The Death of Traditional Change Management

Traditional change management no longer fits the way organisations implement change. 

In a previous article, I set out the case for Applied Change Management and why a more practical, hands-on approach is needed to support people through change. Since then, I’ve made it the only way I carry out my work as a Change expert. The reality of how organisations now operate highlights a growing mismatch between traditional change management and the environments it is expected to support.

This isn’t a criticism of the profession or the people working within it. Change managers are committed, thoughtful, and deeply invested in helping organisations succeed. The issue sits with the approach itself. Traditional change management was designed at a time when projects were more linear, changes were less frequent, and there was space between initiatives. It made sense to spend time explaining change as a concept, walking people through models, and running a full set of prescribed activities alongside delivery.

Many of us were trained to deliver change this way, because for a long time it worked. The challenge is that the conditions it was designed for no longer exist. Most organisations today operate in a state of continual change, meaning the market has shifted and needs a different approach. The same groups are impacted repeatedly, often by multiple initiatives running in parallel. Projects move faster, delivery methods have shifted, and the expectation is that change management keeps pace, without adding friction or delay.

In that environment, spending time discussing change management with people is a waste of time (ours and theirs). Impacted groups struggle to see how theory relates to what they are being asked to do differently. I have also not yet once met an impacted group who needed to be told how they were going to react to change and how change management was going to help them.

In reality, what people want is clarity on how their work is changing, what is expected of them, and how they get to business as usual as quickly and confidently as possible. Focusing on these key outcomes will also support the business case for change management, because it will lead to tangible metrics proving its value. 

Applied Change Management emerged from working in exactly these conditions. Rather than treating change as something separate and additional, it is interwoven into people’s daily routines. It focuses on the core change to people’s work, and ensures that every activity, communication, and discussion supports the change and those people changing. 

Applied Change Management doesn’t replace the foundations of the discipline. We still prepare for, implement, and sustain change. The shift is in the activities in each of those phases.

Applied Change Management: 

• Never spends time talking about change as an abstract concept. 

• Focuses all conversations and discussions on the needs of the impacted group or individual.

• Streamlines all activities to be wrapped around the change the group we are dealing with will see. 

• Asks applied questions and uses approaches applied to the change at all levels in the organisation from Sponsors to End-users.

At this point, the question is no longer whether Applied Change Management works. The question is why do we still try to adapt Traditional Change Management approaches to the current environment we are working in?

I talk about the differences between Traditional and Applied Change Management in an upcoming Podcast being released this week, and I share examples of how Applied Change Management has worked for me and others. 

There is no doubt that change management remains essential. To continue supporting organisations, teams, and individuals effectively, we need to shift how we deliver it in response to the scale, pace, and complexity of the environments we are working in. Applied Change Management is about ensuring the profession remains practical, relevant, and genuinely supportive of the people experiencing change.

Best wishes in your Change Management efforts!

Rose