What have record breaking dominoes, chaos theory and the butterfly effect got to do with change management? Let us explain.   domino theory Domino Theory aims to reduce the chances of those pesky butterflies wafting an uninvited variation over your change initiative. It's an approach that we strongly believe in and have found to be extremely effective in making change successful. The basic premise is that all the dominoes (the preparations and prerequisites for change) are placed carefully in position so that one small tap at the start of the domino rally causes the others to effortlessly flow with no hiccups (or objections) along the way, (spreading throughout the business in a controlled and exact manner). Such a comparison demonstrates the importance that all the roles and departments supporting change and all the people and areas affected by it (as well as those that instigate it) are taken into consideration and managed, as the domino rally (aka the change programme) is set up. This reduces the chances of an out of place domino interrupting the flow! And that's how this theory likens itself to the "butterfly effect".   attention to detail Assuming you have all of your variables exactly how you want them, you can judge the outcome - but overlook one small detail and you could have a change on your hands that you far from expected! Of course, hiccups do happen and a skilled domino setter or change manager (as they prefer to be called) is needed to re-position the "offending" piece so that the harmonious flows are once again in action. A valuable lesson learnt from many a day watching Roy Castle on Record Breakers. It's a simple theory but then change management is simple if you know how to manage your dominoes. Change is all about effective preparation and this forms the bulk of the work involved - once everyone is on board and understands the part they play in change, then it all happens very naturally.