Becoming change agents of our organisations: why change management needs an upgrade

By Catherine Russ

Change management is certainly not what it used to be. For years, many of us were trained to think of change through structured models: Kotter’s 8 Steps, ADKAR, Lewin’s Freeze-Unfreeze-Refreeze. These had clear stages, linear processes, a beginning, middle and an end. 

I’ll never forget standing in front of a training room over a decade ago, flipping through my meticulously prepared slides, teaching those step-by-step models as though they were gospel. I believed in them completely. Here’s the formula, I’d tell participants, follow these steps and presto – your change will appear! Looking back, I cringe a little at my confidence. I made change sound so neat, manageable and simple. 

But today? Change management is shifting faster than we can keep up with the new and emerging models.  

We’re no longer operating in stable systems where change is an event to be “managed.” We’re navigating constant upheaval: digital transformation, AI integration, localisation agendas, anti-racist commitments, structural reorganisations, funding uncertainty, hybrid work, and deep cultural shifts. I feel this in my own work every single day – the ground keeps moving beneath our feet. 

Change is no longer a ‘thing’ we manage; it’s systemic and it’s also human. 

Today, we have dozens of models designed for specific areas of change. This diversity tells us something important: there is no single right way to ‘do’ change. 

And yet, much of our practice still treats change as a technical process rather than a deeply human and political one. I’ve sat in enough meetings where someone waves a laminated card with new values printed on it and expects transformation to follow. (Yes, that really happened – a change team once arrived at my organisation with those cards, genuinely believing this would embed our new culture. We all nodded politely and yes, nothing changed.) 

The era of change management as an isolated specialist function is over. If that era is over, and I believe it is, then every leader, every manager and every team member are all change agents now. Whether we realise it or not, we’re already in the arena. 

That’s why I’m genuinely excited to be facilitating Becoming Change Agents of Our Organisations, a short, highly interactive online course designed specifically for those working in the international and civil society sectors. This is the course I wish I’d had 15 years ago – before I learned to echo models I didn’t fully question and before I understood that real change starts from the inside out.

This course moves beyond templates and step-by-step models. It focuses on: 

1. Self-transformation

Understanding self as the starting point: our power, bias, behavioural tendencies and immunity to change. I’ve learned the hard way that the biggest obstacle to change is often staring back at me in the mirror. Sustainable systems change begins here. 

2. Team dynamics and organisational culture 

Recognising diverse reactions, managing resistance, and helping move from reaction to inclusive collective action. I’ve watched brilliant strategies fail because we thought we could treat people like machines to be reprogrammed. 

3. Sectoral and global influence 

Broadening influence beyond our teams and organisations to embed meaningful shifts of power at sectoral and global levels. Because our organisations don’t exist in bubbles, and neither do the changes we’re trying to create. 

If you join me, you’ll: 

• Explore time-tested psychological and behavioural principles underpinning change 
• Diagnose types of resistance within teams 
• Expand your sphere of influence 
• Develop practical strategies to overcome common barriers 
• Create an actionable plan for a real organisational change initiative 
• Hopefully strengthen your belief in your own agency to effect change 

If you’ve ever been involved in restructuring, strategic shifts, localisation initiatives, mergers, implementing new IT systems or AI tools, reorganising teams, or trying to build a more collaborative culture, you’ve already been managing change. You’re already a change agent – you just might not feel equipped for it yet.

The question is: 

Are you doing it in a way that is reactive and procedural? Or intentional and transformative? 

As change management continues to evolve, we need approaches that integrate behavioural science, neuroscience, systems thinking, and perhaps most importantly – heart and humanity. The kind of humanity that recognises laminated cards won’t change culture, but honest conversations might. 

I’m happy to say my change repertoire has expanded since all those years ago and so has my humility. I no longer have all the answers, but I’ve become much better at asking the right questions. 

Let’s move from managing change to becoming the change agents our organisations and our sector urgently need. I hope you will join me in May for an exploration into this evolving discipline – one that promises to fill gaps, connect disparate dots, and maybe even change how we think about change itself.