Postmodern thinking and business change

Although they might not realise it, most change programmes are built on modernist assumptions – that with the right data, the right plan, and the right leadership, we can drive predictable outcomes.

If it weren’t for reality, that might work.

We live in a world that’s more interconnected, ambiguous, and contradictory than ever. Employees don’t all think the same way. Cultures clash. Multiple truths coexist. And top-down plan makes sense on paper but rarely survive contact with the real world

That’s where postmodern thinking helps.

It invites us to challenge grand narratives. To embrace the local, the subjective, the fragmented. The messy. To see organisations not as machines, but as human systems – alive with competing perspectives, hidden assumptions, and emergent meaning.

In business change, this matters. It means:

• Listening, not just telling

• Co-creating, not just broadcasting

• Adapting, not just rolling out

It’s not soft. It’s smart. And it’s necessary if we want lasting change to take root.