ADKAR

framework · management · organizing-schema

Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, Reinforcement — Prosci's individual-change model.

ADKAR is a sequential model of individual-level change developed by Jeff Hiatt of Prosci in the late 1990s and presented in his 2006 book ADKAR: A Model for Change in Business, Government and Our Community. Its premise is that organizational change succeeds only when each affected individual successfully traverses five sequential transitions: Awareness of the need for change; Desire to participate and support the change; Knowledge of how to change; Ability to implement required skills and behaviors; and Reinforcement to sustain the change. ADKAR pairs with Prosci's three-phase organizational change-management process (Prepare for change, Manage change, Sustain change) and is delivered through a substantial certification and consulting practice. The model is widely used in corporate change-management programs alongside or as a substitute for Kotter's framework.

Originators

Jeff Hiatt (Prosci) high

Year / Decade

Late 1990s development; 2006 (Hiatt book) high

Primary sources

Hiatt, J.M. (2006). ADKAR: A Model for Change in Business, Government and Our Community, Prosci. Best Practices in Change Management (multi-edition benchmark study) high

Core components

Awareness
Desire
Knowledge
Ability
Reinforcement
Sequential individual progression
Prosci three-phase organizational process integration
Individual change-readiness assessment

Primary use case

Individual-level change management within larger organizational change initiatives; structured change-readiness assessment; complement to process-focused change models like Kotter's; foundation for Prosci's certification-based consulting practice.

Common criticisms

Proprietary and consulting-driven, with substantial barrier to academic validation
sequential structure assumes individuals progress in order, which empirical change research rarely supports
treats change linearly when reality involves multiple iterations and setbacks
certification industry creates professional incentives independent of methodological merit
less academic peer-reviewed validation than Kotter or Lewin
risks reducing change leadership to checklist-driven compliance.

Lineage

Child of: Lewin's Change Model
Siblings: Kotter's 8-Step Change Model, Lewin's Change Model, Bridges' Transition Model
Derived from: Lewin's Change Model