Shadowing Practice: What is Change Management? [2025] - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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What is the first feeling that comes to mind when I mention the word change?
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What is the first feeling that comes to mind when I mention the word change?
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It may trigger anxiety and memories of badly handled initiatives that left people disappointed, unhappy and frustrated.
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But it doesn't have to be this way.
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There are a few principles and models that underpin any successful change journey.
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I'm going to tell you the story of NASA to show you how these principles and models work in practice.
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Imagine it's 2003 and you're working at NASA.
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Earlier that year, space shuttle Columbia crashed,
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killing all seven crew members.
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The Columbia Accident Investigation Board,
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which was investigating the accident,
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just delivered a damning verdict.
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They said that NASA was not a learning organization because it had failed to learn from past mistakes,
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which caused the accident.
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The challenge was clear.
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NASA had to transform from an organization that repeated its mistakes to one that learned from them,
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prioritized safety and continuously improved its practices.
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NASA had to change.
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And believe me, everyone at NASA was on board to make that happen.
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Over time, NASA transformed from an organization where errors were repeated and safety was compromised into one that embraced continuous improvement,
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adopted a safety-first culture and truly embodied the essence of a learning organization.
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NASA did not simply change,
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it became a resilient organization that constantly adapted, learned and evolved.
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This is a great story of change management, Tom Wright.
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My name is Erich van Volpen and in this HR Deep Dive you'll learn all about change management.
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What it is, why change often fails,
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you'll learn about the psychology of change,
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the difference between planned and unplanned change,
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and you'll learn about three change management models
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that will help you be more successful in understanding change and in implementing change initiatives in your organization.
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But before we get started,
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remember to smash that like button,
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subscribe and activate the notification bell.
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Let's dive in.
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Change management is like a roadmap that helps a business adapt to new situations.
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Whether it's changing how people need to work,
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the technology that people work with,
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or even the deeply held beliefs and behaviors in the organization.
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For NASA, it was a shift from a know-it-all organization to a learn-it-all organization.
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That change was not only about values,
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but also about processes and technologies,
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because in a learn-it-all organization,
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there will be a lot of experimentation,
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sharing of new learnings, continuous feedback,
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more collaboration between departments, and so on.
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That's why we call change management a systemic approach.
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It impacts the entire system of the organization,
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and successful change is about aligning the right levers across the organization to work together towards a new future state.
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This is what is referred to as transformation.
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Especially today, a lot of organizations are in the midst of transformation,
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Whether this is due to new technologies such as AI,
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expanding into new markets, growing the business digitally,
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or launching a new product,
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all these initiatives require the organization to be able to change.
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In fact, the easier it is for organizations to change,
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the better they will be able to serve the ever-changing needs of their customers.
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Successful change management is therefore key in being successful and sustainable as an organization.
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Change is not easy.
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Did you know that about 70% of change projects fail?
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On top of that, 38% of change projects are over budget and 55% are not delivered on time.
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This happens because change is hard and often misunderstood.
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There's a thousand reasons why people struggle to change.
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We are creatures of habit and building new habits takes time and conscious effort.
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Change requires constant communication and feedback mechanisms to check if people really understand the message.
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And you need to give a very good reason to change in the first place.
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Otherwise, it simply won't happen.
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Let's take a look at the psychology of change to better
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understand how individual people change before we look at models of organizational change.
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Change is often met with resistance,
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not because people are inherently averse to change,
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but because it often triggers deeply rooted fears and insecurities.
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People are hardwired to seek safety and stability.
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People tend to focus on what they might lose rather than on what they will gain.
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This is a strong human tendency known as loss aversion.
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And it is why people like to stick with what's familiar,
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even when change could actually improve their situation.
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People also want to avoid risk.
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The fact is that the uncertainty of change feels risky,
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making change even more difficult.
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A useful model to understand the psychology of change is the Kubler-Ross change curve.
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Change is divided into different stages,
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starting with denial, followed by frustration and depression,
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where change is met with anger and fear,
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before people accept the change and start to experiment with the change.
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As they get more comfortable with the change,
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they commit to it and integrate it into their day-to-day lives.
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People need to go through all four phases when undergoing change
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and will react differently depending on the phase that they are currently in.
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This model also helps you understand how to manage change from an organizational perspective.
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For each phase, people have different needs.
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When in denial, you want to communicate and inform.
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When people start to resist the change,
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you want to watch, listen and support.
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Once folks start to accept change and explore the new state,
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you need to give them time to explore
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and test before celebrating their success as they move on to the new normal and integrate the change into their day-to-day activities.
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By understanding the change curve we better understand the psychology of change and we can better predict and address resistance to change.
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Individual responses to change vary and are influenced by personality,
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past experiences, perceived impact and available support.
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So managing change means understanding these factors and creating an environment that involves people into the process by addressing their fears,
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providing support and communicating the benefits of change.
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This people-focused approach will increase the odds of successful transformation.
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Let's take a look at two more change management models and see what we can learn from them about managing change.
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Perhaps the best known change model is the Kurt Lewin model.
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Lewin's model has three stages, unfreeze, change and refreeze.
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Just like ice requires energy to unfreeze and then refreeze,
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Lewin's model assumes that change requires a force to disrupt the status quo.
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The unfreeze stage involves challenging and overcoming existing mindsets and attitudes.
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It's all about preparing the organization or the individual for the upcoming change.
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The change stage is where the actual transformation happens.
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New behaviors, practices and processes are introduced and adopted.
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The final refree stage is all about solidifying the new changes and ensuring they become the new norm.
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This stage is called institutionalization and is crucial for success and to prevent falling back into the old ways.
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Lewin's model highlights that change isn't a quick fix, but a systematic process.
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However, the drawback of the model is that it simplifies a very complex process.
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It's practically impossible to fit our multi-year NASA change process into this simple model.
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And this model does not take into account that things do not always go according to plan either.
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Before we go to the second change management model,
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If you're still watching, you're interested in organizational development and change management.
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So do me a favor and subscribe to our channel.
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Kotter's 8-step change model is more complex than Lewin's model.
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Kotter's model is used by many organizations around the world and for most HR professionals,
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this is the first change model that you'll learn about.
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Understanding the model will help you implement change in your organization or even in your own personal life.
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Kotter proposed that for any change to happen,
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we first need to establish a sense of urgency,
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which is needed to get people moving.
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This is called the burning platform for change.
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In our NASA case study, this was very clear.
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There was a horrible accident that was caused by a lack of learning in the organization organization.
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Next, you build a large coalition to support the change.
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People often don't like changing their routines,
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so you need supporters to push change through.
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Next, you'll develop a long-term vision for change,
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communicate the vision, and remove any obstacles in the way of change.
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Part of the approach is planning for short-term wins.
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These short-term wins will lift people's spirits up and help change stick by reinforcing the right behaviors.
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Finally, and just like in Lewin's model,
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change needs to be embedded into the organization,
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and this is often where recognition and reward plays a key role.
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Kotter's model is a whole lot more complex,
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so it better represents the complexity of change.
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However, there's a problem with Kotter's model as well.
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And this is what I never learned in university when I first learned about this model.
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Kotter assumed that the world is ordered and that there's always a clear cause and effect relationship between things.
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That's why he proposes that you develop a vision for change and then spend years executing that vision.
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That's why Kotter works well for incremental planned change.
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It won't work as well for unplanned change.
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For example, imagine you work in a multinational organization dealing with an unexpected cybersecurity breach.
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Would you go for Kotter's eight-step process?
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You probably wouldn't because it is slow and methodical,
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while the situation calls for urgent action and no delays.
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Kotter's model doesn't work when the crisis requires immediate action and swift decision-making.
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That brings us to the final topic,
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which is planned versus unplanned change.
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Unplanned change happens unexpectedly.
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Immediately after the Challenger space shuttle crash,
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NASA had to respond to unplanned change.
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This involved mobilizing emergency response,
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securing the debris of the shuttle,
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and grounding any remaining space shuttles.
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After that initial unplanned response was over,
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NASA moved on to planned change.
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Planned change is initiated by the organization.
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In NASA's case, they had to become a learning organization,
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and this journey took years to complete and involves many different planned steps and stages.
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It required a careful examination of existing procedures,
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retraining of staff, and a cultural shift to watch encouraging curiosity,
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openness, and knowledge sharing.
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Importantly, it also involved significant leadership commitments to see this change through.
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This level of change does not happen overnight.
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It demands persistence and resilience from every employee.
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Even though this video focuses mostly on planned change,
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The same principles underpin unplanned change.
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You need a response, a systemic approach towards the future,
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and leaders that create an urgency for change to occur.
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So there you have it.
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You now understand organizational change better using three change management models.
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Change is complex and requires experience,
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careful planning, and skillful execution.
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That's why so many change initiatives fail.
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Our NASA case study is an example of effective change management.
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From the ashes of tragedy,
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NASA was able to transform itself into a learning organization,
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modeled on continuous improvement and the prioritization of safety.
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This would not have been possible without implementing the fundamental principles of change management.
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In this video, you've learned that change is complex,
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but that there are clear best practices when it comes to managing change.
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For planned change, you can apply Lewin's and Kotter's models.
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And for unplanned change, you can apply some of the same principles,
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even though your starting point to contain the crisis will be slightly different.
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You also learn that people may resist change and that in order to get them to change,
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you need to communicate, listen,
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support, give them time and celebrate wins.
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That's where you come in.
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Whether you are a leader,
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manager, or HR professional, your role is to guide,
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support, and inspire your team during periods of change.
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These models provide a roadmap,
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but the journey itself is always unique,
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requiring a personal touch and an openness to learning and adapting along the way.
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That's it for this HR deep dive into change management.
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Before you go, smash that like button,
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subscribe to our channel, and activate the notification bell to stay up to date with our latest content.
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And if you're interested in learning more about change management,
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check out the AIHR Organizational Development Certificate Program.
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Here you'll learn more about how to manage change in an organization.
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You'll find the link in the description of this video.
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Enjoy, and I'll see you in another HR deep dive.
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Bye-bye.
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Context & Background
In the video titled "What is Change Management? [2025]", Erich van Volpen discusses the concept of change management, using NASA's transformation after the Columbia shuttle disaster as a case study. The speaker emphasizes the significance of effective change management in organizations, highlighting how it requires a systemic approach to become a learning organization that continuously adapts and improves. This context is crucial for English learners, as understanding and discussing such concepts can enhance their vocabulary and confidence in professional settings.
Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication
- Continuous improvement - Refers to the ongoing effort to enhance products, services, or processes.
- Learning organization - An organization that facilitates the learning of its members and continuously transforms itself.
- Change management - A systematic approach to managing transformations within an organization.
- Adapt and evolve - The ability to respond to changes and grow from experiences.
- Safety-first culture - Prioritizing safety in all aspects of an organization’s operations.
Step-by-step Shadowing Guide
To effectively engage with the video's content and improve your English pronunciation, follow this step-by-step shadowing guide:
- Watch the Video: First, watch the video without pausing to get a general understanding. Focus on how the speaker articulates phrases clearly.
- Note Key Phrases: After your first viewing, jot down key phrases such as "continuous improvement" and "safety-first culture." These will be essential for building your vocabulary.
- Use a Shadowing App: Utilize a shadowing app to play segments of the video. Pause after each sentence to repeat what you hear. This will help improve your English pronunciation and fluency.
- Practice in Context: Find opportunities to use the new vocabulary in real conversations. For example, discuss the concept of change management with a friend or colleague, integrating the phrases you've learned.
- Reflect and Repeat: Regularly revisit the video, repeating the steps above. Consistent practice through shadowspeak will solidify your understanding and ease in using these phrases.
Incorporating these strategies into your English learning journey will not only enhance your speaking skills but also give you valuable insights into essential business concepts. By utilizing resources like learning English with YouTube, you can effectively navigate the complexities of language and improve your communication skills over time.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.
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