What is Change Management?
Change management is the structured approach to transitioning individuals, teams, and organizations from a current state to a desired future state.
Change management is the structured approach to transitioning individuals, teams, and organizations from a current state to a desired future state. In technology organizations, it applies to: tool migrations, process changes, organizational restructures, and technology platform transitions.
Popular frameworks include: Kotter's 8-Step Process, ADKAR (Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, Reinforcement), Bridges' Transition Model, and Lewin's Change Management Model (Unfreeze, Change, Refreeze).
Most technology change failures are not technical failures — they're adoption failures. The technology works, but people don't use it. Change management addresses the human side: communication, training, incentive alignment, and resistance management.
Richard Ewing's observation from R&D Capital Audits: the biggest barrier to addressing technical debt is not technical — it's organizational resistance to change. Teams that have adapted to working around debt resist the disruption of fixing it.
Why It Matters
70% of change initiatives fail, primarily due to employee resistance and lack of management support. Technology changes without change management become expensive shelfware.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is change management?
A structured approach to moving people and organizations from current state to desired state. It addresses the human side of technology transitions: communication, training, and resistance management.
Why do technology changes fail?
Usually not for technical reasons — for human reasons. Lack of executive sponsorship, poor communication, insufficient training, and no incentive alignment.
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Richard Ewing is a Product Economist and AI Capital Auditor. He helps companies translate technical complexity into financial clarity.
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