ADKAR is an individual change model with five sequential outcomes: Awareness (understanding the “why”), Desire (willingness to participate), Knowledge (knowing “how”), Ability (being able to apply in practice), and Reinforcement (sustaining the change). The focus is not on project tasks but on the people outcomes every individual must achieve for an organization to successfully adopt change.
Origin and Purpose
ADKAR was designed to address the most common failure point in change programs: people do not shift their behavior on the same cadence as project milestones. It provides a diagnostic line from awareness through reinforcement, highlighting adoption gaps. The five outcomes are tool- and framework-neutral, making them adaptable to a wide range of change and transformation contexts.
Core Elements
- Awareness – Clarity about nature, urgency, and risks of change.
- Desire – Personal willingness to engage (perceived benefits, peer influence, leadership, consequences). Desire is ineffective without resources, authority, and psychological safety.
- Knowledge – Concrete understanding of “how” (processes, skills, roles, tools).
- Ability – Practicing the change in real work, enabled through coaching, practice, and removal of systemic barriers.
- Reinforcement – Stabilization and sustainment (recognition, incentives, governance, rituals).
Application in Organizations
- Barrier-focused diagnosis: Identify the ADKAR stage where adoption is stuck and act there.
- Role-based interventions: Sponsors drive awareness/desire, subject-matter experts deliver knowledge, coaches build ability, HR ensures reinforcement.
- Time alignment: Link ADKAR outcomes with delivery milestones.
- Scaling: Track ADKAR profiles across stakeholder clusters and update iteratively.
Best Practices
- Personalize the “why” to individual relevance.
- Actively build desire (reduce friction, leverage champions, quick wins).
- Deliver knowledge efficiently (micro-learning, job aids, peer learning).
- Build ability on the job (coaching, practice, removing systemic blockers).
- Reinforce systemically (aligned incentives, recognition, embedded governance).
- Measure along the chain with both leading and lagging indicators.
Practice Examples (Illustrations)
ERP rollout: Awareness/knowledge high, ability low (system access missing, legacy processes in use). Fix: rights adjustment, coaching, reinforcement via shopfloor boards.
Pricing logic in sales: Awareness present, desire weak (fear of missing targets). Fix: champions, deal reviews, incentive redesign.
Agile engineering: Knowledge high, ability blocked by legacy policies. Fix: policy refits, backlog coaching, CI/CD enablers.
Criticism and Limitations
- Individual focus: Risks overlooking systemic levers (IT, policies, capacity).
- Linear myth: Stages rarely unfold sequentially; regressions are common.
- Desire ≠ motivation alone: Without resources and safety, willingness does not translate into adoption.
- Checklist risk: Formal compliance without real behavior change.
- Leadership implicit: Leadership effort is assumed but not explicitly modeled.
- Cultural nuance: Copy-paste communication fails; local tailoring is needed.
- Portfolio complexity: Multiple simultaneous changes erode desire and create change fatigue.
Integration and Combination
- With ACMP: ADKAR provides the adoption strand within an end-to-end process.
- With Kotter: Leadership and momentum paired with ADKAR’s focus on individual adoption.
- With Leading/Lagging Indicators: Links ADKAR signals to measurable outcomes.
- With ADDIE/SAM: Learning frameworks to strengthen knowledge and ability.
- With Living Transformation®: ADKAR as diagnostic checkpoints within transformation increments—awareness/desire as entry, knowledge/ability in capability sprints, reinforcement in routines and metrics.
- With Living Strategy: Strategic outcomes form the intent; ADKAR operationalizes individual adoption along that chain.
CALADE Perspective
At CALADE, we use ADKAR pragmatically—tailored to context and maturity. In advisory engagements, we combine ADKAR with leadership, systemic levers, and measurement frameworks to ensure visible behavioral change rather than just communication.
Cross-references to related glossary entries
- ACMP Standard Methodology
- Kotter’s 8-Step Model
- Leading and Lagging Indicators
- OKR
- Change Curve
- ADDIE Model
- Timeboxing
- Impediment
- Living Transformation®
- Living Strategy
← back to list