One year ago, I was sitting on the other side of the table.
I was interviewing candidates for a Change Management Partner role to support me on the transformation I was involved in and I asked what I thought was a simple question:
“Can you walk me through the full change management cycle — in your own words?”
Not the textbook version.
Not the buzzwords.
Just their understanding of how change actually lives from idea to embedded reality.
Most of them froze.
Some started listing some steps.
A few mentioned communication or training.
Only a couple of candidates came close.
No one covered it end-to-end.
At the same time, the recruitment process took months. Not because the role was so exotic. But because there simply aren’t many change management professionals on the Czech market.
These two signals hit me hard:
Long recruitment cycle
Inability to answer a basic, foundational question
It told me that change management in the Czech Republic is still in its early stages.
And that the journey ahead of us is long — but necessary.
It also revealed something deeper:
Many organisations here still don’t see WHY they need change management.
Or they only see a small slice of what this profession actually covers.
That’s when I decided:
I don’t just want to do change management.
I want to shine more light on it.
Luckily, I’m not alone.
There are a few other enlightened souls in our region, and platforms like Change Management Institute CZ & SK that are starting to move the needle.
So how do I see the full change management cycle?
For me, it’s this:
✨ Defining the WHY – Clarifying the vision and purpose of the change. Why does this matter now, for these people, in this context?
✨ Defining the WHO – Mapping stakeholders and impacted groups. Who will feel this change? Who decides? Who influences? Who delivers?
✨ Defining the WHAT – Doing a clear change impact assessment. What exactly is changing — and what is not? For which roles, processes, tools, behaviours?
✨ Defining the HOW – Designing the strategy and change plan. How will we bring people from today to tomorrow? Communication, training, leadership engagement, local ambassadors, adoption activities.
✨ Defining WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE – Setting adoption metrics. Not “how many emails we sent”, but how deeply the change is embedded in behaviours, performance, and mindset.
That’s the cycle I wanted to hear about in those interviews — but I didn’t. And it’s the cycle I believe every organisation needs, whether they call it change management or not.
As a Change Strategist and Change Facilitator, I guide organisations through complex transformations with clarity, structure, and heart. I bridge the analytical with the human — helping you define a meaningful WHY, map the WHO and WHAT, design the HOW, and hard-wire adoption so the change actually sticks.
If you feel your organisation is doing change without a clear cycle, I can walk you through it — step by step, from vision to real, lived adoption.