Change management: Achieve your goals with the right change model

Change and transformation. Everyone talks about it and knows how necessary it is to adapt quickly to permanently changing conditions. And yet change is difficult. This is shown by examples such as the Mann-Gulch disaster, in which experienced firefighters died because they were unable to discard what they had learned and spontaneously change their behavior. We also saw this in the COVID-19 pandemic, and at the same time we learned that change is possible if it is perceived as necessary. The following article provides an overview of the most important change management methods and models. 

What is change management? 

Change management encompasses “all tasks, measures and activities that are intended to bring about a comprehensive, cross-departmental and far-reaching change in an organization — to implement new strategies, structures, systems, processes or behaviors.” But what exactly does change management address? Change has become an integral part of everyday business life: changing market conditions, increased customer demands and technical progress require new structures and better processes. The human factor plays the central role – even in digitalization. The economist Peter Drucker stated more than 50 years ago: “We are becoming aware that the major questions regarding technology are not technical but human questions.” 

And it is precisely this human factor that change management addresses. As humans, we find change difficult. Our brain is programmed for survival. It wants to ward off danger and is always looking for reward. However, danger prevention plays the more dominant role. It is additionally activated in the case of changes that cannot be foreseen in their effect: analytical thinking is suppressed, making change difficult. Change management methods ensure that changes can still be implemented because they guide you through the change process stringently and effectively, defining fields of action and individual tasks.