Knowledge is power, or so the saying goes. In my communication classes at NYU and Northeastern, I used to borrow from this phrase to help build course lectures. Referring it’s the transitive property, I’d ask my students: if communication equals knowledge, and knowledge equals power, then can it be argued that communication equals power? This simple equation would often lead to heady discourse as the undergraduates struggled to comprehend that something so basic and ubiquitous as communication could carry such authority. The brightest of my students, however, would recognize that without the conduit of knowledge, neither communication nor power would maintain their influence.

Much like the equation above, in the third building block of the Prosci® ADKAR® (Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, and Reinforcement™) Change Management Model, Knowledge, again finds itself in the middle. Comfortably sandwiched between Desire and Ability, knowledge of how to change is the keystone that holds the model together. In this stage, there are four factors that can influence successful change: current knowledge base; capacity to learn; availability of educational resources; and access to information. While these may seem rudimentary, the combination of these four factors ultimately determines the degree to which knowledge of how to change can be transferred and acquired.

At Bluewolf, we coach our clients on how to increase individual knowledge so that highest levels of organizational change may be best achieved. One way we do this is by recognizing preferred message senders within the corporation. It is well documented that key messages must be repeated five to seven times in order to be retained; however, it is seldom mentioned who the sender of that message should be. Data shows that employees prefer to hear from the “person in charge” when messages refer to organizational impact, and from their direct supervisor when it pertains to personal implications. Therefore, my Global Change Management team and I work in tandem with our clients to create a strategic communication plan that defines key messages, but also identifies appropriate recipients and preferred senders—all the while working alongside the master project plan.

If one subscribes to the transitive property above, it is clear that knowledge stems from effective communication, including recognizing preferred senders and setting a plan to spread key messages. As demonstrated in my previous blogs, building awareness and desire is pertinent for any change management project, but a solid knowledge base is critical in order to advance through the ADKAR Model. As my fortune cookie the other night reminded me: “The only good is knowledge and the only evil ignorance.” With knowledge as the centerpiece of the methodology, and perhaps just a little bit of luck, then the only outcome from the ADKAR Model will be good.

In case you missed it, check out my last blog, 5 Keys to Effective Change Management: Desire. Stay tuned for the next installment in the series: Ability.

See how Bluewolf can guide your business through change, with our Global Change Management services.