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A Theory of Change Management: Planned or Emergent?

Much of the theory of change management and the associated models are rooted in how change is understood. How do you see change, and how can theory help ensure change is managed effectively? A good place to start is to try to understand the different views about change itself. In some circumstances change is deliberate and structured; on other occasions it seems more spontaneous or evolves naturally. Change comes in different guises, and how we think about change may well determine how we define change management, and consequently how we manage it.

The Nature of Change: Planned or Emergent?

One of the biggest distinctions in views about change is in relation to the nature of change. If you think of change as being about moving from one state to another in a structured manner, you are more likely to develop models which highlight a structured set of steps;

this is generally referred to as "planned change".

Alternatively if you see change as largely fluid and emerging, and think it is all around you and continuous, then you are more likely to seek to manage change as part of what happens naturally in an organisation and perhaps see interventions as cyclical or iterative.

This is commonly referred to as "emergent change".

Planned change approaches rely more on assumptions that an organisation's environment is known and change can be planned to move from one state to another. In contrast, emergent change emphasises the need to be responsive and adaptive: that change is constantly around us. It may be that some changes can be seen as more stable and predictable moving from one state to another, whilst other change is more fluid and on-going in nature

UK academic Bernard Burnes suggests that a situational view of change may be appropriate where the approach to change may vary from planned to emergent and from directive to co-operative styles. You decide on a way forward depending on the context, to better respond to environmental issues and constraints within the organisation.

The value of exploring the theory of change management is to understand that different approaches may well suit different kinds of change situations. Change is complex and the reality of organisational life needs to be accommodated into ways of managing change.

Some of the implications from recognising the different nature of change are:

Managing change is about managing a process using appropriate approaches based on the nature of the change being managed.

Change can be guided by perceptive facilitation recognising the organisational context and constraints.

Change theory and models should be applied selectively and with thought to best fit the nature of change and the context within which the change is taken place.

Think about both sequential change and cyclical, iterative change.

How we think about change starts to shape how we define change. We have tried to emphasise this need to be selective and adaptive in our article define change management.

Change - Planned and Emergent.

Even the most carefully planned and structured change is likely to have elements of emergent change as the unpredictable surfaces through the change process. It is therefore worth considering building a theory of change management that fits the context and constraints of the organisation and its environment.

As well as exploring the nature of change it's valuable to consider some of the characteristics of change, to better answer the question "what is change management?" to find better ways to manage change

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