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Most outages are caused by deliberate changes. Change management exists so alterations are recorded, assessed and reversible, rather than to prevent change.
A process that makes change slow enough to avoid gets routed around, and undocumented changes are considerably more dangerous than slow ones.
Standard changes — pre-approved, routine, low risk — should need no approval at all, only a record. Normal changes need assessment. Emergency changes happen and get documented afterwards.
Treating all three identically is what makes change management unpopular and, eventually, ignored.
No. Standard changes need a record, not an approval. Treating all three levels alike is why it fails.
The rollback plan — the part you need precisely when things go wrong.
Answering 'what changed' in a minute when something breaks.
Half an hour with your own data usually saves reading three of these. The guides will still be here afterwards.