What’s in a name? Approaching organizational change

Change is not a commodity. When it is considered as a discrete thing – which the author terms the “commodification of change” – with a particular brand identity, it becomes compartmentalized, finite, and tightly proscribed; it becomes a product. However, no change effort can afford such a subjective, near‐whimsical approach to enrollment. There needs to be a stronger, more compelling drive for people to participate. The author proposes that organizations resist labeling change efforts and, instead, focus on creating change programs that specifically address the change and how that change benefits both the people and the organization. A nameless approach to changes gets rid of the unnecessary resistance and stress caused by marketing‐driven processes of change. It allows everyone to stay focused on the issues the organization is confronting without being distracted or sabotaged by the busywork of selling an initiative.