Blog
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Which Change Management Framework Should You Use?
If you’re about to lead a change initiative — an AI adoption project, a process overhaul, a digital transformation — you’ve probably been told to “pick a framework.” And then you find yourself staring at five or six options, each with its own acronym, its own diagram, and its own book deal, wondering which one
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The Two Questions Every Change Project Should Start and End With
I’ve watched dozens of change management projects follow a framework to the letter and still end up in the same place: no one can tell you whether it actually worked. Not because people didn’t try. Not because the framework was bad. Because no one asked the two questions that matter most. Question One: “What Are
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Kotter’s 8 Steps Are Missing a 9th
It’s the most recognized change management playbook in the corporate world. But recognition doesn’t mean it’s finished. Kotter’s 8-Step Process for Leading Change is probably the most recognizable change management framework in the corporate world. Urgency, coalition, vision, communication, empowerment, short-term wins, consolidation, institutionalization. It’s comprehensive, it’s sequential, and it’s been taught in business schools
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Lewin’s Model Is 80 Years Old. Here’s What It’s Missing.
Kurt Lewin’s Unfreeze-Change-Refreeze model is the oldest formal change management framework still in active use. Published in the 1940s, it introduced a deceptively simple idea: before you can change a system, you have to destabilize it. Then you make the change. Then you stabilize the new state. It’s elegant. It’s intuitive. And for certain types
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McKinsey 7-S Tells You What to Look At — Not What to Do
The McKinsey 7-S Framework is one of those models that looks impressively comprehensive on a slide deck. Strategy, Structure, Systems, Shared Values, Skills, Style, Staff. Seven interconnected elements that all need to be aligned for an organization to function effectively. And it’s right. Organizational alignment does matter. If your strategy says one thing and your
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Bridges’ Transition Model Focuses on Feelings — Not Results
William Bridges’ Transition Model is different from most change management frameworks, and I mean that as a genuine compliment. While everyone else is focused on the operational mechanics of change — steps, phases, alignment diagrams — Bridges focuses on the psychological experience. Ending, Neutral Zone, New Beginning. It’s about what people go through internally when
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What ADKAR Gets Right — and the One Thing It Misses
It’s one of the most popular change management models for a reason. But popularity doesn’t mean it’s complete. If you’ve ever been part of a change management initiative — and if you’re reading this, you probably have — there’s a good chance someone pulled out the ADKAR model. Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, Reinforcement. It’s been
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The 5P Framework vs. Other Change Management Models
This article was originally published on the Trust Insights blog. It is republished here for the katierobbert.com audience. There is no shortage of change management models. A quick search returns dozens of them, each with its own acronym, diagram, and book deal. The most popular ones — ADKAR, Kotter’s 8 Steps, Lewin’s Unfreeze-Change-Refreeze — have
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Your AI Pilot Does Everything Except Its Job
I was at lunch the other day and the bartender started venting about the parking system in the building. Apparently it’s run by an AI startup — a buddy of the building owner — and here’s what it does: it scans your plate when you pull in, it logs your entry time, it tracks your
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You Can’t Build AI on a Museum: The Infrastructure Crisis Leadership Refuses to Look At
Here’s a number I want you to sit with: Gartner predicts that through 2026, organizations will abandon 60% of their AI projects. Not because the AI didn’t work. Because the data underneath it was unusable. Sixty percent. That’s not a failure rate — that’s a pattern. And it’s a pattern that should alarm every executive