This entry is a follow-up of this article in which I apply Kotter to my own change. An entry on what I did wrong can be found here.

Step 1: Acting with urgency

Unlike the majority of change processes, this was an easy one. I had no occupation, no office, no business cards and no option to return (my old job was roughly 9000 km away). I only had my personality and skills, both of which I was unsure of their value in this new setting. So definitely: the urgency was there. I needed to start up something, and it needed to be done quickly.

Step 2: Developing the guiding coalition

I was alone and sensed that without help I would not stand a chance in the crowd out there. City, people, customs, language… everything was new. So I searched for peers that wanted to give me a try. And I found. I’m now strategically cooperating with a few reliable partners.

Step 3: Developing a change vision

It took me some soul-searching to get the vision right. I started in Bangkok with a vague idea. At hindsight, the terms change, innovation and participation are obvious. But at first this clear direction was lacking. It took a few months to sort out the vision which ended up, amongst others, in this website.

Step 4: Communicating the vision buy-in

As free-lance professional the communication of the vision is all directed towards external organisations. I gave as many free workshops as possible, set up personal projects (some of which failed miserably) and this generated new connections and contacts that in the end proved valuable in positioning myself.

Step 5: Empowering broad-based actions

Empowering others seems so much easier than empowering one self. I struggled with this step quite some time before realising that outsourcing and investing in my own brand was the right thing to do.

Step 6: Generating short-term wins

With a little luck I got a first project 5 months after I arrived. And not even in Thailand, but in neighbouring Cambodia. A colleague I teamed up was too busy, so he transferred met the job. It was a great moral boost and gave me the feeling I was on the right track.

Step 7: Don’t let up

At the end of the first year I was busy and booked for quite some time ahead. A breakthrough had occurred after 7 months and since then I was piling up project after project. And suddenly it dried up in the middle of the 2nd year. My positioning clearly needed sustaining effort. I could not yet cry victory.

Step 8: Make change stick

With sticking to my vision, interesting projects on the roll, the launching of my website, the continuous extending of my network, I feel that I’m in the process of making the change stick. Interestingly enough, I am now much more focussed and dedicated to my work than ever.