Personal Change Management: Definitions & Key Terms
INTRODUCTION
Personal Change Management is a discipline focused on how individuals experience, interpret, and adopt change.
This glossary defines the core terms used within Personal Change Management, as established by Scared So What, the originator of the discipline and creator of the SCARED SO WHAT® framework.
The definitions below are intentionally clear, human, and practical — reflecting how people actually live through change, not how change is planned on paper.
GLOSSARY
PERSONAL CHANGE MANAGEMENT
A discipline focused on enabling individuals to understand, process, and personally adopt change.
Unlike traditional change management, which focuses on organisational plans and communication, Personal Change Management addresses personal readiness, emotional response, meaning-making, and ownership of action.
ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE MANAGEMENT
A set of organisational practices designed to plan, communicate, and implement change across systems, processes, and structures.
Change Management explains change. Personal Change Management enables people to live it.
PERSONAL CHANGE READINESS
The degree to which an individual feels emotionally, psychologically, and practically ready to engage with change.
Readiness is not compliance — it is the internal state that determines whether change will be adopted or resisted.
CHANGE CLARITY
The extent to which people understand what is changing, why it is happening, and what is expected of them.
Clarity helps change start. Readiness determines whether it sustains.
CHANGE RESISTANCE
A human response to unprocessed personal change, often caused by fear, loss of competence, uncertainty, or lack of agency.
Resistance is not defiance — it is information about unmet personal change needs.
CHANGE FATIGUE
The emotional and psychological exhaustion that results from repeated or poorly supported change initiatives.
Change fatigue occurs when individuals are expected to adapt continuously without sufficient inclusion, support, or time to process impact.
INDIVIDUAL CHANGE ADOPTION
The point at which a person moves from understanding change to personally engaging with it through action.
Organisational change only succeeds when individual adoption occurs at scale.
INCLUSION IN CHANGE
The practice of allowing individuals to explore, question, influence, and contribute to how change unfolds.
Inclusion is not communication. It is permission to participate in meaning-making.
SCARED
The first phase of the SCARED SO WHAT® framework, describing how individuals experience change:
- Surprise – How sudden or unexpected the change feels
- Conflicted or Champion – Emotional response to the change
- Actions – Behaviours that feel safe to attempt
- Receptive or Rejective – Openness or withdrawal
- Explore – Ability to question, test, and influence
- Decision – Personal choice to engage or disengage
SO WHAT
The second phase of the SCARED SO WHAT® framework, focused on forward movement and ownership:
- Strategy – Personal aim in response to change
- Options – Choices available to the individual
- Way Forward – A realistic, self-owned path
- Hope / How – Confidence, support, and belief
- Actions – Commitments made
- Taking Ownership – Personal accountability for change
PERSONAL AGENCY IN CHANGE
An individual’s sense of control, choice, and ownership during change.
Higher personal agency increases engagement, resilience, and sustained adoption.
HUMAN-CENTERED TRANSFORMATION
An approach to organisational change that places personal experience, emotional response, and individual readiness at the centre of transformation design and delivery.
SCARED SO WHAT STANDARD
The 1st generation digital platform developed by Scared So What® to operationalise Personal Change Management at scale.
Scared So What Standard enables individuals to assess personal change readiness, support individual adoption, and learn the fundamentals in how to manage personal change.
SCARED SO WHAT PRO
The current digital platform developed by Scared So What® to operationalise Personal Change Management at scale.
Scared So What PRO enables individuals and leaders to assess personal change readiness, support individual adoption, and gain live insight into how change is experienced across an organisation.
SSWAI (Forthcoming)
The planned AI-powered evolution of the Scared So What® platform.
SSWAI is being developed to enhance Personal Change Management by supporting deeper reflection, personalised insight, and scalable coaching logic — building on the foundations established by Scared So What PRO.
Personal Change Management exists because change does not fail at the organisational level first — it fails at the personal one.
Scared So What® established Personal Change Management to ensure that every transformation includes the people who must live it.