ADKAR: a model for change in business, government and our community

ADKAR: a model for change in business, government and our community


By Jeffrey M. Hiatt

ISBN-10: 1930885512

ISBN-13: 9781930885516



ADKAR is a widely applicable work for anyone who has to deal with change. Regardless of whether you work at a private business, not-for-profit, or government entity, all of us are affected by changes that go on in the workplace, and this book introduces an insightful perspective to change and how change can be better addressed. And, fortunately for the reader, ADKAR was written by a pioneer in the field of change management, and the preeminent figure in the world of ADKAR methodology.

The scope of the book, as the title suggests, focuses solely on the ADKAR model. It doesn’t so much as mention competing theories of change management (i.e. person-centered implementation, unfreeze-change-refreeze, etc.). So if you’re looking for a broader introduction to change management itself, you’ll have to look elsewhere.

If, on the other hand you’re interested in reading on any methodology within the field of change management, or are specifically seeking out information on ADKAR, this is the book to start with. The author provides a very brief (3-page) introduction to ADKAR, which may be too brief for readers who encounter this book as their first exposure to the topic. He then jumps right in and spends the first third of the book explaining each of the elements of the model, followed by the remainder of the book on how to create/deliver/realize the methodology in practice.

Each element of the model is explained quite well, including examples of organizations which have successfully and unsuccessfully addressed change, the factors that affect the element, roles involved, and tactics to remediate the negative factors involved in a change. The author makes no assumptions concerning the reader’s knowledge of the topic as he walks through the model, but includes insightful nuggets that even those already familiar with ADKAR will find informative.

Upon closing the book, I found myself wanting to know more about the details of ADKAR and how it can be implemented, and it would certainly have been possible for the author to include more, as the book is only 150 pages long. However, I believe the author made the right choice in limiting the length of the book, as expounding too much would have likely made the book too dry and less interesting. Overall, I found this book to be a wonderful introduction to ADKAR, and feel like I walked away from it knowing vastly more about change than I did when I set out to read it.