Google on Change: 21,900,000 results (1.22 seconds), 0 results.
In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, everyone is an expert in soccer [football]. But not everyone is a master. This old adage is often applied in different forms to various cultures and passions: Canadians know hockey, Texans are the kings of BBQ, and if you want to know something about a decent cup of tea - you'd better ask a Brit.
But when it comes to change management, a simple online search reveals there is no shortage of opinion from subject matter experts - yet surprisingly, there is no consensus on what change management even is. Because we all go through change, we all have an opinion about how to best approach and deal with it. However, when it comes to the institutionalization of a standard set of definitions around change management and how it applies to business even Google doesn't seem to have the answers.
Go ahead and try it for yourself.
"What is the difference between a change management model and methodology?"
Google responds with more than 21 million similar results in 1.22 seconds. None of them answer the question.
The point? We have ambiguity around the definitions and differences in the meaning of change management "models" and "methodologies".
What is even more interesting, is that (at the time of writing) the change management discipline is not reinforced with clear definitions for related and supporting terms like "business platform" or "business methodology" either.
An Internet search for the meaning of "business platform" points to definitions about building construction, political policy and underlying computer systems that run application programs like Windows or the Mac OS X. Searching for the meaning of "business methodology" is a little more fruitful but not entirely clear because search results tend to branch off into qualitative and quantitative scientific research.
And so, for the aforementioned reasons we at the Inukshuk Enterprise Change Management Institute have decided to take a crack at compiling a clear set of standard definitions to facilitate the development of a common ground for discussion about change management as a discipline. The definitions are supplemented with examples to bring them to life. Let us know what you think - we would love to hear from you.
