Accelerate is an award winning article that Dr. John Kotter wrote in HBR.

For those of you not aware of Dr. Kotter, he is a former professor at the Harvard Business School, an acclaimed author, and now Chief Innovation Officer at Kotter International.

Dr. Kotter has written 18 books and Business Week rated him the No.1 “leadership guru” in America. He is also one of the most read business writers on HBR.

In Accelerate, Dr. Kotter argues that in today’s fast changing and disruptive times, companies do not identify the most important hazards and opportunities fast enough since they are so caught up with their current businesses. It is, however, important that companies seek competitive advantage without disrupting daily operations. Towards this he recommends two separate structures within the same organisation, one to handle existing businesses, the other to work on newer opportunities.

He also details out eight accelerators:

1. * Create a sense of urgency around a single big opportunity.

2. * Build and maintain a guiding coalition.

3. * Formulate a strategic vision and develop change initiatives designed to capitalize on the big opportunity.

4. * Communicate the vision and the strategy to create buy-in and attract a growing volunteer army.

5. * Accelerate movement toward the vision and the opportunity by ensuring that the network removes barriers.

6. * Celebrate visible, significant short-term wins.

7. * Never let up. Keep learning from experience. Don’t declare victory too soon.

8. * Institutionalize strategic changes in the culture.

Relying on only a single operating system or just one typical hierarchical structure will just not work today. What is needed is a new form of organisation within the same company.

Read the article here

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