Planning Change: Why most change fails before the plan is even written.

Change doesn’t fail because the idea is bad. It usually fails because we rush the early stages, ignore the human system, and assume a PowerPoint deck is a plan. Your best chance of success is won or lost long before the plan is signed off.

In this first article of the series, I’m looking the people element in the planning checklist: who you involve and how you create the conditions for change to emerge rather than be imposed.

1. Start with shared purpose, not a slogan

Before you start designing workstreams, do the slower work of aligning around “why”.

• Be explicit about the problem you are trying to solve, not just the solution you prefer. Leaders often define the problem as their chosen answer, which means they miss the real issues underneath.

• Connect the change to purpose and values, not just targets. Focus on your shared purpose as the foundation of any sustainable change.

• Test your narrative with people who will be affected. If it only makes sense to the project team, it isn’t a shared purpose.

A simple test: can a frontline colleague explain in one sentence why this change matters for customers or end users, not just for “the organisation”?

2. Create genuine urgency, not manufactured drama

Successful change starts with an Urgent need that everybody feels rather than a management announcement.

• Use data, stories and examples that show why staying as we are is riskier than changing.

• Avoid the drama. Overstating the threat destroys trust and fuels anxiety, not commitment.

• Different groups feel urgency for different reasons. Tailor the case for change so it lands in their reality, not yours.

Urgency should invite people into a conversation, not back them into a corner.

3. Build a guiding coalition, not a hero leader

Sustainable change relies on a number of key people throughout the organisation. A guiding coalition is your change engine.

When you’re designing your change leadership team, think beyond the org chart:

• Mix formal power and informal influence. Include those people everyone listens to, regardless of their pay grade.

• Bring in different cultures and sub‑cultures. Your coalition should contain people who understand the “way we do things round here” in different parts of the system.

• Aim for “leadership by all.” Encourage leadership behaviours at every level, not just the top.

If your coalition looks like a usual leadership team plus one token voice, you do not have a coalition, you have a committee.

4. Create a plan

1. How will we start?

   • Urgency: What evidence and stories will we share? With whom?

   • Coalition: Who do we need to persuade first if this is going to work?

2. How will we involve people and remove barriers?

   • Vision: What does “good” look like in plain language?

   • Involvement: Where can people shape the “how”, not just be told the “what”?

   • Obstacles: What systems, processes or behaviours will block this, and how will we tackle them?

3. How will we build and keep momentum?

   • Quick wins: Where can we create early, visible benefits that matter to staff and stakeholders?

   • Learning loops: How will we gather feedback and adapt as we go, rather than pretending the plan is perfect?

These questions bring together traditional ‘planning ahead’ with emergent change thinking. You set direction and conditions, then pay attention to how people respond and adjust accordingly.

5. Plan for the psychological contract, not just the project

Every change rewrites the unwritten deal between people and their organisation. If you ignore that, resistance will show up as low engagement, poor performance or complaining .

In planning, ask:

• What will people feel they are losing: status, control, competence, belonging, identity?

• Where might the organisation be breaking implicit promises about fairness, development or voice?

• How will leaders show up: as “boss” or “coach”? Your own podcast notes highlight how leaders who coach and involve people create more psychological safety in uncertainty.

Change planning is as much about re‑negotiating expectations as it is about milestones.

If you want support to design change that people actually want to be part of, explore our leadership programmes here.

In the next article I will look at what happens once the plan meets reality and how to manage implementation in a way that includes people at every stage, rather than doing change to them.