Path to Agility vs ADKAR
Most organizations know ADKAR. It helps individuals adopt change. But after 100+ enterprise transformations, we've seen the same pattern: individual readiness alone doesn't move the organization. Path to Agility® picks up where ADKAR leaves off — connecting capabilities, operating model design, and measurable business outcomes across 3 organizational levels.
The Individual Layer
A model for guiding individuals through change: Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, Reinforcement. Useful for diagnosing where people get stuck. Answers: "Are people ready to change?"
The Organizational Layer
Agile Velocity's proprietary framework for enterprise transformation. Assesses 100 capabilities across organization, system, and team levels. Maps them to 9 measurable Business Outcomes. Selects only the practices that close identified gaps — whether you're redesigning an operating model, rolling out an ERP, or restructuring how teams deliver value. Answers: "What should the organization change, and is it working?"
- 9 Business Outcomes
- 100 Capabilities Assessed
- 400+ Mapped Practices
- 3 Operating Levels
Two Frameworks, Two Levels
ADKAR and Path to Agility don't compete — they operate at different altitudes. ADKAR handles the human side. Path to Agility answers the question most organizations get stuck on: "People are ready to change — but change to what?"
ADKAR Establishes Individual Readiness
Each person moves through Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, and Reinforcement. Managers identify barrier points and provide targeted support. The organization now has people who are willing and able to change.
The Gap: Ready to Change — But Change to What?
This is where most change initiatives stall. People are on board, but the organization lacks a structured way to identify which capabilities to build, which practices to adopt, and whether those changes are driving the business results leadership expects. A new operating model doesn't emerge from individual readiness alone.
Path to Agility Provides the Organizational Roadmap
P2A assesses 100 capabilities across organization, system, and team levels. It maps those capabilities to 9 Business Outcomes — speed, quality, predictability, employee engagement, and more — then selects only the practices that close identified gaps. Individual readiness becomes organizational transformation with measurable results. After working with 100+ enterprises across industries — hardware, healthcare, financial services, manufacturing — this is the pattern we've seen work.
"We're not a software company — does this still apply?"
We hear this in nearly every first conversation. The short answer: yes. Path to Agility treats agile as a way of working — not a software methodology. The 9 Business Outcomes it measures (speed, quality, predictability, employee engagement, customer satisfaction, and more) are universal. We've applied this framework to ERP rollouts, organizational restructures, operating model redesigns, and product delivery transformations across industries that have nothing to do with writing code.
One global enterprise came to us specifically for operating model design. They'd tried ADKAR and addressed the people side — but they still couldn't connect individual change to organizational results. When we reframed their initiative as a product and assessed their capabilities with P2A, the path forward became clear. That's the gap this framework was built to close.
Side-by-Side Comparison
How Path to Agility and ADKAR differ across foundation, structure, measurement, implementation, and fit.
| Dimension | Path to Agility® | ADKAR |
|---|---|---|
| Foundation & Philosophy | ||
| Core Purpose | Drive measurable business outcomes through structured capability building at the organizational level | Guide individuals through personal change adoption |
| Unit of Change | Organization, system (collection of teams), and team levels simultaneously | Individual person — scaled by applying to many individuals |
| Theoretical Basis | Satir Change Model (J-Curve) — acknowledges the performance dip before improvement | Linear sequential model — each stage of individual readiness must be achieved before the next |
| Change Philosophy | Start with the business outcomes you need, work backward to only the practices that move those outcomes | Build individual awareness and desire first, then equip people with knowledge and ability |
| Structure & Framework | ||
| Stages / Phases | 5 stages: Align, Learn, Predict, Accelerate, Adapt | 5 elements: Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, Reinforcement |
| Scope of Model | 9 Business Outcomes, 26 Agile Outcomes, 100 Capabilities, 400+ Practices | 5 sequential milestones per individual, supported by a 3-phase implementation process |
| Operating Levels | 3 levels: Organization (40 capabilities), System (26 capabilities), Team (34 capabilities) | Single level — individual adoption (organizational change = sum of individual changes) |
| Prescriptiveness | Adaptive — assess current state, then select only the practices that close identified gaps | Sequential — each element must be substantially achieved before progressing to the next |
| Measurement & Progress | ||
| What Gets Measured | Capability maturity across 100 capabilities, linked to business outcomes like speed, quality, predictability | Individual readiness scores across 5 elements (typically 1-5 scale per element) |
| Assessment Approach | Capability assessments at org, system, and team levels — generates prioritized improvement backlogs | ADKAR assessments identify the "barrier point" — the first element scoring below threshold |
| Leading Indicators | 26 Agile Outcomes (e.g., predictable cadence, reduced cycle time) that predict business results | Individual milestone completion rates and barrier point distribution across the population |
| Business Outcome Linkage | Direct — 9 Business Outcomes are the starting point and the measure of success | Indirect — assumes successful individual adoption leads to project/organizational outcomes |
| Implementation & Scalability | ||
| Getting Started | Define target business outcomes, assess current capabilities, identify gaps, select practices | Define the change, assess impacted groups, build sponsor coalition, create communication plan |
| Scaling Approach | Built for scale — 3 operating levels (org/system/team) with distinct capabilities at each level | Scale by training more change practitioners and applying the model across more impacted groups |
| Software / Tooling | Path to Agility Navigator — assessments, heatmaps, dashboards, improvement tracking, and action management | ADKAR assessment tools, project tracking, and change practitioner resources |
| Coaching Model | Coaches work at all 3 levels — leadership coaching, system optimization, and team-level capability building | Change practitioners manage change for specific projects, coaching sponsors and managers |
| Best Fit & Limitations | ||
| Ideal For | Enterprise transformations — including operating model redesign — where you need to connect daily practices to measurable business results | Discrete change projects (new system rollout, process change, reorganization) with clear start/end |
| Organizational Context | Any industry pursuing continuous improvement — not limited to software organizations | Organizations implementing specific, defined changes that require broad individual adoption |
| Key Strength | Eliminates guesswork — assessment data shows exactly which capabilities to build and which practices to adopt | Simple, memorable model that gives every manager a common language for change conversations |
| Key Limitation | Requires commitment to data-driven assessment — not a lightweight overlay | Doesn't prescribe what capabilities to build or how to connect individual change to business outcomes |
When to Use Which
ADKAR Alone Works When...
- You're implementing a specific, defined change (new tool, process, or structure)
- Individual adoption is the primary success metric
- The change has a clear start and end date
- You want to diagnose exactly where individuals are getting stuck
You Need Path to Agility When...
- You need to connect transformation efforts to measurable business outcomes
- You're redesigning an operating model or transforming how teams deliver value
- You want data-driven assessment of organizational capabilities — not just individual readiness
- The transformation is ongoing, not a one-time project
- You need to operate at organization, system, and team levels simultaneously
The Layered Approach: ADKAR + Path to Agility
- ADKAR drives individual readiness while P2A defines what to change at the organizational level
- You've done the ADKAR work and need to answer: "People are ready — now where does the organization go?"
- Your transformation includes both discrete change projects and broader operating model shifts
- You want individual adoption tactics (ADKAR) connected to organizational capability strategy (P2A)
Frequently Asked Questions
How do ADKAR and Path to Agility work together?
ADKAR addresses the individual human side of change — helping each person move through awareness, desire, knowledge, ability, and reinforcement. Path to Agility operates at the organizational level, defining which capabilities to build, which practices to adopt, and how to connect those changes to measurable business outcomes. In practice, organizations use ADKAR to drive individual adoption and P2A to answer the bigger question: "Now that people are ready to change, what exactly should we change, and how do we know it's working?"
Why not just use ADKAR for an enterprise transformation?
ADKAR tells you whether individuals are adopting a change, but it doesn't tell you which capabilities your organization needs to build or whether those changes are driving business outcomes like speed, quality, or predictability. For enterprise transformations, you need both: ADKAR for the people side, and a framework like Path to Agility to map the organizational journey from current state to measurable results across organization, system, and team levels.
What happens after ADKAR? Where does Path to Agility come in?
ADKAR helps you understand where individuals are in their change journey. Path to Agility answers the next question: "Where does the organization go from here?" P2A assesses 100 capabilities across 3 levels, identifies specific gaps standing between you and your target business outcomes, and selects only the practices that close those gaps. It's the organizational roadmap that turns individual readiness into enterprise-level results.
Is Path to Agility only for software organizations?
No. While agile practices originated in software, Path to Agility applies to any organization pursuing change — including operating model redesign, ERP implementations, and organizational restructuring. After 100+ enterprise transformations, Agile Velocity has seen this firsthand: clients in hardware, healthcare, financial services, and manufacturing all use P2A to assess capabilities and drive measurable business outcomes. The framework treats agile as a way of working, not a software methodology.
How does Agile Velocity use ADKAR in its practice?
Agile Velocity uses ADKAR as one tool within a broader organizational change management approach. ADKAR addresses day-to-day individual adoption, while Path to Agility provides the organizational-level framework — assessing capabilities, mapping business outcomes, and guiding the transformation across organization, system, and team levels. The result is a layered approach: ADKAR ensures people are ready to change, and P2A ensures the organization is changing in the right direction.
Ready to Go Beyond Individual Adoption?
After 100+ enterprise transformations, we've mapped the patterns that connect individual change to organizational results. Whether you're stuck mid-transformation or proactively redesigning your operating model, Path to Agility® shows you exactly which capabilities to build and which to prioritize.