John Kotter, FEMA reform and advice to change agents
June 5, 2006
In writing the change agent paper, I queried the legendary John Kotter of Harvard University on the origin of the term change agent. He could not answer the question of the first time the term "change agent" was used in a scholarly paper but thought that the equally legendary Warren Bennis would be able to answer the question. He cc'd Bennis on our email exchange. By the way you "gotta" love the internet in that I could just send an email and within a day get a response from people like Bennis and Kotter. Net, net, there is no answer as to the first time that the term "change agent" was used in a scholarly work. Please email us if you can set us straight on this. For a full copy of my email exchange with Kotter and Bennis please see the appendix of the change agent paper.
Kotter chimed in this week in Forbes Magazine on the future of FEMA. His comments on change and urgency are always relevant but this passage offers thoughts for change agents in FEMA to consider:
"As FEMA begins to rebuild, its reformers should remember that while successful change can happen fairly quickly, the changes can be undone even more rapidly. Making reform stick requires a culture that will need vigilant care.
James Lee Witt ran FEMA for seven years. The next-longest-serving director lasted less than four years. The agency should be led by a director with excellent skills and credibility who serves as long as he or she is doing a good job. Just as former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan served under multiple presidents from both political parties, making Americans feel more secure about the economy, the new head of FEMA, in a similar appointment, could help Americans feel more secure about disaster relief. A longer tenure will enable a person with leadership skills not only to make the necessary changes, but also to make them stick.
Americans expect a FEMA that is capable of thinking the unthinkable, creating plans for dealing with such catastrophes, executing the plans effectively and being nimble enough to alter tactics as events demand. Such an agency requires leadership skills throughout the organization that are anchored in the culture."
For the full article click here.
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