is precisely the point where business and politics become one. As previously mentioned, for the purpose of this assignment we are using a country as our company, a political party as our top management and campaigns as the change plan proposed. The answer to the previous asked questions is simple. Campaigns in a way set the arena of your fight, giving you a stand and a reason to debate for. Most importantly, your campaign is your plan. Your change plan if the people grant you the right to govern their country. And as history shows, they expect you to implement it to the fullest. Searching through the history of campaigning, I’ve come to believe that all of Kotter’s steps are in essence the structure of a successful campaign. From the first actual appearance in the beginning of last century in United States, up till today, campaigns follow these 8 steps. The pitfalls are the common pitfalls of an unsuccessful campaign.
Step 1 Establish a sense of urgency2 Kotter suggests that establishing a sense of urgency is necessary in order to initiate a change effort. Indeed is needed, but one has to keep in mind that people should not be underestimated, especially if they are driven out of their
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comfort zones. Also, there is always the risk to be paralyzed by the risks you present. Lyndon B. Johnson’s3 campaign for United States Presidency in 1964 is the first campaign that used political TV spots. Actually they used one and just for once. The spot is called “DAISY”4 which is placed among the most controversial spots of all times. The scene starts with a little girl holding a daisy while sitting in a beautiful prairie. While the girl takes the petals off one by one, a countdown appears on the screen and as it reaches zero, the picture goes black and instead of the prairie we then see the nuclear explosion (pictures used from WWII). The narrator sums up the message saying that these are our choices “we need to create a better world for all the children or be lost in the dark. We should either love each other or we should die. Vote for Johnson on November 3rd. The stakes are too high for you to stay at home.” The exponential reactions to this spot, not only from the viewers, but from the people that did not see it as well turned the spotlight at the spot and subsequently to the subject of it. The reaction and comments of the people and the political scene, offered the necessary “establishment of urgency” that Johnson needed, guiding the discussions to the subject at stake and helping his re-election.5
Step 2 Form a powerful guiding coalition6 According to Kotter, you need to assemble a group with shared commitment and enough power to lead the change effort. You encourage them to work as a team outside the normal hierarchy. Back in 2007, when Barack Obama entered the primaries, no one would have ever conceived the dynamics that shifted in order to form those powerful coalitions that later on resulted in the massive win of United States Presidency. It wasn’t just about the calm force that was inspired by Obama’s figure. Powerful people, from politicians, to artists, to business men, to lobbies Andrea Solomonidou | Organization Development and Change
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joined forces and by bypassing any hierarchies, parties and structures, reached out to people. They had the power to lead the effort. They shared the same beliefs. Most of all, all of them were committed enough to cooperate with each other sending off the most powerful message. YES WE CAN.7
Step 3 Create a vision8 The most important of the steps is the creation of a vision. People always need something to look forward to. Kotter argues that a vision needs to be so clear that within five minutes becomes understandable by everyone. According to others, a vision is a dream set in motion of becoming a reality. For a campaign, creating a vision is the most important goal one tries to achieve. To be able to create a vision is totally in-wrought with giving people hope and something to fight for. A perfect example for creating a vision is the 1992 Bill Clinton campaign 9 against George H. W. Bush. Despite the fact that after the Gulf War in 1991, Bush had 90% of the people’s approval10, a year later Clinton was the ultimate winner of the elections. “Putting people first” was the winning slogan that guided the pre-electoral discussions back to the people. After so many wars, American people needed to hear somebody talk about them. About their rights, about their home, about their future, giving them hope that better days will come along. Underestimating a country’s mentality is the number one mistake one can do when creating a campaign strategy. The “American Dream” was never about winning wars. Bill Clinton did not forget that and eventually it certainly paid off.
Step 4 Communicate the vision11 No vision can exist as a vision if it is failed to be communicated. Kotter advises to use every vehicle possible to communicate the new vision as well as the strategies you will use to achieve it. Use your powerful coalition in order to teach by example. If they are people that reach out to society easily, then Andrea Solomonidou | Organization Development and Change
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there is no doubt that they’ll always set a great example. You need to keep in mind that unethical tactics can only harm your vision.
Throughout history a number of means were used to communicate the vision set by candidates at times. Going back almost a century, as an addition to newspapers, radio broadcasted the first political advertisement in 1924. That’s when it was discovered that airplay was for selling, so why not use it in politics as well. Soon enough John W. Davis and Calvin Coolidge use radio to broadcast their speeches, in the first attempt in history to electronically communicate a vision. One quarter of a century later, Democrats were the first to use television as their tool in political advertising. Soon enough it stopped being used just for spots. Eisenhower’s speeches were reformed so they could fit the images the advertising company decided that would accompany his speech. 1956 was the first time negative TV advertisement was used by the Republicans. Television’s dominance was a fact during the 1960 elections when J.F. Kennedy was running for Presidency against Richard Nixon. For the first time, the candidates had the chance to use “TV debates” as a mean to communicate their campaign’s platform. Picture is always a powerful tool. For the people watching, Kennedy was the indisputable winner of the debate whilst the radio listeners believed that Nixon prevailed. Still, the next debates just established the fact that Kennedy got it. Television magnifies sometimes qualities that couldn’t be seen otherwise, and at the same times weak points that could have been covered. So while Kennedy appeared as the conscious little town sheriff ready for action, Nixon was perceived as the little petty lawyer chased out of town.12 Television grew stronger and stronger, becoming the most powerful weapon in an advertiser’s hands. It ended up being used to brainwash people, and by using it the right way, to create false expectations and beliefs. People were oblivious to the fact that what appeared on TV almost didn’t exist. Soon enough though, an even more powerful tool entered the scene. The World Wide Web. Even though it took almost 50 years for the dynamics to shift, the Internet in less than a decade is the number one tool in every aspect. The first Andrea Solomonidou | Organization Development and Change
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and most successful campaign based on grassroots with number one tool the internet was the 2007-2008 Obama campaign. In 22 months, David Plouffee13, the man behind the campaign, showed the world how you step up communication to a whole different brand new level. And communication will never be the same again. So, nowadays you have various and powerful ways to communicate a vision14. And who knows what might come next. The only sure thing is that industries grow or shrink, and mentalities shift every time something new comes along. But the goal always is one and only: To communicate as more effectively as possible your campaigns’ vision.
Step 5 Empower others act on the vision15 In order to communicate the vision at stake, besides using every vehicle available, you need to remove and alter systems that undermining the vision. Instead you try to encourage risk taking and nontraditional ideas, activities and actions. In any case, you should be ready to remove any powerful individuals who resist the change effort, or any other obstacles for that matter. Keep in mind that successful transformations begin to involve large numbers of people as the process progresses. One of the most characteristic campaign examples is once again the Obama campaign16. There was never such great motivation amongst people themselves, to create groups and offer their help voluntarily in such a large scale. One of Americas’ biggest problems as we headed towards the new century was the low level of participation in presidential elections and elections in general. Less than 50% of the country’s adult population participated. The bet was to motivate those people, to empower them in order to make them believe that their vote made the difference. And it did! What started as an outsider’s campaign, turned out to be the most motivating, diversity-friendly campaign of all times. Groups such as Greeks for Obama, Latinos for Obama, Women for Obama, Students for Obama, African American for Obama and many more were formed to reach out to people no Andrea Solomonidou | Organization Development and Change
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matter what their background was! There was even a “Republicans for Obama” group.
Step 6 Plan for and create short-term wins17 This step exists mainly to assist in defining and engineering visible performance improvements. These short term wins, still have their pitfalls, usually the lack of them, mainly because it demonstrates that the change effort is unsuccessful. The secret is to create them and not leave them to chance. This way in a controlled kind of way, you are leading the change efforts into the right direction. The 1968 electoral campaign found Nixon re-entering dynamically the race in terms of a product “replacement” effort. The Nixon of 1960 that Kennedy turned into dust was now a well defined candidate with a strong communication team focusing the spotlight on his strong points, removing any obstacles. But Nixon wasn’t just about that. After winning, he governed the country carefully and wisely especially because of the previous pitfalls of the Vietnam War and created small and significant wins in order to establish the sense of movement. Opening possibilities of cooperation with China, his trip to Moscow as the first American President officially invited, controlling military equipment, his discussions with the Soviets for preventing any wars and many more, enhanced his profile making him a President of worldwide range18. Those short term wins spread in a 4 year mandate were the platform of a really successful campaign in 1972 with the slogan “You need Nixon”19.
Step 7 Consolidate improvements and produce more change20 One of the most often mistakes managers make during is declaring victory too soon. It is common once you see the first sign of improvement to rest on your laurels and think you’ve done it. But this is not the case and Kotter urges Andrea Solomonidou | Organization Development and Change
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people to not stop the effort with the first positive signs. Quite the opposite, one has to use the increased credibility of those early wins in order to change even more. One of the most famous phrases used in speeches was Bush Senior’s “Read my lips”21 phrase during his nomination acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in Louisiana for the 1988 elections. He stressed out Reagan’s successes, he talked about the WWII and finally he laid out his plan for a “gentler and kinder nation” saying the famous: “Read my lips: no new taxes”. After an aggressive campaign against Michael Dukakis, which went down in history as the start of negative campaign attacking in politics22, Bush was the winner of the 1988 elections. His platform was not radical, and even though he was conservative, his set goals were accepted by the people. Against abortion, no new taxes support of free trade etc hence the fact that he wanted to be remembered as the “Education President”23. But Bush declared victory too soon when he saw the high approval rates after the Gulf War. He declared victory too soon when easily he got the nomination from the Republican Party. The “troops” were convinced that the war was won. No change process, no new projects, no change agents. Plus the fact that the 1988 campaign promises proved insufficient and in many cases fake. People never forgave Bush for raising taxes, for dragging them to another war, for letting the economy slowly die, and besides the approval he was receiving because of the war, the game was to be played domestically. “It’s the economy, stupid” Clinton’s unofficial campaign gave a massive hit into the lifeless republican campaign, and with “Putting people first”24 secured the success against a sluggish President who declared victory too soon.
Step 8 Institutionalize new approaches25 The final crucial error is the lack of new social norms and shared values consistent with changes. You need new approaches, you need leadership development and succession plans. Once you establish all the previous stages, from creating a sense of urgency, to creating and communicating a Andrea Solomonidou | Organization Development and Change
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vision down to this last one, you need to make sure that the mentality shifts. According to Kotter “change sticks when it becomes ‘the way we do things around here’ and when it seeps into the bloodstream of the corporate body”. That was the problem identified after the 2010 November election for House and Senate. Obama’s 2008 massive win consolidated mainly by the great change plan delivered to the people, crushed two years later by a massive defeat. People believed in him so people voted for a powerful change plan only to be disappointed in the next two years by the mentality that never shifted. But the problem is exactly this; a culture is difficult to change hence the two years being a small amount of time to deliver everything promised. When people believed, they knew that it was something quite difficult at the time to elaborate, the recession the crisis and the ongoing Iraq war were bets Obama needed to win. What they need now, is not just the promise but the evidence that the change effort will not stop, on the contrary to be continued faster and more efficient26.
Conclusion Change management is nowadays one of the most uprising forms of management. Along with Knowledge management, they are soliciting various industries that want or need to evolve without taking radical actions. They facilitate all aspects of leadership, combining it into plans and set goals on changing and enhancing mentalities first instead of tangibles. The conclusion of this research is the fact that even politics are no exception. Politics is a business and a fast changing one. Suitable change practices should and would help this gigantic industry to become better and more efficient for the sake of people involved.
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References 1
Kotter, J.P., Leading Change – Why transformation Efforts Fail, Harvard Business Review, Jan 01 2007 http://www.kotterinternational.com/KotterPrinciples/ChangeSteps.aspx 3 http://www.reference.com/browse/Lyndon+B.+Johnson+1964+campaign 4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYcgw0xfAZ0 5 Bates S.,Diamond E.,1992 “The spot: the rise of the political Advertising on Television”, Massachusetts. 6 http://www.kotterinternational.com/KotterPrinciples/ChangeSteps.aspx 2
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSuMdkff0_o&playnext=1&list=PLFF0CC3A1E91D5C6B&index=14 8 http://www.kotterinternational.com/KotterPrinciples/ChangeSteps.aspx 9
http://www.4president.org/brochures/billclinton1992brochure.htm http://millercenter.org/president/bush/essays/biography/3 11 http://www.kotterinternational.com/KotterPrinciples/ChangeSteps.aspx 10
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Bates S.,Diamond E.,1992 “The spot: the rise of the political Advertising on Television”, Massachusetts. 13
David Ploufe, 2009,”The audacity to win: the inside story and lessons of Barack Obama’s historic victory”, New York: Penguin Group. 14
David Meerman Scott,2009,”The new rules of Marketing and PR: how to use social media, blogs, news releases, online video and viral marketing to reach buyers directly”, New York: John Wiley and sons. 15
http://www.kotterinternational.com/KotterPrinciples/ChangeSteps.aspx
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http://www.barackobama.com/index.php
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http://www.kotterinternational.com/KotterPrinciples/ChangeSteps.aspx
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Bates S.,Diamond E.,1992 “The spot: the rise of the political Advertising on Television”, Massachusetts. 19
http://books.google.gr/books?id=hSl_Mbb0ay4C&pg=PA73&lpg=PA73&dq=%22you+need+nixon%22 +campaign+1972&source=bl&ots=4yRuigMA7&sig=g3ePjeyXa6af307mGnBhXR4rtnI&hl=el&ei=fnwPTdKqE8KDOp3ijYMJ&sa=X&oi=book_result &ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=%22you%20need%20nixon%22%20camp aign%201972&f=false 20 http://www.kotterinternational.com/KotterPrinciples/ChangeSteps.aspx 21
http://millercenter.org/president/bush/essays/biography/3 http://www.pbs.org/30secondcandidate/timeline/years/1988.html 23 http://millercenter.org/president/bush/essays/biography/3 24 http://www.4president.org/brochures/billclinton1992brochure.htm 25 http://www.kotterinternational.com/KotterPrinciples/ChangeSteps.aspx 22
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Organizing for America - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfGNgacysHg
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