History of Change Management

1947 : Lewin's Model

Kurt Lewin introduced his model of planned change in 1947, an era when organizations were often seen as relatively stable systems facing periodic disruptions. Published in his article "Frontiers in Group Dynamics" in the journal Human Relations, the model sits alongside Lewin's field theory and force field analysis, which examine the balance of driving and restraining forces that shape behavior in groups.

1980 : McKinsey 7S

The McKinsey 7S Framework was developed internally by McKinsey consultants Tom Peters, Robert Waterman, and Julien Phillips between 1977 and 1980 as a diagnostic tool for analyzing client organizations. The framework was introduced to the world in their journal article "Structure Is Not Organization," written during a two-day retreat, and a couple of years later Waterman and Peters extended their ideas further in the book In Search of Excellence, which popularized the framework widely.

1994 : Prosci Founded; ADKAR Research Begins

Prosci was formed in 1994 by Jeff Hiatt. Hiatt developed the ADKAR model in 1994 after researching 700 organizations, wanting to understand why some changes succeed and others don't. He learned that human beings experience and react to change in predictable ways, and that supporting employees and leaders during transitions leads to far better outcomes.

1996: Kotter's 8-Step Model

The Kotter 8-step process originated in John Kotter's 1996 book Leading Change, published by Harvard Business Review Press. It introduced a sequential leadership-driven approach to change — establishing urgency, building coalitions, communicating vision, empowering action, and anchoring change in culture. Kotter's model became the dominant executive-facing framework and remains one of the most taught models in business schools globally.

1998 : ADKAR Formally Published

The ADKAR change management model was first published in the 1998 book The Perfect Change by Jeff Hiatt, though it was formally released as a standalone book in 2006 under the title ADKAR: A Model for Change in Business, Government and Our Community. The model was developed after studying the change patterns of more than 700 organizations and is now used by thousands of change leaders around the world.

2009–2011: ACMP

Prosci launched the concept for ACMP in 2009 with the first Prosci Global Conference, where nearly 200 change management professionals joined together to identify the key building blocks for a new association. At the 2010 Global Conference, Prosci announced the formal transition to ACMP as an independent, industry-recognized association. ACMP Global was formally founded in 2011.

Reported Change Failure Rates

2015: 70%

"We know, for example, that 70 percent of change programs fail to achieve their goals, largely due to employee resistance and lack of management support." (McKinsey, "Changing Change Management," 2015)

mckinsey.com/featured-insights/leadership/changing-change-management

2020: 70%

"New BCG research shows that 70% of digital transformations fall short of their objectives, often with profound consequences." (BCG, "Flipping the Odds of Digital Transformation Success," October 2020) — empirical study of 895 actual transformations.

web-assets.bcg.com/c7/20/907821344bbb8ade98cbe10fc2b8/bcg-flipping-the-odds-of-digital-transformation-success-oct-2020.pdf

2012: 69%

A 2012 Gartner survey found that only 16.2% of projects met all requirements, 52% were partially unsuccessful, and 31% were declared complete failures.

Why Do Information Technology Projects Fail?