Log In

Change Management Models: 8 Frameworks Compared

Program manager comparing change framework maps

A change management model is a structured way to help people adopt a new process, system or strategy. The most widely used are Lewin’s three-step model, Kotter’s eight steps, ADKAR, the change curve, Bridges’ transition model, McKinsey’s 7-S and the PDCA cycle. No single one fits every situation, so the practical skill is matching the model to the kind of change you are leading. This guide explains each model, how they differ, where they have been applied, and how to pick one.

Management and Strategy Institute
courses.msicertified.com
Build Your Change Management Skills
Explore MSI’s Change Management Certification to develop skills for managing change alongside the models covered in this guide.

View the certification

TL;DR

  • Models give you a repeatable path for change. Frameworks give you a map of what to look at. Most people use the words interchangeably.
  • Lewin is the simplest, Kotter suits leader-driven change, ADKAR suits individual adoption, and McKinsey 7-S diagnoses alignment.
  • Research finds the same strategies recur across models: communicate, involve people at every level, attend to culture and tie the change to the mission.
  • Combining models usually beats picking one, for example Kotter for leadership and ADKAR for individual adoption.
  • Choose by asking which model exposes the constraint your organization actually faces.

Table of Contents

Models vs. frameworks: what is the difference?

People search for both terms, and the distinction is small but useful. A peer-reviewed review of the field describes frameworks as identifying the relevant variables and procedures an organization should acknowledge, while models give specific, actionable sequences of steps or behaviors. Think of a framework as the high-level map and a model as the operational roadmap.

The same literature separates process models, which specify actions and their sequence, from frameworks, which name the topics to cover without saying how or in what order. In daily practice, when a manager says “change management framework,” they usually mean any of the models below.

The models also fall into rough families, as one comparison of the evidence lays out:

  • Process checklists: Kotter’s eight steps.
  • Descriptive stage models: the change curve and Bridges’ transition model.
  • Diagnostic frameworks: McKinsey’s 7-S.
  • Causal theories: Lewin’s field theory.

Knowing the family tells you what the model can do. A checklist tells you what to do next. A diagnostic tells you what is wrong. A stage model tells you what people are likely feeling.

The main change management models

Lewin’s three-step model

Kurt Lewin’s model is the oldest and simplest. It has three stages: Unfreezing, Changing and Refreezing. It presents change simply and puts the emphasis on reducing resistance.

In practice:

  1. Unfreeze: help people see why the current way of working no longer serves them.
  2. Change: introduce the new process, tools or structure, with support and training.
  3. Refreeze: make the new way the default through policy, incentives and habit.

It works well for contained changes with a clear endpoint, such as a new approval workflow. It gives less help with execution detail. In organizations that change continuously, there may be no stable endpoint, so the refreeze stage has to be defined narrowly, for example as “this process is documented and owned,” rather than “the change is finished.”

Kotter’s eight-step model

John Kotter’s model treats large change as a campaign led from the top. The steps run in order: create urgency, build a guiding coalition, form a strategic vision, enlist a volunteer army, remove barriers, generate short-term wins, sustain acceleration and institute change in the culture. Versions of the list vary slightly in wording, but the sequence is the same.

Kotter's eight change steps in sequence

Its strength is leadership. It tells executives what they must do and in what order. Its weakness is that it offers little on the day-to-day experience of employees, and it can feel rigid in fast-moving settings. If you lead a reorganization, a merger integration or a company-wide system rollout, this is often the first model to reach for. Our guide on being a leader during an organizational change effort covers the behaviors that matter most in the early steps.

ADKAR

ADKAR, developed by Prosci, is built around the individual. It represents five stages: Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability and Reinforcement. The idea is that organizational change succeeds only when each person moves through all five.

Its great value is diagnostic. If adoption is stalling, you can ask which stage people are stuck at. Staff who say “I don’t know why we’re doing this” have an awareness gap. Staff who understand but resist have a desire gap. Staff who are willing but make errors have a knowledge or ability gap. Each calls for a different fix.

The limit is scope: ADKAR says little about organizational or systemic dimensions such as structure and governance. For a manager-level walkthrough, see our ADKAR model guide for managers.

The change curve and Bridges’ transition model

The Kübler-Ross change curve and William Bridges’ transition model describe how people feel during change rather than what leaders should do. Bridges separates the external change (the new system) from the internal transition (letting go of the old, passing through a neutral zone, and starting something new).

These models are useful for setting expectations. A dip in morale after launch is normal, not a sign of failure. Their risk is that they treat emotional responses as universal and sequential. A leader who assumes every objection is “denial” may dismiss a legitimate concern about a flawed process. Treat them as a prompt to listen, not a script.

McKinsey 7-S

The 7-S framework is a diagnostic. It looks at seven elements of an organization, strategy, structure, systems, shared values, skills, style and staff, and asks whether they are aligned with the change. It does not prescribe steps. It shows you where the design is inconsistent, such as a new strategy paired with an old incentive system that rewards the opposite behavior.

McKinsey also publishes a model for large-scale change, the 5As. It sequences the work as Aspire, Assess, Architect, Act and Advance: define the destination, assess readiness, design the plan, govern implementation, and institutionalize learning and continuous improvement.

PDCA and continuous improvement cycles

Plan-Do-Check-Act is the iterative cycle behind much of quality management. Rather than a one-time program, it treats change as a loop: test a small change, measure it, adopt or adjust, repeat. It suits process improvement, which is why it appears in Lean and Six Sigma work. If your change is incremental and measurable, a PDCA cycle often beats a heavyweight program.

Nudge theory

Nudge theory focuses on small design choices that steer behavior, such as changing a default setting or a form layout instead of mandating compliance. It pairs well with other models for the last mile of adoption, where habits matter more than announcements.

Side-by-side comparison

Model Type Best for Main limit
Lewin’s 3 steps Causal theory Simple, contained changes Too linear; little execution guidance
Kotter’s 8 steps Process checklist Leader-driven, large-scale change Light on employee experience; can be rigid
ADKAR Individual stage model Diagnosing adoption problems Does not address systemic issues
Change curve / Bridges Descriptive stage model Anticipating emotional response Assumes responses are universal
McKinsey 7-S Diagnostic framework Checking organizational alignment No steps to follow
McKinsey 5As Process model Large-scale transformation Needs strong governance capacity
PDCA Iterative cycle Process improvement Less suited to culture shifts

The weaknesses above are worth knowing, not worrying about. Evidence on change models remains mixed: many were built from practitioner experience rather than head-to-head scientific testing, according to one review of the evidence. That is a reason to use them as thinking tools and to measure your own results.

What the models have in common

Despite different vocabularies, the models agree on a lot. The peer-reviewed review cited earlier found recurring strategies across models: communicate about the change, involve stakeholders at all organizational levels, attend to culture, connect the change to the organization’s mission and vision, and provide encouragement or incentives.

A simple checklist often cited alongside the models is the 5 C’s: Context, Clarity, Commitment, Communication and Culture. It is a companion to a structured model, not a replacement. For a view on how commitment and leadership alignment play out in practice, this piece on faith-driven leadership principles discusses how leaders can build shared commitment in their teams.

McKinsey’s research on public-sector transformations points the same way. It names five disciplines: committed leadership, clear purpose and priorities, cadence and coordination in delivery, compelling communication, and capability for change. It reports that transformations applying all five were more than three times as likely to succeed as other initiatives.

Change management model examples

Health care: ADKAR and CLARC at Texas Health Resources

During COVID-19, Texas Health Resources used ADKAR and the CLARC model to move hospitals from primary nursing to team nursing. Leaders explained the reason for the change, communicated through email, town halls, staff meetings, leader rounding and weekly webinars, trained staff, and monitored feedback and morale. The pattern maps neatly onto ADKAR: awareness through explanation, knowledge through training, reinforcement through monitoring.

Enterprise: Duke Energy’s project management rollout

Duke Energy rolled out an enterprise project-management framework to a community of nearly 2,000 project managers and project-controls specialists. It organized the effort into change management workstreams: sponsor engagement, coaching and organizational transformation, communication, training, and resistance management. Here the models were less a script than a way to make sure no workstream was forgotten.

A smaller-scale pattern

A team switching to a new scheduling tool might use Lewin for the shape (explain, switch, lock in), ADKAR to check where individuals are stuck, and PDCA to refine the setup over the next two months. The point is that the models stack. For the planning document that ties it together, see our guide to a change management plan that works.

How to choose the right model

There is no universal winner; the right model depends on the situation, the culture and the challenge. A practical way to decide:

  1. Scope: is the change about individuals or the whole organization? Individual points toward ADKAR; organization-wide points toward Kotter or McKinsey.
  2. Type: is it behavioral (new habits) or technical (new system)? Behavioral changes need models that address desire and reinforcement.
  3. Maturity: how much change experience does your organization have? Less experience favors simpler models such as Lewin.
  4. Constraint: which model exposes the problem you are facing? Practitioners suggest asking exactly that.

Experienced practitioners often combine models, such as Kotter for leadership and ADKAR for individual adoption. Harvard Business School research cautions against arbitrary, halfhearted mixing of two change approaches. It suggests integrating them deliberately, either by sequencing them or running them more or less simultaneously.

Before you commit, assess who the change touches and how much. Our change impact assessment checklist lists seven checks to run before rollout. If you are still building your skills, getting started in change management is a good first read, and balancing change within the organization helps when several initiatives compete for the same people.

Matching models to common situations

  • Company-wide reorganization: Kotter for sponsorship and sequence, 7-S to check alignment, ADKAR to track individual adoption.
  • New software rollout: ADKAR for diagnosis, Lewin for the overall shape, nudges for defaults and habits.
  • Process improvement project: PDCA at the core, with Lewin’s refreeze defined narrowly.
  • Large multi-year transformation: McKinsey’s 5As for governance and Kotter for leadership behaviors.
  • Low morale after a launch: the change curve or Bridges to frame the conversation, then ADKAR to find the gap.

Adaptive approaches also matter when the answer is not known in advance. These adaptive leadership examples from real workplaces show how leaders adjust when no fixed playbook applies.

Common mistakes when applying models

  • Treating the model as the plan. A model organizes your thinking. You still need owners, dates and measures.
  • Skipping the people side. Technical rollouts fail when nobody addresses desire, knowledge and ability.
  • Declaring victory early. Reinforcement, the last step in ADKAR and the refreeze or anchoring step in Lewin and Kotter, is where gains are kept.
  • Ignoring objections. Not every objection is resistance. Some are information about a flaw in the change.
  • Using one model for everything. Match the tool to the job, as the comparison table shows.

Gathering ideas from the people affected helps with several of these. Our article on brainstorming as a tool for change management shows how.

Perspective

We see the same pattern in the professionals who come to us: they know a model by name, but they have never had to apply one under pressure. A diagram of Kotter’s steps does not tell you what to say to a team that is worried about its jobs, or how to measure whether a new process is actually used.

That is why we believe structured, practical training matters. Our self-paced programs are built so a working manager can learn the models, practice the tools and finish with a certificate, without hidden fees, because the study materials and the exam come bundled in one price. Certificates are issued as soon as you complete the program, and we back every enrollment with a 30-day satisfaction guarantee.

Our advice is to learn at least three models well: one for leadership (Kotter), one for individual adoption (ADKAR) and one for continuous improvement (PDCA). Together they cover most of what you will face. If you pair them with Six Sigma tools for measuring process results, you can show that a change worked, not only that it was launched.

David Lovell

Build your change management skills with MSI

If you want to move from knowing the models to applying them, our Change Management Certification is a self-paced online program with the study materials and the exam included. Many of our programs have no prerequisites, and you can study from home at your own speed. Check the course page for current pricing and details. More than 300,000 professionals are certified through MSI, and 98% recommend us, according to our own figures.

Management and Strategy Institute

If your changes are process-driven, our Six Sigma certification package adds the measurement side. You can compare other options on our Six Sigma package deals page, or read what the credential will cost in our change management certification cost guide.

FAQ

What are the main change management models?

The most commonly used are Lewin’s three-step model, Kotter’s eight steps, ADKAR, the change curve, Bridges’ transition model, McKinsey’s 7-S and PDCA. They fall into process checklists, stage models, diagnostics and causal theories. Most organizations use two or three together.

What is Kurt Lewin’s three-step model?

Lewin’s model describes change as unfreezing the current state, changing to the new one, and refreezing so the new behavior becomes the norm. It is simple and focuses on reducing resistance. In fast-changing organizations, the refreeze step should be defined narrowly, since there may be no final stable state.

What are the 5 C’s of change management?

They are Context, Clarity, Commitment, Communication and Culture. They work as a leadership checklist to confirm alignment, and they are usually used alongside a structured model such as ADKAR or Kotter’s eight steps rather than on their own.

Which change management model is best?

None is best in every case. Choose by scope, type of change and your organization’s experience, and ask which model reveals your biggest constraint. Kotter suits leader-driven change, ADKAR suits individual adoption, and PDCA suits incremental process improvement.

What is the difference between a change management model and a framework?

A framework identifies the variables and topics to consider, like a map. A model gives a specific sequence of steps or behaviors, like a roadmap. In everyday use the terms often overlap.

Sources