How to Make Change Management Truly Dynamic

Imagine change in a company as a journey. Until recently, it was like boarding a train: you departed from a station, followed predetermined stops, and arrived at your destination. Today, however, change is much more like sailing. The wind—which could be the market, technology, or new regulations—suddenly shifts direction. Those at the helm must know how to adjust the sails, change course, make quick decisions, and, above all, learn from every tack.

The organizations that thrive are not those that follow a rigid plan, but those that know how to adapt continuously, listening to weak signals and feedback from the field. They are the ones that experiment, learn from mistakes, and are ready to change strategy even halfway through. In practice, they adopt dynamic change management: an approach that uses agile tools and evolving metrics to understand in real time whether change is working or if a course correction is needed.

A concrete example: Let’s think of a tech company launching a new digital platform. Instead of planning everything in minute detail for an entire year, the project is divided into four-week “sprints.” After each sprint, user feedback is collected, results are measured, and the team decides whether to continue, change direction, or stop. This approach reduces risks, accelerates innovation, and makes change more sustainable.

1. Real Options Analysis (ROA): Deciding Step by Step

One of the biggest risks in change is “falling in love” with a project and investing too much, too soon. Real Options Analysis (ROA) helps us think in stages, just like an investor deciding whether to keep funding a startup after each milestone.

How does it work? After a pilot phase, you calculate the expected value of the new initiative (S)—for example, the projected increase in revenue or efficiency—and the cost (K) to scale it up. The formula is:

V = max(S - K, 0)

What do the symbols mean?

• V: The value of the option, i.e., the “potential gain” you get if you decide to move forward. If V is positive, it’s worth investing; if it’s zero or negative, it’s better to stop.
• S: The expected value of the project after a test phase. For example, if after a pilot with 1,000 customers the new app generates €100,000 in additional revenue, S = 100,000.
• K: The cost to move to the next phase, i.e., how much you need to invest to roll out the project company-wide. If it takes €60,000 to bring the new app to all customers, K = 60,000.

Numerical example: Suppose S = €100,000 and K = €60,000. Then V = max(100,000 - 60,000, 0) = €40,000. In this case, the option value is positive: it’s worth investing and moving forward. If instead S = €50,000 and K = €60,000, V = max(50,000 - 60,000, 0) = 0: it’s better to stop and not risk further resources.

Real-world case: A bank tests a new mobile app with 1,000 customers: if the results are good (S > K), it extends the rollout; if not, it stops the project and limits losses.

2. Readiness for Change (RFC) and Rasch Analysis: Measuring Change Readiness

Change is not just about processes, but above all about people. Understanding how ready an organization is to face transformation is crucial to avoid resistance and slowdowns.

What is RFC? Readiness for Change (RFC) is a measure of how “ready for change” people feel. It’s typically assessed with a questionnaire, where employees answer questions like “I feel prepared to use the new IT system” on a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).

What is Rasch analysis and how is it different from RFC? RFC is the “raw” data collected from responses. Rasch analysis is a statistical method that makes these responses more reliable, objective, and comparable across different groups or over time.

How does it work, in simple terms?

• Imagine you have two questions: one very easy (“I know how to turn on the computer”) and one difficult (“I can solve complex problems with the new software”).
• Some employees are more “strict” in their answers, others more “optimistic.”
• Rasch analysis takes into account both the difficulty of the questions and the personal tendency of the respondent, “normalizing” the results.
• In practice, it transforms the answers into a continuous scale that allows you to compare change readiness even between different departments, locations, or at different times, even if the questions change slightly.

Why is it useful?

• It helps you understand if change readiness has really increased or decreased, without being influenced by questions that are too easy or too hard, or by respondents who are too optimistic or pessimistic.
• It helps identify where training, communication, or support is needed, with reliable data.

Real-world case: In a multinational company, RFC drops after the announcement of a merger: HR organizes listening and support workshops to boost motivation. Thanks to Rasch analysis, the company can compare change readiness between offices in different countries, even if the questionnaires are not identical.

3. Kanban Flight Levels: Aligning Operations, Coordination, and Strategy

The risk in any transformation is that strategy remains “at the top” and operations “at the bottom,” with no communication. Kanban Flight Levels is a system that allows you to visualize and synchronize workflows at all levels of the organization.

A concrete example: Imagine a large service company managing both IT projects and customer care activities.

• L1 (Operational teams): Each team (for example, the group handling customer requests via chat) has its own Kanban board to monitor daily activities: open tickets, in progress, closed.
• L2 (Coordination between teams): Managers from different teams meet weekly to share priorities and resolve bottlenecks that arise between departments (for example, if a technical issue blocks customer care, it is immediately reported to the IT team).
• L3 (Corporate strategy): Management monitors the progress of strategic projects (such as launching a new digital platform) and ensures that operational activities and projects are aligned with business objectives.

Result: If, for example, the customer care team notices a spike in requests about a new feature, the issue is quickly escalated to L2 and L3, which can decide to reprioritize IT development or strengthen customer communication. In this way, the entire organization moves in a coordinated and responsive manner.

Dynamic change management is not just about tools, but about mindset. It means knowing how to listen, learn, and adapt—without being afraid to change course when necessary.