Change Management Review™ Essays
Discover in-depth essays from thought leaders across organizational change disciplines, offering rich insights and reflections on complex ideas, emerging theories, and the evolving challenges of transformational leadership. These long-form explorations go beyond surface-level discussions, with fresh perspectives and thought-provoking commentary to deepen understanding and inspire new approaches to organizational change.
Explore our Collection of Essays
Clearing the Fog on Capabililty – Part 2
How does human capability shape the practice of managing organizational change? This essay introduces a framework of Mindset, Knowledge Set, Skill Set, and Tool Set, and explores how these elements appear across professional, paraprofessional, leadership, and everyday roles involved in organizational change management.
Clearing the Fog on Capabililty – Part 1
What do we really mean when we talk about capability in organizational change management? This essay clarifies common confusion by distinguishing capacity from capability, organizational capability from human capability, and organizational change from change management, and introduces a practical framework of People, Process, Tools, and Data or Information.
How Things Happen: A Cross-Cultural Look at Collective Action (Part 5)
Who holds the social fabric of an organization together when no single function owns it? This fifth essay in the series introduces the role of the internal mediator, and explores the qualities needed to enable bottom-up leadership that strengthens belonging, dialogue, and collective action.
Speaking the Language of Value in Organizational Change
Why practitioners need to work with value, not just values, to support people and organizations through changes.
How Things Happen: A Cross-Cultural Look at Collective Action (Part 4)
Is career growth about mastering roles—or deepening relationships within an organization? This fourth essay in a series of five, explores contrasting Western and Japanese models of work, and what they reveal about how we define loyalty, expertise, and success.
How Things Happen: A Cross-Cultural Look at Collective Action (Part 3)
What really drives people to act—beyond vision statements and incentives? This third essay in a series of five, explores how a true sense of belonging fuels spontaneous collaboration and meaningful change inside organizations.
Clearing the Fog around Organizational Change and Change Management
Change management is often mistaken for organizational change, weakening its credibility and focus. This essay clarifies the difference, highlighting the need to define boundaries, collaborate with allied disciplines, and strengthen the field’s impact on workplace transformation.
How Things Happen: A Cross-Cultural Look at Collective Action (Part 2)
Organizations must navigate constant change while maintaining stability. This second essay in a series of five, explores "Mi-e," a concept from Kabuki theatre, as a model for organizational alignment. By crystallizing shared understanding, leaders can enhance coordination, reduce chaos, and drive effective bottom-up action.
How Things Happen: A Cross-Cultural Look at Collective Action (Part 1)
The first in a series of essays that explore how things happen. This essay explores Western top-down strategy vs. Eastern bottom-up efficacy in collective action. By blending both, organizations can adapt, innovate, and tackle global challenges. Discover how bottom-up leadership can drive real change.