Scholars define change management as “the process of continually renewing an organization’s direction, structure, and capabilities to serve the ever-changing needs of external and internal customers”. Amidst the backdrop of rapid technological change, geopolitical tension, environmental instability, evolving mental health needs, and various other social and demographic trends, managing change is without question, an essential skill for leaders in today’s organizations. And yet, resistance to change is a persistent quality of human nature and organizational life suggesting that the tendency to regress towards the mean is immensely difficult to, well, change.
Discontinuous vs. Continuous Change
One way to think about they types of change is by its rate of occurrence. Discontinuous change, defined by Dr. Tony Grundy, is ‘change which is marked by rapid shifts in either strategy, structure or culture, or in all three’. Typically this refers to a single, onetime event that triggers an abrupt need for change and takes place through coordinated initiatives that are implemented over long periods to advance the transformation effort. Dr. Rune TodnemBy, author of a seminal critical review of change management, notes that the benefits of discontinuous change tend not to last as this route leads to defensiveness and complacency, which only further creates the need for reform. Statistics, like survey results from McKinsey’s Global Survey, demonstrate that organizational transformation efforts rarely meet their full potential: many do not produce the change that they had anticipated, or the value from the change effort does not meet management expectations.
Another conceptualization of change, and the recommended approach by experts, is continuous change. Dr. Bernard Burnes from the Manchester School of Management defines continuous change as “the ability to change continuously in a fundamental manner to keep up with the fast-moving pace of change”. Continuous change can be steady, reflecting consistent attempts for planned incremental change, or it can be bumpy, when change comes unannounced; for example, COVID-19, changes in key personnel, losses to major revenue streams, or cybersecurity attacks.
Change is Hard
Despite the obvious advantages adaptation offers, the execution of change is difficult and complex. Even when the need for change is obvious, like to ensure organizational survival, the appetite for routines to change may be varied. In the absence of crisis, despite its merits, selling change becomes even more unfavourable. Just try suggesting to your spouse that you should sleep on different sides of the bed every other night and see what happens. In times of crisis, many organizations are forced to adapt but as the conditions stabilize, many organization consider returning “back to normal” to be the ultimate measure of recovery, further stagnating opportunities for continuous change. Consider, for example, the number of organizations mandating a return-to-office. Recently Ontario Public Service announced that employees would be returning to the office three-days per week by October, and five-days per week by January 2026. Returning to a five-day in-person workweek may signal resilience as organizations bounce back to how things were before the pandemic. Or, it may signal folly – an attempt to patch broken pieces back together rather than create a new way of working to make good of the gift of disruption.
From Greek mythic culture to sacred indigenous folklore, disruption and renewal are considered treasured teachers that shake apart the established order and offer access to new insight. Yet in organizational life, too often when we are met with disruption we scurry as fast as possible back to what we know. When we are blessed with information that demonstrates the need for change, too ofter we look away or simply dismiss information that doesn’t corroborate the reality we desire. So, what can leaders do to embrace change and influence a culture of continuous improvement?
3 Ways to Start Embracing Continuous Change
1. Get great at Letting Go
The ability to embrace change is directly proportional to one’s ability to let go and their comfort with uncertainty. Snakes who do not molt die because if not shed, their old skin will either constrict them as they grow, or kill them with infections. If you are a leader of a company, team, family, or even a leader of yourself, start to carefully observe the routines and habits you engage in that are incongruent with your values and goals. Then, once a season, ritualize letting them go and replacing them with a routine that serves you.
2. Clarify What Matters Most
In her latest book, Beyond Anxiety: Curiosity, Creativity, and Finding Your Life’s Purpose, Martha Beck offers her readers an invitation to start questioning what we have been told about success. Success may look like owning a house and working five-days a week or it may not. Success may look like maximizing productivity or it might also involve maximizing employee well-being and autonomy. It depends. If leaders and organizations are not attuned to what values they are committed to, change attempts (or lack thereof) will likely be unduly influenced by what everyone else is doing. Every year, engage in a values exercise that clarifies where your true north is so that you have a sense of direction to align your choices with.
3. Get Out of Auto Pilot
Research tells us that 47% of the time, we are not present but reliving the past or worrying about the future. When we are in the here and now, free from the lobotomy of auto pilot, we can begin to see what routines work and which ones need to be improved or discarded. When we are present, we are more connected to the needs and preferences of ourselves and can make more authentic and autonomous choices. But when we’re disconnected from the moment, it is very difficult to break free from the tendency to habituate and conform because the external cues will be louder than our own.
Everything Changes
The most certain aspect of organizational life we all must reconcile with is that everything changes. Impermanence is a lesson served to us through the cycles of life but also, day to day if we’re paying attention. In the spirit of Darwin, those who cannot adapt will not survive – it takes courage to be let go of what we know. Importantly, change for the sake of change alone would be a misstep – leaders must equip themselves and their cultures with a clear sense of values to direct small and large transformation.