This guide to change management models helps leaders, consultants, and change practitioners choose the right approach for organizational transformation. It compares widely used frameworks for episodic change and continuous change, including Lewin’s Change Model, Kotter’s 8-Step Change Model, the ADKAR Model, Prosci’s Change Management Process, Bridges’ Transition Model, the McKinsey 7-S Framework, Nudge Theory, and the Deming Cycle (PDCA). Readers can use this resource to understand each model’s core concepts, ideal applications, and supporting sources, making it easier to match change strategy to business goals, culture, stakeholder needs, and pace of change. Rather than promoting a single best method, the guide emphasizes tailored organizational change and shows how blended change management approaches can improve adoption, alignment, resilience, and long-term success. It is a practical reference for building effective change leadership and selecting evidence-based change frameworks.

Why understanding multiple change models matters

Understanding diverse change management models helps leaders and change practitioners choose the approach—or combination of approaches—that best fits a given situation. The table that follows is designed as a comparative tool for evaluating common models, understanding where each is most useful, and identifying how different approaches may be blended to address different change dynamics. Because no single model is universally appropriate, effective change leadership depends on the organization’s strategy, culture, stakeholders, pace, and external environment.

Episodic and continuous change

One useful way to organize these models is to distinguish between episodic change, which emphasizes discrete transformations, and continuous change, which emphasizes ongoing adaptation.

• Episodic change refers to structured, time-bounded transformations. This category includes Lewin’s foundational force field analysis and Unfreeze-Change-Refreeze framework, as well as more applied models for leading practical change initiatives.
• Continuous change refers to ongoing, adaptive improvement approaches designed to help organizations respond to evolving environments and reduce reliance on large episodic shifts.

Choosing the right approach

Many change practitioners and consultants develop deep expertise in a particular model and may be inclined to apply it broadly. However, no single approach fits every situation. Effective change leadership requires understanding the strengths and limitations of multiple models and then selecting—or combining—them based on the specific dynamics of the change rather than defaulting to a familiar framework.

How to use this table

Each model in the table is summarized by its core approach, ideal application, foundational reference, and a credible supporting source from peer-reviewed journals or professional publications. Designed for business leaders and change practitioners, the table serves as a quick reference for comparing models, understanding where each is most useful, and identifying when a tailored or blended approach may be more effective than relying on any single model alone.

TABLE: Guide to change management models for tailored organizational change

References

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Deming, W. E. (1986). Out of the crisis. MIT Press.

Dziak, M. (2021). Bridges Transition Model. In Salem Press Encyclopedia.

Hiatt, J. M. (2006). ADKAR: A model for change in business, government and our community. Prosci.

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Kotter, J. P. (1996). Leading change. Harvard Business School Press.

Lewin, K. (1951). Field theory in social science: Selected theoretical papers. Harper.

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McKinsey & Company. (2008, March 1). Enduring ideas: The 7-S framework. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/enduring-ideas-the-7-s-framework

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Prosci. (n.d.). Change management. https://www.prosci.com/change-management

Scott, A. (2023, June 21). 6 notable shifts in the best practices in change management. Prosci. https://www.prosci.com/blog/6-notable-shifts-in-the-best-practices-in-change-management

Thaler, R. H., & Sunstein, C. R. (2008). Nudge: Improving decisions about health, wealth, and happiness. Yale University Press.

Waterman, R. H., Peters, T. J., & Phillips, J. R. (1980). Structure is not organization. Business Horizons, 23(3), 14–26.

(C) 2026 by Brent Duncan, PhD

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