If you’re a leader or an employee, pause for a moment and ask yourself: if these terms were used in your organisation during a change initiative, would you genuinely know what they meant?
- ADKAR Model
- Agile
- Change Agent
- Change Audit
- Change Culture / Culture Change
- Change Impact
- Change Impact Assessment
- Change Roadmap
- Change Saturation
- Change Strategy
- Change Training Plan
- Co‑Design
- Design Thinking
- Primary Sponsor
- Resistance to Change
- Sponsor
- People Manager Plan
- Process Mapping
This list isn’t exhaustive but it does capture many of the core processes, roles, and concepts in organisational change management. And yet, despite constant organisational evolution, most managers and the majority of staff cannot confidently define these terms or explain how they apply to their work. In my experience, even senior leaders often lack a foundational understanding of change management.
It’s astonishing when you consider the history. Change management began emerging in the 1960s, when Everett Rogers’ work on the diffusion of innovations emphasised that people must sit at the centre of change thinking. The first formal change management model appeared in Human Resources Management in 1982. Since then, the pace of change has only accelerated and yet organisational capability has not kept up.
The Capability Gap We Don’t Want to Admit
Here we are in 2026: leaders at all levels, across every industry, still navigating change without the skill base to do it well. Instead of embedding change capability internally, organisations continue to rely on external consultants — the big four, independent change managers, or temporary specialists — to deliver skills and frameworks that should already be part of every leader’s toolkit.
So ask yourself:
- What is my organisation’s change management model?
- Where is it documented?
- How am I trained in it as part of my leadership development?
- Am I expected to attend a three‑day course and return ready to lead change?
- Who mentors me in change management?
- Who can I go to for advice when leading change in my area?
If you can answer these questions, you’re working in a highly mature organisation — one that recognises the importance of consistent, repeatable, people‑centred change practices. But let’s be honest: very few people can answer them. Those who can are in the minority.
Even leaders who studied change management in their MBAs often enter organisations with no established framework to apply their knowledge. They find themselves working alongside consultants who use different models, different language, and different approaches — creating confusion rather than capability.
The Project Triangle That Should Be Standard — But Isn’t
Another challenge sits with project managers. Organisations frequently hire project managers, but without an adopted change model, each brings their own methodology. Many are unaware that both PRINCE2 and PMI have evolved to embed change management as critical to project success.
The ideal project structure is a triangle:
- Project Sponsor
- Project Manager
- Change Manager
The project manager and change manager hold equivalent roles with distinct responsibilities. They work side‑by‑side, not hierarchically. Yet this structure is still rare. Too often, project managers assume change managers should report to them, rather than collaborating as equal partners delivering different parts of a unified project plan. When the change manager has an independent voice, they can advise on real impacts, adoption risks, and engagement strategies — all essential for success.
We Are Falling Behind — And It’s Hurting People
The latest research is clear: organisations are falling behind in their ability to manage change. But this isn’t just a business problem; it’s a people problem.
When staff don’t understand:
- what is changing,
- why it’s changing,
- how it will impact them, and
- what the roadmap looks like,
they cannot meaningfully engage. And without engagement, change fails.
We are in a position of not heeding Everett Rogers’ 1960s work that emphasised people must sit at the centre of change thinking
Where to Start
If you lead a team, begin with the questions above. Ask for training. Advocate for a clear, documented change framework. Co‑design it with your team. Build a process they can rely on — one that evolves as you learn together.
Change isn’t slowing down.
With the rise of Artificial Intelligence, the scale and speed of change ahead will be unlike anything we’ve seen. We need systems, methods, and frameworks that help people navigate uncertainty with clarity, confidence, and a shared understanding.
Change will always involve the unknown. But organisations that invest in capability give their people something invaluable: a sense of knowing as they face what comes next.