2. Fundamentals of Change Management
Organisational change does not happen all at once. It unfolds over time, and it affects both structures and the people doing the work inside them.
- 1 Define change management and explain its role in digital sustainability transformation
- 2 Distinguish between organisational change and people-related change
- 3 Describe the key stages of change and the leadership focus required at each
- 4 Explain how three foundational change management models can be used as diagnostic tools
- 5 Articulate why change management strengthens leadership influence in transformation contexts
Here is a question worth sitting with before we start: what is the difference between a transformation that succeeds and one that does not?
In most cases, it is not the quality of the technology or the strength of the business case. It is whether there was a process in place to help the organisation change how it works.
That process is known as change management. In this lesson, we explore how change management helps organisations and individuals move from a current state to a desired future state during digital sustainability transformation and why understanding how change works gives leaders a more reliable foundation than good intentions alone.
Change management is the structured approach to preparing, supporting, and enabling people and organisations to move from a current state to a desired future state. It exists because change is not simply a technical matter.
Even when a new process is logically better, people do not automatically adopt it. They must understand it, trust it, learn it, practise it, and integrate it into daily routines, often while continuing to deliver on existing responsibilities. Telling people something will be better is not the same as helping them get there.
In the context of digital transformation and sustainability in fashion, change management ensures that new tools, processes, and practices are not only introduced but also adopted and sustained. Think of it this way:
- Implementation introduces the solution
- Change management ensures the organisation actually uses it
This distinction matters more than it might seem. A company can implement a new traceability system and still have limited transparency if supplier data is incomplete, teams do not trust the system, or workflows have not changed. A company can invest in 3D tools and still produce the same number of physical samples if teams revert to old habits when deadlines hit.
Change management focuses on what is most often missing from transformation programmes: the bridge between implementation and real practice. It operates on two levels. Both are necessary; addressing one without the other is a predictable way to fail.
Organisational Change
- • Processes and workflows
- • Roles and responsibilities
- • Governance and decision-making
- • Systems and data standards
- • Accountability structures
People-Related Change
- • Behaviours and habits
- • Skills and confidence
- • Motivation and willingness
- • Trust in leadership and initiative
Change is not easy for fashion organisations.
Product development is transversal, involving many functions and depending on external partners. Digital and sustainability initiatives often trigger disruption across several of these areas at once.
Photo by Rodrigo Rodrigues | WOLF Λ R T on Unsplash
Introducing 3D Design Tools
This looks, at first glance, like training designers on new software. In reality, it requires changes across the entire product development workflow:
- how design iterations are reviewed and approved
- how timelines are planned
- who owns digital libraries
- how technical specifications are validated
- and how design hands off to development and production
Without those changes, 3D becomes an optional extra rather than the new normal.
Shifting to Circular Business Models
Shifting to circular business models changes organisational logic entirely. Circular initiatives require:
- departments that previously worked in sequence to coordinate in parallel
- new operational roles
- new digital systems for tracking product lifecycles
- new KPIs
- new partner relationships
The commercial model changes; the organisation must change with it.
Implementing Digital Product Passports
Implementing Digital Product Passports depends on consistent product data across the value chain. This affects:
- sourcing and supplier onboarding
- material data standards
- PLM integration
- data governance
- cross-functional alignment between sustainability, IT, product teams, and compliance
It is not primarily a technical project; it is a coordination project with a technical component.
What frequently fails in organisational change is that leaders announce transformation goals without redesigning organisational conditions. Teams are then expected to adopt new practices within old structures. The result is confusion, overload, and inconsistent adoption.
While organisational change focuses on structures and systems, people- related change focuses on how individuals experience and respond to transformation. Organisational change creates the conditions for transformation; people-related change is where transformation actually happens.
Even well-designed digital initiatives can fail if the human dimension is not addressed. People do not automatically adopt new ways of working simply because the system is live or the process has been redesigned.
Common responses to change include uncertainty about expectations or job roles, concerns about skills and workload, and resistance to altering familiar ways of working.
Scepticism about whether this initiative will last is also common; it is often a rational response to change fatigue from previous programmes that never fully delivered.
Behaviour change requires four conditions:
When any one of these is absent, adoption stalls. Leaders who diagnose which condition is missing respond more effectively than those who apply uniform pressure.
Preparing for change
Establishing the need for change and aligning the organisation around it. Leaders clarify why the initiative matters, assess readiness, and identify risks that could prevent adoption.
Designing the change
Defining how the future state will work in practice. Strategic goals are translated into operational reality: which workflows change, which roles shift, which data standards are required, and what accountability looks like.
Implementing the change
Where new tools, processes, and behaviours enter daily work. It often involves pilots, gradual scaling, and ongoing support. Implementation is not technical delivery alone; it is the period where adoption must be actively led, not assumed.
Reinforcing the change
Prevents regression after initial implementation. New practices are embedded into normal routines, expectations, and performance discussions until they are no longer experienced as new.
Click an item on the left, then click its match on the right.
Photo by Patrick Perkins on Unsplash
It is particularly useful for understanding why many fashion transformation initiatives succeed in pilots but fail in scaling. The urgency was real but not shared widely enough. The coalition was too small. The short-term wins were not made visible. Culture was never addressed. Kotter gives leaders a way to see which steps were skipped and what the consequences are.
Awareness: understanding why change is happening
Desire: wanting to support and participate
Knowledge: knowing how to change
Ability: being able to perform in the new way
Reinforcement: having the change sustained over time
ADKAR is most useful as a diagnostic tool. When adoption is low, leaders can ask which stage is failing and respond specifically. If people understand why but do not want to change, the response is different from when people want to change but lack the skills.
This model is particularly valuable in fashion because it explains why resistance is not irrational. An experienced pattern maker moving to digital workflows is not simply learning new software; they are navigating a period in which their hard-won expertise feels less relevant and their performance looks worse before it looks better. Leaders who plan for the Neutral Zone create support during it rather than interpreting it as failure.
Leaders without a change management framework tend to respond to adoption problems reactively: more pressure, more communication, more training, without diagnosing what is actually missing. Change management alters that. It gives leaders a structured way to anticipate challenges, read early signals, and act before adoption problems become adoption failures. In practice:
- It helps leaders recognise early signals, such as parallel workarounds, low training participation, scepticism, and supplier reluctance, as adoption gaps rather than individual failures.
- It also helps leaders communicate in a way that builds trust, supports teams through learning, and aligns digital initiatives with sustainability goals.
This is not limited to senior management. Designers, technical experts, and sustainability professionals often act as change leaders by influencing peers, translating strategy into practice, and supporting adoption across teams. In other words, change management is how people at any level lead transformation more effectively, with or without formal authority.
Change management is the discipline that makes transformation real. Models do not lead change; leaders do. But models help leaders think more clearly, diagnose more accurately, and act more intentionally.
A classic three-minute TED Talk that shows how momentum builds and why the first follower matters as much as the leader. Directly relevant to Kotter's coalition-building steps.
"Change management provides structure for navigating digital and sustainability transformation."
Successful change requires addressing both organisational systems and people's experiences.
- → Change unfolds over time and requires leadership attention at each stage
- → Kotter, ADKAR, and Bridges offer complementary diagnostic lenses for transformation leaders
- → Understanding change management enables more effective leadership and influence, with or without formal authority
Think of a change initiative you have encountered. Which stage of the process do you think received the least attention and what were the consequences?
What is the difference between organisational change and people-related change? Why do both matter?
Which of the three models — Kotter, ADKAR, or Bridges — feels most relevant to a situation you know? Why?
How might understanding change management help you lead more effectively, even without formal authority?
Organisational change does not happen all at once. It unfolds over time, and it affects both structures and the people doing the work inside them.
- 1 Define change management and explain its role in digital sustainability transformation
- 2 Distinguish between organisational change and people-related change
- 3 Describe the key stages of change and the leadership focus required at each
- 4 Explain how three foundational change management models can be used as diagnostic tools
- 5 Articulate why change management strengthens leadership influence in transformation contexts
Here is a question worth sitting with before we start: what is the difference between a transformation that succeeds and one that does not?
In most cases, it is not the quality of the technology or the strength of the business case. It is whether there was a process in place to help the organisation change how it works.
That process is known as change management. In this lesson, we explore how change management helps organisations and individuals move from a current state to a desired future state during digital sustainability transformation and why understanding how change works gives leaders a more reliable foundation than good intentions alone.
Change management is the structured approach to preparing, supporting, and enabling people and organisations to move from a current state to a desired future state. It exists because change is not simply a technical matter.
Even when a new process is logically better, people do not automatically adopt it. They must understand it, trust it, learn it, practise it, and integrate it into daily routines, often while continuing to deliver on existing responsibilities. Telling people something will be better is not the same as helping them get there.
In the context of digital transformation and sustainability in fashion, change management ensures that new tools, processes, and practices are not only introduced but also adopted and sustained. Think of it this way:
- Implementation introduces the solution
- Change management ensures the organisation actually uses it
This distinction matters more than it might seem. A company can implement a new traceability system and still have limited transparency if supplier data is incomplete, teams do not trust the system, or workflows have not changed. A company can invest in 3D tools and still produce the same number of physical samples if teams revert to old habits when deadlines hit.
Change management focuses on what is most often missing from transformation programmes: the bridge between implementation and real practice. It operates on two levels. Both are necessary; addressing one without the other is a predictable way to fail.
Organisational Change
- • Processes and workflows
- • Roles and responsibilities
- • Governance and decision-making
- • Systems and data standards
- • Accountability structures
People-Related Change
- • Behaviours and habits
- • Skills and confidence
- • Motivation and willingness
- • Trust in leadership and initiative
Change is not easy for fashion organisations.
Product development is transversal, involving many functions and depending on external partners. Digital and sustainability initiatives often trigger disruption across several of these areas at once.
Photo by Rodrigo Rodrigues | WOLF Λ R T on Unsplash
Introducing 3D Design Tools
This looks, at first glance, like training designers on new software. In reality, it requires changes across the entire product development workflow:
- how design iterations are reviewed and approved
- how timelines are planned
- who owns digital libraries
- how technical specifications are validated
- and how design hands off to development and production
Without those changes, 3D becomes an optional extra rather than the new normal.
Shifting to Circular Business Models
Shifting to circular business models changes organisational logic entirely. Circular initiatives require:
- departments that previously worked in sequence to coordinate in parallel
- new operational roles
- new digital systems for tracking product lifecycles
- new KPIs
- new partner relationships
The commercial model changes; the organisation must change with it.
Implementing Digital Product Passports
Implementing Digital Product Passports depends on consistent product data across the value chain. This affects:
- sourcing and supplier onboarding
- material data standards
- PLM integration
- data governance
- cross-functional alignment between sustainability, IT, product teams, and compliance
It is not primarily a technical project; it is a coordination project with a technical component.
What frequently fails in organisational change is that leaders announce transformation goals without redesigning organisational conditions. Teams are then expected to adopt new practices within old structures. The result is confusion, overload, and inconsistent adoption.
While organisational change focuses on structures and systems, people- related change focuses on how individuals experience and respond to transformation. Organisational change creates the conditions for transformation; people-related change is where transformation actually happens.
Even well-designed digital initiatives can fail if the human dimension is not addressed. People do not automatically adopt new ways of working simply because the system is live or the process has been redesigned.
Common responses to change include uncertainty about expectations or job roles, concerns about skills and workload, and resistance to altering familiar ways of working.
Scepticism about whether this initiative will last is also common; it is often a rational response to change fatigue from previous programmes that never fully delivered.
Behaviour change requires four conditions:
When any one of these is absent, adoption stalls. Leaders who diagnose which condition is missing respond more effectively than those who apply uniform pressure.
Preparing for change
Establishing the need for change and aligning the organisation around it. Leaders clarify why the initiative matters, assess readiness, and identify risks that could prevent adoption.
Designing the change
Defining how the future state will work in practice. Strategic goals are translated into operational reality: which workflows change, which roles shift, which data standards are required, and what accountability looks like.
Implementing the change
Where new tools, processes, and behaviours enter daily work. It often involves pilots, gradual scaling, and ongoing support. Implementation is not technical delivery alone; it is the period where adoption must be actively led, not assumed.
Reinforcing the change
Prevents regression after initial implementation. New practices are embedded into normal routines, expectations, and performance discussions until they are no longer experienced as new.
Click an item on the left, then click its match on the right.
Photo by Patrick Perkins on Unsplash
It is particularly useful for understanding why many fashion transformation initiatives succeed in pilots but fail in scaling. The urgency was real but not shared widely enough. The coalition was too small. The short-term wins were not made visible. Culture was never addressed. Kotter gives leaders a way to see which steps were skipped and what the consequences are.
Awareness: understanding why change is happening
Desire: wanting to support and participate
Knowledge: knowing how to change
Ability: being able to perform in the new way
Reinforcement: having the change sustained over time
ADKAR is most useful as a diagnostic tool. When adoption is low, leaders can ask which stage is failing and respond specifically. If people understand why but do not want to change, the response is different from when people want to change but lack the skills.
This model is particularly valuable in fashion because it explains why resistance is not irrational. An experienced pattern maker moving to digital workflows is not simply learning new software; they are navigating a period in which their hard-won expertise feels less relevant and their performance looks worse before it looks better. Leaders who plan for the Neutral Zone create support during it rather than interpreting it as failure.
Leaders without a change management framework tend to respond to adoption problems reactively: more pressure, more communication, more training, without diagnosing what is actually missing. Change management alters that. It gives leaders a structured way to anticipate challenges, read early signals, and act before adoption problems become adoption failures. In practice:
- It helps leaders recognise early signals, such as parallel workarounds, low training participation, scepticism, and supplier reluctance, as adoption gaps rather than individual failures.
- It also helps leaders communicate in a way that builds trust, supports teams through learning, and aligns digital initiatives with sustainability goals.
This is not limited to senior management. Designers, technical experts, and sustainability professionals often act as change leaders by influencing peers, translating strategy into practice, and supporting adoption across teams. In other words, change management is how people at any level lead transformation more effectively, with or without formal authority.
Change management is the discipline that makes transformation real. Models do not lead change; leaders do. But models help leaders think more clearly, diagnose more accurately, and act more intentionally.
A classic three-minute TED Talk that shows how momentum builds and why the first follower matters as much as the leader. Directly relevant to Kotter's coalition-building steps.
"Change management provides structure for navigating digital and sustainability transformation."
Successful change requires addressing both organisational systems and people's experiences.
- → Change unfolds over time and requires leadership attention at each stage
- → Kotter, ADKAR, and Bridges offer complementary diagnostic lenses for transformation leaders
- → Understanding change management enables more effective leadership and influence, with or without formal authority
Think of a change initiative you have encountered. Which stage of the process do you think received the least attention and what were the consequences?
What is the difference between organisational change and people-related change? Why do both matter?
Which of the three models — Kotter, ADKAR, or Bridges — feels most relevant to a situation you know? Why?
How might understanding change management help you lead more effectively, even without formal authority?