Change—our unique approach

Interchange’s approach to change offers a significant alternative to traditional methods. For 35 years, C-suite executives have collaborated with us to design small, catalytic actions that deliver desired changes fast—often in weeks, not months or years. This approach allows clients to bypass the challenges of large-scale change efforts by leveraging their deep industry knowledge and our Minimalist Intervention expertise.
Traditional change approaches are based on a misleading metaphor, namely that of “Newtonian Physics”—you hear it in talk of “having an impact” and “overcoming resistance” and “creating momentum.” All implying that change requires force, involves extensive communication, preparation, and resistance management. In these traditional approaches, leaders must create urgency, plan meticulously, drive implementation, and enforce deliverables. And to succeed with traditional approaches to change calls for extraordinary effort, determined leadership, willpower, and substantial financial resources. Not to mention armies of management consultants sucking up everyone's time. It is no surprise that multiple studies show only about 30% of these projects succeed, often at the cost of morale and employee engagement.
Following well-established but often-neglected principles of cybernetics, we believe that change is constant and natural. Rather than forcing change, we examine and work with the factors maintaining the current undesired state of affairs. By identifying and altering these factors, we enable the desired change without the need for large-scale projects.

Our minimalist intervention approach is based on several key beliefs:
Simplicity and visibility
The resources needed to achieve change are almost always already present within the organization. We help clients use these resources to find these simpler pathways.

Collaborative design
Clients, who know their companies best, co-design interventions with us, positioning them as the ultimate change agents.

Targeted interventions 
Effective change does not require massive projects. Well- designed, discreet interventions can naturally unlock an organization’s capacity for change without triggering resistance.

Avoiding conventional pitfalls 
Large-scale change processes are often authoritarian, manipulative, and way too complicated. Minimalist Interventio avoids the pitfalls these processes create.

Customized solutions
Step-by-step programs are unreliable as they don’t fit every organization. Minimalist Interventions fit like the right key in the right lock.

Preventing resistance
Most resistance arises from unwieldy interventions. By avoiding such measures, there’s no need to manage resistance.
Following well-established but often-neglected principles of cybernetics, we believe that change is constant and natural. Rather than forcing change, we examine and work with the factors maintaining the current undesired state-of-affairs.

By identifying these factors up-front and then altering only a few key constraints with a minimalist intervention, we enable the desired change without the need for large-scale projects.

At Interchange, we believe that big change projects are unnecessary. Our counterintuitive understanding of change emphasizes precision, simplicity, and collaboration to achieve sustainable transformation.
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