Change Management: Making change manageable – instead of "rolling out"

Change Management (Change Management) includes all tasks, measures, and activities that are intended to make a far-reaching change in an organization effective – from continuous improvements with small, ongoing adjustments to radical cuts that substantially change strategy, structure, or systems.

In practice, Change Management is also structured project work: identifying needs, initiating change, planning, implementing, controlling, and subsequently following up so that new ways of working become stable.

Three perspectives that belong together

1. Control & Structure (What / How): goals, roadmap, responsibilities, resources, milestones, KPIs
2. Human & Learning (Why / What does it mean for me): orientation, security, competency building, motivation, resistance
3. Team & Group Dynamics (How we work together): roles, norms, conflicts, trust, common standards

Especially in the KVP/Lean context, it's not the idea that decides, but the adoption in everyday life: new behavior, new routines, new standards.

Models as orientation: Lewin, Kotter, Streich

Lewin: 3 phases as basic logic (Unfreezing – Changing – Refreezing)

Lewin's three-phase logic describes change as a transition from the current state to a new stable state: Unfreezing → Changing → Refreezing. It helps to avoid two typical errors: implementing too early (without readiness) or moving on too early (without anchoring).

Practical significance:
- Unfreezing: clarifying urgency and meaning, making those affected into participants
- Changing: introducing new procedures, enabling, accompanying
- Refreezing: setting standards, leadership, metrics, and routines so that the new becomes "normal"

Kotter: 8 steps as a "leadership roadmap"

Kotter's 8-step process is a very practical orientation framework for building change through leadership, participation, obstacle removal, successes, and anchoring. In reality, steps often overlap or are iterative – the model still works very well as a guide.

The 8 steps according to Kotter:
1. Create urgency (why now?)
2. Build a leadership coalition (who visibly supports?)
3. Develop vision & strategy (where exactly?)
4. Gain broad support (mobilize fellow campaigners)
5. Enable action (remove obstacles)
6. Achieve short-term successes (Quick Wins)
7. Maintain momentum and build on it (don't fall asleep)
8. Anchor change (culture, systems, standards)

Streich: 7 phases of emotional reaction (the "change curve")

Change is not just factual – it's also emotional. Streich describes typical reaction phases that teams can go through during upheavals. The model helps to lead resistance not personally, but phase-appropriately.
1. Shock → 2. Rejection → 3. Rational insight → 4. Emotional acceptance → 5. Learning/Trying → 6. Realization → 7. Integration

Types of change: acceptance doesn't happen "on its own"

In every change, recurring roles are encountered. Change is effective when you actively manage these roles – not when you treat everyone the same:

- Sponsor/Top Supporter: gives priority, protects resources, clears politically
- Core Team/Coalition: drives, coordinates, communicates (visibly!)
- Multipliers: translate into everyday business, make standards livable
- Supporters: provide energy, deliver early examples/Quick Wins
- Pragmatists: participate when benefits and feasibility are visible
- Wait-and-see: need clarity, security, simple entry points
- Skeptics: often provide legitimate risks/quality hints (involve!)
- Blockers: clarify causes (fear, loss, overload, status) – then consistently steer

Team & Group Dynamics: Why it runs "differently" in the team than in the project plan

Teams typically develop over phases (Tuckman): Forming – Storming – Norming – Performing (possibly later "Adjourning"). This explains why friction at the beginning is normal – and why standards and role clarification are crucial before real performance capability arises.

Consequence for change in everyday life:
- Storming is not failure, but clarification (roles, rules, expectations)
- Norming requires leadership: standards, routines, visualization, KPI logic
- Performing arises through stability – not through "pressure"

My practical approach: Change as a KVP system – anchored over the 5M Lean House

I don't treat Change Management as "accompanying communication", but as an implementation system that translates behavior into routines. I use the models (Lewin/Kotter/Streich) as orientation, not as dogma – what matters is effectiveness in the operational context.

The 5M Lean House is my reference framework for getting change into the DNA:

- Lean Motivation: meaning, urgency, target image – so concrete that people can act (not just agree).
- Lean Mindset: making problems visible, enabling learning, creating security in trying (errors as data, not as guilt).
- Lean Management: leadership in everyday life through standards, shop floor rhythm, visualization, and KPIs – so that change doesn't become a "project", but a work system.
- Lean Migration: implementation as a movement in waves: removing obstacles, enabling teams, generating Quick Wins, scaling – without overwhelming the organization.
- Lean Manifestation: anchoring: stabilizing standards, clarifying responsibilities, securing qualification, measuring success – until the new becomes "normal".