In the past few years, two very distinct orientations to leading change have emerged. For simplicity, we’ll call these different camps the Change Process approach and the Change Tool approach. When potential clients approach us, they almost always inquire, “Which approach is best?”

The choice between the two approaches is often a choice between taking the easy path and the effective one. The problem lies in the fact that the easy path seldom produces the results that the more challenging one can offer. But then again, sometimes there are just too many barriers to implementing the effective path, so the easy one is the only alternative. What to do?

Before we answer that question, let’s quickly define the two approaches.

By a “change process approach,” we refer to using a change process methodology that will guide your decision-making and action planning throughout the entire lifecycle of your change effort. A good change process provides a roadmap of change activities that you can select from to create your plan for achieving success. Being a roadmap, it defines the terrain, provides lots of options, but requires you to CHOOSE THE PATH you take.

When using a change process methodology, you should not take all the actions it suggests, A to Z. In fact, the fewer the better. The idea is to take the RIGHT actions, observe their impact on your progress and rapidly course correct as needed. A good change process methodology helps you get the most gain from the least activity, and offers clear options when you need to alter your plans based on real-time feedback.

Change tools, on the other hand, are products, either paper-based or digital, that support information gathering, decision-making or action planning in a singular, contained change activity. Common change tools include: stakeholder analysis, culture audits, force-field analysis, team assessments, customer analysis, employee surveys, and impact analysis. Change tools are used on an as-needed basis to accomplish specific activities during the change process.

The informed answer is to use both. Use a comprehensive change process methodology to guide planning, design, and implementation of your transformational change efforts, and use well-designed change tools to help you implement each of your critical change activities. But the practical answer is that it depends. (Oh, I hate answers like that!)

If the leaders have little understanding of change process, are more project- management oriented, and have little tolerance for learning or process in general, then the change tool approach may be the only starting point. Executives generally like change tools and will engage in using them: tools fit their problem-solving mentality (one problem, one tool); tools are tangible products when change often seems all too intangible; tools provide an illusion of progress because they can complete tools, check off that activity, and feel like they’ve made progress.

But keep in mind; tools by themselves do NOT deliver sustained value. A change tool is only as good as the executives’ selection of which change activities to do, when, how, and with whom. Tools do not lead leaders to the obvious next steps in their change process, and tools do not tell them how the data generated influences short or long term plans. Tools can get leaders initially engaged, but tools are no substitute for a comprehensive change process methodology, and no disguise for good change leadership.

The sponsor’s intended outcomes for the change should influence the decision of which approach to use. If the sponsor wants results on the current change effort while simultaneously building the leaders’ and the organization’s capacity for ongoing change, using a process methodology becomes even more critical. The same is true if the leader is attempting to create a common, organization-wide approach to change. The beauty of a comprehensive change process methodology is that it serves as the container for organizational learning about change and the development of collective best change practices, while delivering results on real-time changes.

The challenge of applying a change process approach lies in the fact that most executives have little stomach for process. They want it simple, often saying, “Just give me tools.” They don’t want to have to THINK about the big, long-term picture of change strategy or change process design. They simply want the stakeholder analysis, or the gap analysis, or the “whatever” analysis so they can check it off as complete, get the change behind them, and get back to business.

For this reason, most organizations that are just starting to build change skill begin by using change tools exclusively. However, after a year or two and a couple of failed change efforts, the leaders begin to see that more is needed. They see that change really is a process—a complex one at that— and that leading it takes time, their own massive involvement, and resources. That is when a comprehensive change process methodology becomes very attractive.

So how do you keep your organization and your leaders from wasting a few years meandering down the easy change paths that won’t produce the results they need?

EDUCATION! Leaders must understand the differences between change process methodologies and change tools. They must realize why using change tools is comfortable for them, and why applying a change process is not. They must see the strengths and weaknesses of each approach, and how to combine them for getting the greatest change results possible.

Providing such education up front is so critical that we won’t even take on consulting clients anymore unless the sponsor ensures that this education occurs with the top executives. This educational process isn’t always easy, but it often determines the success or failure of the overall effort.

If you are going to provide such education, check out Section Three of “Beyond Change Management” for insights about the key distinctions to make with your senior leader clients or colleagues. Good luck!