Diagnostics — C17-017–032
C17-017 — Correct: A
Correct rationale: Declaring victory too soon is Kotter Error 7 and stops transformation after early gains.
A: Correct.
B: Stakeholder listening generally supports change.
C: Budget sequencing is not a named error.
D: Early-Adopter influence belongs to diffusion and can help.
Source: 545–549. Confusion: Short-term win vs victory. Error Tag: Did not know named error.
C17-018 — Correct: B
Correct rationale: Absence of visible crisis is one source of complacency.
A: No evidence of an existing but undercommunicated vision.
B: Correct.
C: Wins are not the issue.
D: Cultural embedding is a later problem.
Source: 545–546, 550–553. Confusion: Complacency vs lack of wins. Error Tag: Misread no crisis as no need.
C17-019 — Correct: C
Correct rationale: Lone Champion + no distributed power/expertise/credibility/leadership = insufficient Guiding Coalition.
A: No vision weakness is stated.
B: Obstacles may exist, but absent coalition is the decisive structural clue.
C: Correct.
D: Stalling is leadership-capacity related, not lack of early results.
Source: 546, 553–557. Confusion: Sponsor vs coalition. Error Tag: Mistook one sponsor for coalition.
C17-020 — Correct: D
Correct rationale: Plans exist, but there is no compelling future direction that clarifies, motivates and aligns.
A: No status-quo acceptance clue is central.
B: Wins come after vision foundation.
C: Cultural anchoring is late-stage.
D: Correct—vision is weak/absent.
Source: 546–547, 557–560. Confusion: Vision vs plan. Error Tag: Substituted plan for vision.
C17-021 — Correct: A
Correct rationale: The vision is stated to be strong; insufficient exposure/reinforcement is the failure.
A: Correct.
B: Message quality is not weak.
C: No early win/victory declaration.
D: Understanding/communication, not urgency, is central.
Source: 547–548, 560–565. Confusion: Weak vision vs undercommunication. Error Tag: Confused message quality with message reach.
C17-022 — Correct: B
Correct rationale: Desired behavior is blocked by structural incentives/authority despite understanding/support.
A: Coalition might help remove barriers, but the described failure is the barrier itself.
B: Correct.
C: No victory declaration.
D: The issue is inability to act, not lack of evidence.
Source: 547–548. Confusion: Structural obstacles vs weak coalition. Error Tag: Ignored incentive barrier.
C17-023 — Correct: C
Correct rationale: Short-term wins provide evidence, credibility and momentum; the stem explicitly lacks visible interim results.
A: Message reach is not the clue.
B: Anchoring follows established practices.
C: Correct.
D: Transformation is underway; proof is the issue.
Source: 548. Confusion: No wins vs undercommunication. Error Tag: Failed to use visible proof.
C17-024 — Correct: D
Correct rationale: The pilot win was treated as completion and behavior was never deeply embedded.
A: No over-urgency clue.
B: Trialability is not a Kotter error.
C: Observability is not the cause.
D: Correct—victory too soon + failure to anchor.
Source: 548–550. Confusion: Short-term win vs victory vs anchoring. Error Tag: Stopped before cultural embedding.
C17-025 — Correct: A
Correct rationale: Chapter 17 groups stages 1–4 as weakening status quo, 5–7 as introducing new practices, and 8 as cultural anchoring.
A: Correct.
B: No technology shortcut.
C: Jumping to 5–7 weakens foundation.
D: It is transformation logic, not merely scheduling.
Source: 549–550. Confusion: Kotter stage groups vs project phases. Error Tag: Misread transformation model as schedule.
C17-026 — Correct: B
Correct rationale: Urgency moves people away from an acceptable status quo and supports the critical mass/leadership needed for transformation.
A: Urgency does not guarantee acceptance.
B: Correct.
C: Not primarily implementation-task definition.
D: Urgency starts the process and must be sustained.
Source: 550–553. Confusion: Urgency vs anxiety/complacency. Error Tag: Treated urgency as pressure only.
C17-027 — Correct: C
Correct rationale: Low standards, inward-looking measures, no crisis, happy talk, denial and weak external feedback create complacency.
A: External feedback exposes gaps.
B: Candor/challenge counters complacency.
C: Correct false-success signal.
D: Visible crisis usually raises urgency.
Source: 551–552. Confusion: Complacency sources vs urgency sources. Error Tag: Failed to identify false-success signal.
C17-028 — Correct: D
Correct rationale: Crisis can raise urgency but also consume scarce resources; use it carefully.
A: Attention does not guarantee transformation.
B: Urgency ≠ anxiety/fear.
C: Waiting for urgency to disappear undermines action.
D: Correct.
Source: 552–553. Confusion: Urgency vs anxiety/crisis. Error Tag: Used crisis as fear tactic.
C17-029 — Correct: A
Correct rationale: Middle/lower managers can drive local change when they have enough autonomy or can enlist senior support against enterprise inertia.
A: Correct.
B: Rogers category does not determine authority.
C: Local scope does not categorically waive change-leadership logic.
D: Technical plan does not replace vision.
Source: 553. Confusion: Local autonomy vs enterprise inertia. Error Tag: Ignored scope and authority.
C17-030 — Correct: B
Correct rationale: 75% is Kotter’s cited rule of thumb about sufficient managerial support, not a universal DAMA threshold; too much urgency can also be counterproductive.
A: Not a DAMA pass/fail rule.
B: Correct.
C: Not Rogers adopter percentage.
D: More urgency is not always better.
Source: 553. Confusion: Kotter rule of thumb vs universal threshold. Error Tag: Overgeneralized cited percentage.
C17-031 — Correct: C
Correct rationale: Missing understanding of data flows/processes/stakeholders is missing expertise.
A: Senior executives imply position power is present.
B: No reputational-standing clue.
C: Correct.
D: Missing knowledge is more explicit than leadership ability.
Source: 554. Confusion: Coalition expertise vs power/credibility. Error Tag: Selected seniority instead of missing capability.
C17-032 — Correct: D
Correct rationale: A project steering committee may track delivery, but major transformation needs cross-stakeholder influence via a real Guiding Coalition.
A: More status administration does not create change influence.
B: Architecture governance is not a substitute.
C: Narrow project participants may weaken broader change.
D: Correct.
Source: 554–557, 570–571. Confusion: Guiding Coalition vs project steering. Error Tag: Mistook delivery governance for change leadership.