The Human Touch in a Digital World of Change
When I think about how we adopt change, how we really internalize it, I often return to something surprisingly analog: cursive handwriting.
In third grade, learning cursive felt like a milestone. It was elegant, loopy, and distinctly adult. I remember being handed a BIC pen (a serious upgrade from our usual #2 pencils) and feeling like I’d been promoted. Writing in cursive felt connected. Each letter flowed into the next, forming not only words, but a sense of confidence. It was quiet, physical, and deeply satisfying. And somehow, even now, that physical act of writing still helps me remember.
Recently, in working with professionals preparing for the Certified Change Management Professional (CCMP™) exam, I was reminded just how important that physical connection can be. One candidate told me she was writing the inputs and outputs from the Standard for Change Management on notecards and taping them around her home. “Are you printing them?” I asked. “No,” she said. “Handwriting.” I smiled because I get it. Handwriting, especially in cursive, creates a kind of muscle memory. It helps us not just learn, but absorb.
That connection between physical engagement and deeper learning isn’t limited to childhood, it shows up in our professional development too.
Before the pandemic, most of our change training was in-person. We gathered in rooms with training environments and scenario-based walk-throughs. People learned through conversation, interaction, and shared experience. And honestly? It worked. There was something about sitting shoulder to shoulder, working through a problem or process, that made change feel real and doable.
But now, things are different. Most learning is remote. We watch videos. We scroll through tutorials. We rely on Click2Learn. It’s convenient, scalable, and often more efficient. I’m not opposed to it, in fact I welcome it. I love the tools, the AI-generated summaries, the walkthroughs that remove friction from the process. But I also wonder, are we unintentionally losing something in the process?
In the READY framework I teach (Relevant story, Engage leaders, Advance communication, Develop & support, and the all-important Why to reduce resistance), the “D” - Develop & Support, asks us to think critically about how we build people’s readiness for change. When that development is entirely digital, it may check the boxes but does it always build the confidence, the connection, or the community?
Technology helps us move faster and reach further. But sometimes, what’s needed during change isn’t just a faster process, it’s a deeper one. Something tactile. Emotional. Human. And for many of us, the act of physically writing something down is still one of the most powerful ways to connect our thoughts, feelings, and memory. It’s why we remember to-do lists better when we write them. It’s why notes in the margins of a book feel more meaningful than a comment in a document.
It’s also why I worry that some future generation may stumble upon a love letter or a journal entry and not be able to read it because it’s written in cursive.
Does that mean I think we should go back to all in-person learning and put the pens back in everyone’s hands? Not at all. Change professionals, of all people, should embrace new tools. But I also believe that new tools should add, not replace. AI, automation and on-demand videos are incredible advancements. But let’s use them to enhance, not erase the methods that have supported change for generations.
Change is easier to adopt when we’re allowed to hold onto something familiar while reaching for something new. Whether it’s a writing style, a training format, or even a leadership approach, people often need a bridge, not a leap.
That mindset, of adding instead of replacing can change the way we think about transformation. It’s a way to honor what we know while welcoming what’s next. It’s what makes change sustainable.
And maybe, just maybe, it’s what makes it feel a little more human.
