Patrick Seaton, President and Owner of Innovative Management Tools and creator of the Change OS™ Framework, helps leaders and organizations proactively navigate change with clarity and structure. Drawing on decades as a corporate manager facing growth, chaos, and constant change, Patrick built tools to give leaders a roadmap for facilitating change instead of simply reacting to it.

We explore Patrick’s journey from survival-mode middle manager to building 28 frameworks for change facilitation, culminating in Change OS™. Patrick explains why traditional “change management” became a messy junk drawer of tactics, and how the Change OS™ Framework reframes it into seven clear steps. In this conversation he walks us through four of them—Change Management, Change Preparation, Change Enablement, and Change Readiness—showing how proactive preparation of people, skills, and motivation creates far better outcomes than simply “dealing with it.” Patrick also shares why people don’t actually resist change—they resist being changed—how to create internal champions who spread buy-in, and why slowing down up front helps organizations go faster later.

Good day, dear listeners, Steve Preda here with the Management Blueprint Podcast. And my guest today is Patrick Seaton, the president and owner of Innovative Management Tools and the creator of Change OS. Patrick, welcome to the show.

Thank you very much, Steve. It’s great to be here.

Well, I’m into different OS’s, Summit OS, Strategy OS, all that stuff. And when I saw that you created Change OS, I was super excited and interested. as to what this is. So, we’re going to get into it, but let me first ask you, what is your personal “Why” and how are you manifesting it in your business?

My personal “Why” really starts back many years ago, even decades, when I was in corporate as a middle manager. And we had lots of growth, lots of change, lots of chaos, and nobody was really helping us. And so, I started my company to create tools to help facilitate change. And it became really my “Why,” because too many people within a company are struggling with how do we drive the change, navigate the changes. And that became my passion to say, you know what,

I want to help people, give them a roadmap, if you will, and tools that they need so that they can do what they do best,
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Yeah, that’s fascinating. Let me ask you a stupid question. Why is change management even a thing? Why is it important?

Well, change management itself is the term that came out 70 years ago. And unfortunately, over those 70 years, everything and anything that has to do with change, we’ve kind of thrown into the same bucket as change management. And that was the impetus for creating the Change OS because that drawer, that junk drawer called change management, has gotten way too messy and unorganized.

So change management is a piece of the Change OS, but thinking about it from a level up, it's important for us to go into changes with some sort of roadmap, blueprint, steps, because there are many people involved.
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My question is really, why is change such a big deal for companies? I mean, life is all about change. I mean, as an entrepreneur, as a coach, I mean, all I see is everything is changing all the time. The change is happening faster and faster. So even handling it as a separate category is kind of anachronistic in my mind. Is this the opposite state of affairs that like stability is the normal thing and then change is kind of the unusual thing when you have to change something, otherwise you can keep everything as it was? Maybe I’m missing something.

No, you’re right. Change is happening faster and faster. And there are statistics showing that just in the last five years, from a company change, departmental change, things are happening faster and faster. The change is always there. But what we’ve done more so in the past is that we react to the change as opposed to proactively navigating the change.  So we’re just trying to deal with it. Something comes up, triggers the change. Yes, there are those strategic changes that we need to make, but a lot of the changes that companies go through is not because of their doing, it’s an outside factor. So we are reacting to it, but even in the reaction, we don’t really have that how are we now proactively going to handle the change? Instead, we just, well, we’re going to deal with it.  Well,

dealing with it is not really the best way, especially when you think about the different altitudes within a company.
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So is this a big thing, big company thing?

No. Oh, no.

Or even for small companies too?

No, even solopreneurs. I mean, we deal with change all the time. because we have to continually adjust and pivot and move as a company is small and growing, and you’re getting new staff in, new products, new markets, all of that is change.

Okay. So let’s talk about change. Let’s talk about Change OS. So this podcast is Management Blueprint and it’s all about business frameworks. Now the Change OS, as I understand, it’s got seven parts to it. So that’s maybe too much for us to absorb on this podcast. But can you tell me the first three or four steps of Change OS and what it does and how it came about and how to use it?

Sure. So as I said, I, after 30 years in change and saying, it’s just not really organized because it’s too big. There’s too much in the bucket. So I stepped back and I said, let’s think, let me think about the life cycle of change. and what it goes through and separate the milestones, if you will, into how a company can navigate that change. There is a flow to the seven formulas, but the first one is actually what I call Change Management. So I retained the title, but I defined or redefined what really is Change Management. And Change Management is asking ourselves, what do we want to do? Why do we want to do it?  And who will be the person responsible for championing this? That’s it. That’s the management side. We have to understand that piece.

So what, why, and who?

What, why, and who? Whereas before it was everything. Now it’s just what, why, and who. After that, the next formula is Change Preparation. So we’ve got this good idea. We need to do this. We want to do this. We’re thinking about doing this. The next stop on the train is, okay, how prepared are we today if we decide to move forward? Let’s take an inventory. Let’s think about it.  What are we missing? Let’s not just go running down the road, not considering what we’re going to need to have and then later stop and have to backtrack and regroup. So let’s spend a little bit of time thinking about. Are we really prepared for this? And if we’re prepared enough, let’s go. If we’re not, maybe we should spend a little bit of time filling some gaps so that we are more prepared before we launch into it and think about the different pieces. So we know what, why, and who. We’re prepared. We want to move forward.

So can you give an example? What does the preparation look like?

Well, so preparation is, let’s think about the vision and direction, is that really nailed down? What will be the processes and procedures that people will need to, across the company, who’s ever involved in this change, what will they need to have as the processes and procedures? Who are the people and resources we’re going to need in order to carry this out? What are the training and skills that those people will need to have? What is the motivation for the people while we’re doing this? And then do we have action plans? And when you don’t have any one of those elements present or thought through, there is a predictable outcome on the backside. So, for example, if you go into it and it’s really not everything’s in place, but the people are really not clear in the vision and direction because it hasn’t really been nailed down and communicated, the result is you’re going to have confusion when people start going because they’re just going they’re going to make up their own vision and direction.

Yeah, that makes sense.

If people don’t have the training and skills, they’ll be frustrated because they’re struggling to do the work that’s needed to be done. So there is a predictable outcome for each element if it’s not there. And unfortunately, we run into, we launch projects, initiatives, where we haven’t thought through multiple. So we’re in a, somewhere down the line, a confused state of frustration with anxiety, and we’re not moving forward.  And people go, oh my gosh, this change is just so complicated. Not really. Let’s just start plugging the holes and then we can move forward.

Okay, so we plug the holes, we identified, we prepared ourselves, we have the processes, the people, resources, the training, motivation, we know why we’re doing it, what we’re doing, with whom, what’s the next step? What is step three?

The next step is what I call Change Enablement. And that is where the people come in, the people side. Who are the change agents? The change champions, the change managers, the change specialists, whatever they’re called. And they could be called supervisors, managers, individual employees. But who are the people that we’re going to need to bring into this initiative in order to take it forward into the organization? Because senior management will define the what, why, and who, and they’re usually a sponsor. They’ll say, yes, okay, we’re ready. Let’s go. But they’re not the ones who are going to carry it down to the front line.

So understanding who will be those champions for this project, officially let everyone know these are the champions so that they are doing it in open transparency and they can go to anywhere in the company on the change project and talk about it.
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That’s very interesting because 25 years ago I was part of a process like that in a big commercial bank and the bank was making losses and McKinsey & Company came in and they made this big evaluation and then they said, okay, we can fix this and this is how we fix it. So they actually appointed a team of 10, I think it was 10 people from different departments of the bank, and they became the project team, whatever it was called, there was a fancy name to this project, and they were pulled out of their functions, and they said, okay, for the next three months, this is what you are responsible for, this is all you focus on, and it was very powerful. And the whole idea that these people were internal people who were driving the change, it went much better, as compared to if the consultants were driving the change.

Absolutely. And they don’t have to be pulled out and put into a full-time position. Depending on what the change is, it can just be cross-functional group, but they all have a responsibility and a role in the change as it goes out across the company.

Okay. So that’s the Change OS. And then there are other steps in the Change OS. So just give me the last step. What is the last step, the seventh step?

The seventh step is what I call Change Readiness. So we’ve done all of the work. We’ve had all the conversations. We think we’re ready to pull the trigger and say, go, let’s go live. But let’s take one last pause and say, have we thought about it all the way down the line on all the different levels? And so that we may have as the project team and our close associates said, yeah, this is all great. But what if this goes four or five, six layers down? Have you thought about them and are they ready? Because if they’re not ready, the project team spent so much time. It’s been a success in their mind the deadlines here, management’s saying let’s go, and then it falls apart because we didn’t really think about as it went down there.

So basically the operation is successful, but the patient has died.

Correct. Great way to put it.

Okay. Well, that’s very interesting. So change management, change preparation, change enablement, and eventually, change readiness. So this is a whole process of how you take from a company from A to Z, how to create and drive the change with internal champions. That is fascinating. So that’s a great framework. So let’s talk about your experience as a business leader. So, what was the most painful decision that you ever had to make as a leader and what framework helped you through it?

One of the most painful decisions, and it’s not just one time because it’s how I think and operate. I’m very much a process and data person. And the biggest wake up calls I’ve had are when I forget to think about the people. I get into the mode of, okay, this is what we need to do. This is how we’re going to do it. Let’s just get moving. And I have to remind myself over and over, just because my brain isn’t wired that way, to make sure the people side of it. So I’m very left brain and I need the right brain. The vision where we’re going, that’s already defined, but getting the people and their emotions and their frustrations and all that. So I’ve had to remind myself when I’m managing a project to do that. When I’m using one of my own change facilitation frameworks, that’s built in the people side. So when I’m facilitating, it’s really good. I have my own check on myself. But if I’m just talking with people, yeah, I’ll admit it. That’s the last stop. And I kind of get into the autopilot of, let’s just start getting some traction on it, that’s probably the hardest one because it’s myself. And I think that’s the hardest decision on anybody.

Yeah, I think that we are sometimes falling into a trap of thinking of a company as a machine, as opposed to a group of people who are committed to a mission.

Yes.

And when we fall into this trap, then it’s easy to overlook the people. So it’s a very good reminder. So thank you. Now, have you ever taken a framework or playbook too far and had to reverse course? Have you had this experience?

Yes. And it goes right in line with what I said before, that I get so into the process and moving. And it’s like, at that point, I’m a tour guide in Paris. Imagine this, you’re a tour guide in Paris, and the people who are there, or maybe it’s just one person you’re with. And I’m walking as a tour guide along the Quai of the Seine. And I know that Notre Dame just opened up and was remodeled this year. And I’m so excited. I start talking about the new church and the history of the church and the cathedral. And I stop and turn around and I lost my person. And they’re back taking a picture of the Louvre. And I go back and I say, wait, I want to take a picture of this.

And that taught me, just that analogy always teaches me, you have to always be the guide on the side. You can't go faster than them and you can't go slower than them. You can't push them. You'll get the react and push back.
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Yeah, I think I have fallen into this trap as well, that I have an agenda, I have a plan, this is what I need to make them see, this is what they need to accomplish, and then they are not ready to move that fast because they have other stuff that is more important along the way and they want to fix that first. And then just have to slow down and don’t take it upon myself that we’re not accomplishing the agenda, okay, but we are accomplishing a different agenda, which is more important to them so that they can move forward with that. And sometimes it’s not. Sometimes it’s just a diversion. And that to make the difference, that’s also an important skill.

Or sometimes, it’s just that we think it can go faster than it can. And we have the luxury if we’re guiding those people, that’s all we think about. But the person who we’re guiding has so many other things that they’re responsible for and something pops up and they don’t have the time and they’re slowed down. And I think we agreed on, oh, this will only take a week. Well, then work and life happens, and it takes three weeks. It’s not that the agenda’s off. It’s just we didn’t have a crystal ball to know that we were going to have this issue coming up, so it takes three weeks.

Yeah. And it reminds me in this project management, they say that in most projects, the ideal utilization of the people is between 85 and 95 percent or 80 or 90 percent. Because if you go beyond 90 percent, then you have no room to course correct. Everything comes up. There’s no room to deal with it. And that is actually going to create a domino effect on the whole project is going to collapse. So you’re better off going slow to go fast.

Absolutely. And I think if the change agents are full-time, absolutely, you need to give them that time because there’s always going to be something that’s going to take longer than we thought. And if they’re part-time, then it’s even more complicated. You cannot put 80 % on them. You might not even be able to put 30% on them.

Yeah, that makes sense. Before we wrap up, I’d like to ask you this. So, what is one belief that you hold that 90% of leaders would disagree with?

Almost everybody I talk to, if I ask them this question, do you think people resist change? 95% will say, absolutely. And I say, I don’t agree with that. People do not resist change. We make changes every single day. People resist being changed. when they’re forced, when they can’t ask questions, when they can’t voice their concerns, when they don’t understand. We make changes every day. If the sun was coming through my window in front of me and it was blinding me, what would I do? Make a change. I’d shift, close a curtain, whatever it is. But I’m not going to get upset about it. But if someone walks by and the sun’s in and it feels really good and I can see and someone says, you should get out of the sun. I would look at them and say, well, who are you to tell me that I should change? But if they said, you know what? You can sit in the sun like that, and you’re red as a lobster. You might want to think about getting out of it, because it’s going to be pretty painful. Oh, I didn’t even realize. Thank you for explaining, giving me the context. Now I can make my choice. But I’m not going to blame the sun. I’m not going to blame the person. I’m going to say, yeah, maybe I do need to and I will make that change. So we don’t resist change person. We resist when someone forces us to change and we don’t understand why.

Yeah. So one of the things that you mentioned when we talked about the change preparation was the motivation. So maybe that is something to do with how do I get people motivated about this change that you’re planning to do?

Motivate them, give them a space to ask their questions. When an employee says, yeah, but what about that? And what are we going to do when that happens? And how are we going to respond to that?

Because the change is bringing that up. That isn't resistance to change. That shows that the employee actually cares about the company and wants to make it go well.
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Yeah, to create buy-in and so people will champion it for you. I mean, a point of the champion is kind of saying the same thing. How do you get people, you get the first adopters, basically champions, and then the first adopters going to everyone else boot into the process.

Sure. Absolutely.

Love it. So that’s great. So, the Change OS. If people listen to this and would like to learn more about the Change OS, where should they go and how could they connect with you?

If you are interested right now, it’s an ebook that I’ve published through my learning management system. It’s not out there on Amazon or anything right now. I did that on purpose because as a new idea in change, I’d like to create a community around change and discussion. So, if someone is interested in it, it’s about 80 pages long and has a nice comparison of all the legacy change models and how they all fit together, has a lot of information, but they can contact me on LinkedIn and I’ll be happy to give them the link. And then as I get more readership, then start some community and just focus groups or. talking about change.

Yeah, love it. So, if you’d like to learn more, go to Patrick Seaton’s LinkedIn page. Do you have a website as well?

https://Innovativemanagementtools.com/

Innovativemanagementtools.com. Check it out. And if you can’t download it over there, then just ping Patrick and he’s going to send you where you can actually download the ebook. And I might just do this myself because I’m curious about Change OS and anything OS. So thank you, Patrick, for coming and sharing your very exciting framework, which I think you have 28 tools in it. You mentioned something like that.

There are 28 different tools for change facilitation, which is one of the stops on the Change OS, change facilitation, all the tools. So they fit in there.

Yeah. So if you like to facilitate change, with your people in your organization and you would like a great toolkit then reach out to Patrick. So thanks for coming Patrick to the show and sharing your goodies, and thanks for listening.