If you are serving in an internal change management consulting role, there is great value in having a set of core principles guide your way. We tell our clients that the AIM change management methodology principles are like an electronic dashboard in your car; if your windshield wiper fluid is low, you react one way. If your Check Engine light appears, that is an entirely different matter! 
Similarly, the AIM change management methodology is derived from a set of core principles that provide directional guidance during the project lifecycle. It bears repeating that the goal of change management consulting isn't "to do" AIM, but rather to have these core principles tell us what we should be doing now. If your change management methodology is based on principles, rather than on a lock-step adherence to a set of templates or check-lists, you are able to react to the dynamics of what is taking place on the ground in the moment.
Since change isn't linear, these core principles provide the basis for a flexible, iterative approach to change management consulting that accurately reflects the reality of implementation.
In summary, the core principles of the AIM change management methodology are:
|
Step |
Core Principle |
|
Defining the Change |
Stakeholders need to have a commonly held definition of both the present state and the desired future state. |
|
Build Change Agent Capacity |
Implementation success requires the right number of change agents, with the right skills, traits, and characteristics, located in the right places. |
|
Assess the Climate |
No change occurs in isolation; it occurs in a context of all those priorities competing for resources, and is impacted by organizational stress and past implementation history and cultural patterns. |
|
Generate Sponsorship |
Committed sponsorship is the single most important factor in ensuring swift and successful implementation. The priority is always to develop the cascade of sponsors that individually and collectively demonstrate commitment by what they express, model and reinforce. |
|
Determine the Change Approach |
Change Agents must be ambidextrous. Use a “hammer” for compliance changes, and use transition management for commitment based changes where you need “hearts and minds.” |
|
Develop Target Readiness |
Resistance to change is inevitable. It must be managed. It cannot be denied, discounted, deferred to, or defeated. |
|
Build Communication Plan |
You must communicate in the Frame of Reference of each Target, with a built-in feedback loop for every communication so you can check for understanding and identify sources of resistance. |
|
Develop Reinforcement Strategy |
There is no change unless there is behavior change, and there is no behavior change without a change in reinforcement. You are either reinforcing the change, or reinforcing the status-quo. |
|
Create Cultural Fit |
If your project conflicts with the current culture, culture wins unless you are significantly altering the reinforcements. |
|
Prioritize Action |
You must blend the technical side and the human side of project management. |
In addition, the 10 AIM core principles are scalable and flexible, meaning that you won't necessarily apply all the principles, tactics and strategies to every implementation. 
So how does this play out in the real world of project implementation? If you are caught in a situation with limited resources and don't know what to do, where should you concentrate your energies?
The principles guide your way. Since sponsorship is the single most important factor in swift and successful implementation, you should focus on generating the cascade of sponsorship. No other activity will yield greater impact on project success!
If you are dealing with a complex change that has both compliance and commitment elements, you know you will need to incorporate two different change approaches: you can "hammer" in the compliance elements, but you will need to use a commitment-based, transition management approach of freezing and un-freezing for the other aspects of the change.
Core principles are more than just words. Effective and efficient change management consulting applies these principles to guide the way.
