The ideal way to lay out a change management process is to come to a description of the end state and work back toward the present. This gives a view of what will have changed to get there. Knowing what will change can help determine the resources, the new behaviors and any new structure to the organization. That will then guide the division of phases leading to the project streams within those phases and finally the task associated with those streams.
But that is typically not what happens.
Thanks to historical viewpoints and approaches and a little human nature that force a current/future/gap perspective the pattern is usually- have an idea of something that needs to happen, figure out who is available to guide the way, if not enough people or resources are available then determine how to fill the gap. And get started. After all the “urgency” must begin as soon as possible and the “quick win” is crucial. I smirk and think of chickens, heads… well you know.
There is a subtle but crucial difference here. The first assumes a changed environment people and business. it is a planning process that is positive and builds on that picture and description. To get that description stakeholders, especially those late in the process, must be consulted and collaborated with., which becomes a motivational investment. It is a process rather than a project approach. Changing behavior and systems is a process so this is a nice fit.
The second quickly appears to those involved as careless, not in touch with the participants, not related to strategy and too quick out of the gate. It doesn’t have a positive optimistic feel. Ask any stakeholder you will get one of those three as push backs. What happens with the second project, “we will figure it out as we go along” approach is that long task lists are created often unconnected to the higher transformational level (where the people and the systems reside). People run around very busy blowing through the budget and getting a lot of satisfaction from the lists they have checked off. But nothing really changes. Why would it?
That was never in the plan.