ADKAR Model
ADKAR is Prosci's individual-level change framework: Awareness (why change is needed), Desire (personal motivation to participate), Knowledge (how to change), Ability (skills and behaviors to perform the change), and Reinforcement (sustainment so the change sticks). The model's central insight: organizations don't change — individuals do. A 5,000-person rollout is just 5,000 individuals each moving through ADKAR. If 70% of your workforce is stuck at 'Awareness' but never reached 'Desire,' your training programs (Knowledge phase) will fail because you skipped the emotional buy-in step. Prosci's research across 2,000+ change projects shows that initiatives with strong ADKAR scores are 6× more likely to meet objectives.
The Trap
The trap is treating ADKAR as a linear checklist instead of a diagnostic. Project managers send an email (Awareness ✓), run a training session (Knowledge ✓), then declare the change 'done' — and are baffled when adoption flatlines. The real diagnostic is asking: where is each person actually stuck? A senior salesperson might have full Awareness and Knowledge but zero Desire. Throwing more training (Knowledge) at a Desire problem is like putting a louder alarm on someone who refuses to get out of bed. ADKAR is sequential — you cannot skip a step — but most rollouts skip Desire entirely.
What to Do
Run an ADKAR barrier-point assessment with a representative sample (15-30 people) before designing your change plan. Ask each person to self-rate 1-5 on each letter. The lowest score is the barrier point — that's where to invest. If Awareness is 2/5, your change story is broken — fix communication. If Desire is 2/5, you have a WIIFM ('What's In It For Me') problem — fix incentives and personal impact. If Knowledge is 2/5, build training. If Ability is 2/5, provide coaching and time to practice. If Reinforcement is 2/5, build accountability and recognition. Re-measure every 4 weeks during the rollout.
Formula
In Practice
When Microsoft rolled out Teams to replace Skype for Business across 200,000+ employees, they explicitly mapped to ADKAR. The Awareness phase used Satya Nadella video keynotes explaining why collaboration mattered. Desire was built by showcasing power users who saved hours per week. Knowledge came from on-demand 'Teams University' microlearning. Ability was unlocked by manager-led 'Teams Tuesdays' practice sessions. Reinforcement came when Skype was decommissioned and Teams was the only option. Adoption hit 95% in 18 months — vs. the typical 30-50% for enterprise software rollouts.
Pro Tips
- 01
The order matters more than people realize. You cannot build Desire without first establishing Awareness, and you cannot build Knowledge in someone with no Desire. Diagnose in order, intervene at the lowest score.
- 02
The most common failure point is Desire. Awareness is easy (send an email). Knowledge is easy (run a training). But Desire requires understanding each individual's WIIFM — and that requires manager 1:1s, not all-hands meetings.
- 03
Reinforcement is where 80% of changes die. Within 6 months of a rollout, people drift back to old habits unless you actively reinforce the new behavior with metrics, recognition, and consequences. Without reinforcement, you've rented the change, not bought it.
Myth vs Reality
Myth
“ADKAR is a project management tool”
Reality
ADKAR is a diagnostic and intervention framework focused on the human side of change. Project plans tell you WHAT to do; ADKAR tells you WHY adoption is failing. The two are complementary, not interchangeable.
Myth
“Once people are trained, the change is complete”
Reality
Knowledge is only step 3 of 5. People can know exactly how to use a new system and still refuse to (Desire problem) or be too overwhelmed to (Ability problem) or quietly revert (Reinforcement problem). Training is the middle of the journey, not the end.
Myth
“ADKAR works the same for everyone”
Reality
Different stakeholder groups get stuck at different letters. Executives often have Awareness/Desire but lack Ability (delegating change requires new behaviors). Frontline workers often have Knowledge/Ability but lack Awareness (no one explained the why). Segment your assessment by role.
Try it
Run the numbers.
Pressure-test the concept against your own knowledge — answer the challenge or try the live scenario.
Knowledge Check
You rolled out a new CRM 90 days ago. Training attendance was 95%. Knowledge tests show 88% comprehension. But CRM usage data shows only 23% of sales reps are logging activities. According to ADKAR, what's most likely the barrier?
Industry benchmarks
Is your number good?
Calibrate against real-world tiers. Use these ranges as targets — not absolutes.
ADKAR Score Threshold for Successful Change
Cross-industry change initiatives, n=2,000+ projectsHigh Confidence Success
All letters ≥ 4.0
Likely Success
All letters ≥ 3.5
At Risk
Any letter < 3.0
Likely Failure
Any letter < 2.5
Critical Barrier
Any letter < 2.0
Source: Prosci Best Practices in Change Management Research
Real-world cases
Companies that lived this.
Verified narratives with the numbers that prove (or break) the concept.
Microsoft
2017-2019
Microsoft replaced Skype for Business with Teams across 200,000+ employees and 500,000+ partner organizations. Rather than treating it as a software deployment, they explicitly used ADKAR. Awareness was driven by Nadella video keynotes tying Teams to the company's collaboration strategy. Desire was built through internal champions showing time-savings stories. Knowledge came from 'Teams University' on-demand learning. Ability was developed through 'Teams Tuesdays' — manager-led practice sessions. Reinforcement came when Skype was officially decommissioned, removing the fallback option entirely.
Adoption at 18 months
95%
Typical enterprise SaaS adoption
30-50%
Active monthly users by 2020
115M+
Skype decommission date
July 2021 (planned phase-out)
When you treat a software rollout as a human change journey (ADKAR) rather than a technical deployment, you can achieve 2-3x normal adoption rates. The Reinforcement step — actually shutting off the old tool — was non-negotiable. Without it, hybrid usage would have persisted indefinitely.
Hypothetical: MidwestHealth Hospital System
2022 EHR Rollout
A 4,500-employee regional hospital system rolled out a new electronic health records (EHR) platform. The CIO ran a textbook deployment: town halls (Awareness), 40 hours of mandatory training per clinician (Knowledge), and a 'go-live' weekend. Six months later, only 41% of clinical notes were being entered correctly — physicians were either ignoring the system or using shadow workarounds. A consultant ran an ADKAR assessment. Result: Awareness 4.5, Desire 1.8, Knowledge 4.2, Ability 2.1, Reinforcement 1.5. The diagnosis: doctors knew exactly how to use the system but had no Desire (it added 90 minutes/day of documentation with no personal benefit) and no Reinforcement (department chiefs ignored compliance metrics). The fix: physician 'compensation tied to documentation quality scores,' a peer-led 'ADKAR coach' in each department, and a public weekly leaderboard. Compliance hit 87% within 4 months.
Initial compliance (post-training)
41%
Diagnosed barriers
Desire (1.8), Reinforcement (1.5)
Compliance after intervention
87% in 4 months
Cost of misdiagnosis (pre-ADKAR)
~$2.4M in productivity loss
Mandatory training cannot solve a Desire problem. EHR rollouts fail not because doctors can't learn the software, but because the system shifts work TO doctors with no offsetting benefit. Diagnose Desire first, intervene with WIIFM and accountability — then optionally add training.
Decision scenario
The Stalled Salesforce Rollout
You're the VP of Operations at a 600-person B2B software company. Six months ago, you replaced your homegrown CRM with Salesforce. The project cost $2.1M including licenses, implementation, and training. Today, only 38% of sales reps are logging activities daily. Pipeline forecasting is broken because half the deals aren't in the system. Your CRO wants to mandate compliance and threaten termination for non-users.
Investment to date
$2.1M
Daily Active Users
38% of sales team
Pipeline Visibility
~50%
Time since launch
6 months
Forecasting Accuracy
±35% (was ±15%)
Decision 1
Before deciding on enforcement, you commission an ADKAR assessment. Results from 80 sales reps: Awareness 4.1, Desire 2.0, Knowledge 3.8, Ability 3.2, Reinforcement 1.7. The pattern is clear — reps know what Salesforce is, know how to use it, but don't want to and are not held accountable.
Mandate compliance with monthly disciplinary reviews. Reps under 80% activity logging get a PIP, repeat offenders are terminated.Reveal
Address Desire and Reinforcement specifically: rebuild commission calculations to require CRM-logged activity, add a weekly 'best deal story' shoutout for top CRM users, and have managers use Salesforce data in 1:1s (so reps see their data being used to help them).✓ OptimalReveal
Related concepts
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Turn ADKAR Model into a live operating decision.
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Turn ADKAR Model into a live operating decision.
Use ADKAR Model as the framing layer, then move into diagnostics or advisory if this maps directly to a current business bottleneck.