If change management were a person, they’d be the quiet genius at the end of the conference table—the one everyone ignores until the project goes sideways. For years, organizations have treated change management like a checkbox: a slide in the deck, a training session no one attends, a “soft skill” that somehow feels optional. But here’s the truth: the real differentiator in consulting today isn’t methodology—it’s empathy.
The Myth of Methodology
Executives love frameworks. They look neat on PowerPoint slides and promise predictability. But frameworks alone don’t move people. Neither does merely checking the box when it comes to change management. During a recent software rollout, leadership and teams were in place, processes were outlined, formal email communications had been sent, yet confusion, resistance, and frustration was mounting for the application teams. Why? Because of a lack of intentionality around change management. To cite some examples, no one explained what “approval” or “entitlement” meant in their world. Terms like “design validation” and “compliance phase” sounded clear to the project team but were foreign to the impacted users. Despite repeated feedback from impacted users, the decision to not create a simple, clear demo of the system persisted. One participant summed it up: “We didn’t know what this new tool was about.”
The result? Weeks of back-and-forth emails missed expectations, and even rework because the new system was misunderstood, and the path for moving from the old system to the new was unclear.
The Human Factor
Here’s what did work: people. When a knowledgeable early adopter (change champion) stepped in to guide the team, resistance melted. When team leads stepped up, application owners felt heard and were willing to participate. These weren’t accidents; they were relational interventions. One app owner said, “If it wasn’t for guidance from the change champion, we wouldn’t have met the aggressive deployment date.” Another noted, “It is fantastic that we are being asked for feedback—this may be the first time.” It is hard to believe that even now, with the change management discipline being so clearly defined, and in large organizations that experience an astonishing amount of change, the basic change management practices might still not be in place.
The Cost of Ignoring Empathy
Contrast that with what happens when empathy is absent. Disconnected apps had no onboarding guide, forcing teams to create their own swim lane diagrams just to understand the flow. ServiceNow tickets disappeared into a black hole. App owners faced 5,000-item approval lists with no bulk processing option. One team lamented, “We had to complete multiple surveys because new people kept asking for the same thing.”
These aren’t technical failures—they’re human failures. They stem from a lack of anticipation, a lack of conversation, and a lack of visibility. Bad experiences with badly managed change create scar tissue, which makes the next change harder on both the users and those that are leading the change. This might lead to the false conclusions that the change management failed, when in fact the people impacted by the change enter the next change already expecting the worst.
Change management isn’t hiding—it’s waving from the corner. Invite it in. Because the next time your project hits turbulence, you’ll wish you had someone at the table who knows how to steer—not just the system, but the people.
The Shift: From Process to People
A flawless technical implementation means nothing if the humans using it are confused, frustrated, or disengaged. Change management deserves a seat at the table because it’s the discipline that bridges that gap. It’s the voice that says, “Prepare your team.” It’s the advocate for end-to-end visibility. It’s the champion for empathy in a world obsessed with efficiency.
Actionable Takeaways
If you’re leading a transformation, here’s how to make change management your secret weapon:
Show the Big Picture: Document the end-to-end process, not just the technical steps.
Listen Actively: Feedback isn’t a formality—it’s a strategy.
Build Change Champions: Identify influencers early and empower them to guide peers.
Communicate Early and Often: Use a 30-60-90-day roadmap to prepare teams for what’s coming.
About The Shift Series
Shift Happens is a series exploring how organizations can turn disruption into direction. We write about the real, human side of work, where change, technology, behavior, and leadership collide in ways no framework fully captures.
Every article follows one of the five currents that shape modern work:
The Human Side of Transformation, the heartbeat beneath the strategy.
Change Management as the Missing Discipline, the discipline hiding in plain sight, quietly determining who succeeds.
Technology, Tools + Human Behavior, the space where logic meets instinct, and where most rollouts live or die.
Organizational Structure, Power & Governance, the lines, ladders, and tensions that decide how work truly flows.
Leadership Micro-Shifts, Governance & Operating Models, the small shifts that create disproportionate impact.
We combine lived experience with practical insight. The kind you can apply the same day, not someday.
Shift happens! But with the right mindset, it happens through you.
If your organization is navigating a shift in technology, structure, or culture and needs practical, human-centered support, reach out.
This is the work we love! And the work we do best.
