10 Myths About Change Management to Squash if You Want to be Successful

As a Leadership coach, people strategist, and somewhat non-traditional Organization Development (OD) and change management practitioner, I often find myself having conversations with leaders where I need to address change management myths. Many leadership concerns regarding change management are common issues, though, many are made worse by myths. And during times of unplanned workplace disruption, the myths can tend to snowball.

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So what are some of the biggest myths about change management?

Change is easy – No, it’s not. Anyone who tells themselves change is easy has never lived through it or is choosing to pull the wool over their eyes. Change deals with transitioning individuals, teams, and organizations from a current state to a desired future state – the unknown. The unknown makes most people a bit anxious. This is normal. Though not an easy process for people to go through.
People will do what they’re told – Perhaps they will and perhaps they won’t. For change to be successful you can’t treat your employees and stakeholders like drones. If you expect people to do what they’re told, to help support the change, and to commit to the new ways, you need to explain the “why” and the “how.” You need to involve them. People need to understand how they will be impacted and what contributions they are making toward creating a better future, for the business as well as themselves.
A plan is enough – Of course, a strong change management plan is needed for success. But, a plan is just shelfware without any action. A plan alone is not enough. A good change management plan must account for governance, communications, training, and ongoing support. The plan needs to be realistic, actionable, and customizable. It also needs to be flexible. Change rarely occurs in a straight line. The plan also needs to be implemented by those skilled in change management in collaboration with trusted stakeholders throughout the organization.
Leadership doesn’t need to be involved in the whole process – This one always makes my eyes roll! Yes, leadership needs to be involved. Leadership with time, respect, trust, and approachability. Leadership who can and are willing to communicate early and often. Change should align with organizational strategy. Leadership knows strategy, they know the direction they want to go; they have the vision (and hopefully much of this is already being translated to the workforce.) One quick way for people to lost engagement and commitment to the change is when they see leaders losing engagement and commitment. When people don’t see leadership involved in the change, and not committed to success, they figure it’s just more lip service or a fancy fad. So why bother getting committing to the change themselves.
Only a few will resist and they can’t derail things – Never underestimate a small determined group of people who have a shared vision. Especially if that shared vision is to squash changes. If ‘resistance coalitions’ are forming, that shared vision is probably to preserve the status quo. This can’t be ignored. Voices must be heard. The concerns of these people, or small groups, must be addressed.
If they resist we get rid of them or minimize their roles – See above! “All resistance is mobilization of energy, not lack of energy. Those who “resist” are “bundles of energy” not passive, lifeless blobs” – Nevis (1998). If you really want your change to be a success then you must find a way to engage the resisters and harness their energy in a positive way. If others see that those resisting the change are getting minimized or let go, they’re likely to say screw it and start a little sabotage of their own. Or worse, they could check out altogether. And during the era of The Great Resignation and increased turnover, this behavior can carry even more negative impacts.
We can make it happen fast – Some changes can happen faster than others. But no change can be immediate. This is one of the most common myths I encounter. If you find a magic wand to wave to make change happen fast and successfully, please let me know. Like Kotter says, ‘quick wins.’ However, change overall, particularly deep culture change or transformational change, can’t happen overnight. You need to set realistic expectations regarding the timing of completion and realistic expectations regarding milestones and measurements of success. Measures and metrics. And whatever you do – don’t give up midway through the process!
Technology will fix the problem – Technology can be helpful, in many ways, but it can also be a hindrance. In cases of technology change it is often easy to lose sight of the people side of change by focusing too much on the technical and process-related changes. Many of the change efforts I’ve led involved technology (ERP, SaaS, EHR etc.) as the enabler or catalyst for change – however that is all technology is – a catalyst. Though technology may fix some of your process and service delivery issues, it’s the people (end users) who are the ones who need to adapt and adopt to a new way of doing things. If they don’t, your technology is just wanted money.
We don’t need to consult with our customers – I hear this one frequently “…we’re conducting data collection and identified impacted stakeholder groups.” But when I ask, “and how do your customers feel?” I get blank stares. Ok, and what about your customers? Did you conduct data collection from them? Did you ask them how the change is going to impact the way they do business with you? What are customer concerns? In most cases, businesses are changing to better serve their customers and improve the employee and customer experience. So then why shouldn’t customers be involved in the change process? They should. Or at least their opinions and concerns should be heard and addressed.
Some smart person wrote a book with a model that worked great someplace else so we’ll use it here – Many, many, many, many (you get the gist) change management models and frameworks exist. I’ve got shelves full of them, many books by my peers, and most have served useful over the years in one way or another. That said, a one size fits all approach to change and transition is setting yourself up for failure. I almost always mix and match and customize my frameworks and approach based on client culture and situation. Just because a certain model or framework worked well someplace else doesn’t mean it will work the same at your organization. Every organization is different, every culture is different, and change management frameworks should be flexed and adapted to best suit the organization and type of change.

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Change itself is a process – managing it, leading it, achieving it is also a process. To be successful it helps to dispel the myths.

So, what are some of the change management myths you’ve experienced?

About Scott Span, MSOD, CSM: is CEO at Tolero Solutions. As a people strategist, leadership coach, and change and transformation specialist, his work is focused on people. Through his consulting and training work he supports clients to survive and thrive through change and transition and create people-focused cultures and a great employee experience. Through his coaching work, he supports people willing to dig deeper to identify and overcome what’s holding them back, change behaviors, accelerate performance and achieve their goals.