Where is your change stalling?
Describe a change you’re leading, answer 16 quick statements, and find out where it’s most likely getting stuck, with practical next steps and editable templates for that step. It takes about ten minutes.
Your answers stay on this page. They’re never stored or sent anywhere, and they disappear when you refresh.
Guides for every step
Each guide explains the step in plain language, what it looks like when it’s missing, and what to do.
Templates
Editable Word documents. Adapt them for your change and your school.
Change on a page
The whole change on one page: the problem, the reason, what success looks like, who’s involved, the timeline and the first wins to aim for.
Download .docxWho’s affected: stakeholder map
Map everyone the change affects, how much influence they have and how supportive they are, with a plan for each group.
Download .docxKey messages and conversation planner
Agree the key messages, plan who tells whom and when (in person first), and log questions so none go unanswered.
Download .docxQuick wins tracker
Record early wins, the evidence, who made them happen, and how they were shared and credited.
Download .docxLeading a decision I didn’t make
A planner for carrying out a decision made above you: understand it, raise concerns properly, find what you can shape, and present it honestly.
Download .docxAbout the model
The eight steps behind this tool come from John Kotter’s model of leading change, set out in his book Leading Change (1996). Kotter studied why organizational changes fail and described the stages that successful changes tend to move through, from building a shared reason to change through to anchoring it in everyday practice.
This tool uses the model as a diagnostic, not a checklist. You don’t need to know it to use the tool, and you don’t need to work through the steps one by one. The statements simply help you spot which part of the change is most likely holding the rest back.
The model has real limits, and it’s worth being honest about them. It’s linear, while real change in schools loops back on itself. It was written with top-down change in mind, where a leader decides and others follow; much of the best change in schools is built with staff, not delivered to them. And change in schools is messier than any model: timetables, staffing, inspections and the rhythm of the school year all get in the way. Kotter himself later revised his approach to be less linear. Treat the steps as useful questions, not rules.