Most Change Initiatives Fail in the Middle

I've witnessed many transformations that went sideways. Most had the same alibi: "Our managers failed. They just need more training." So, the organization buys a workshop, checks the box, and six months later, another change initiative is underway and nothing has truly changed.

Here's what that story misses: Change skills are crucial, but they are only one variable in the equation.

Change Leadership is Multi-Dimensional

We talk about change leadership as if it's a single skill. Either you have it or you don't. Two points here: 1. Change Leadership is not equivalent to change management. 2. Change Leadership is the product of two separate variables acting on each other:

Capability

Does this leader know how to lead change well? Can they coach someone through resistance, sequence a rollout, hold steady when the plan changes mid-flight?

Capacity

Has this leader actually been given the space to lead the change? Do they have dedicated time to lead the transformation initiative? Have they been given real authority to make decisions and adapt the plan locally? Has their workload been adjusted to make space for the work?

Change Capability

Do your leaders know how to lead change?

AND

Change Capacity

Do they have the space to do it (both internally and externally)?

Plot both variables and every leader in your organization lands somewhere on what I call the Change Terrain Map.

• The Floodplain: low capability, low capacity. Change happens to them, not through them.

• The Ridge: high capability, low capacity. They have at least part of a plan, but no time to refine or execute.

• The Plateau: low capability, high capacity. Real time and budget, but no traction.

• The Summit: high capability, high capacity. Change-ready, and able to bring others with them.

Why the floodplain is so crowded

If you mapped your middle managers onto this terrain right now, most would likely land bottom-left. That's not necessarily a character flaw or a reflection of poor performance. It's what happens when an individual is promoted for functional expertise, then handed transformation work on top of an unchanged workload. Typically, the leader has no added time, no formal mandate, and no training in how to lead people through change and uncertainty.

This is where a good portion of my work is focused. A leader in the floodplain isn't just under-skilled. They're often overwhelmed and highly dysregulated. They show up depleted and reactive and their team can feel their stress response in every meeting. One dysregulated leader can disrupt an entire team and consequently derail your go-live date.

Capacity is not an afterthought. It has to be part of the conversation when assigning change leadership roles to leaders.

That's also why the floodplain doesn't resolve itself with a training budget alone. It also doesn’t resolve itself with a lighter calendar alone. Up-skill a leader without touching their workload, and you've built a frustrated expert on the Ridge. Free up their time and budget without building the underlying skills, and you've built a well-resourced leader stalled on the Plateau.

The move that reaches the Summit is smaller and slower than either shortcut: Protect a real, if modest, block of time. Start building capability alongside it, immediately. A parallel path yields the best result: slower, applied learning with the space to create, integrate, and recharge keeps leaders energized, motivated, and engaged. Ultimately, leaders are better equipped to learn and adapt when they are well-resourced.  

Try it on your own team

Before your next round of change planning, map your leaders on the terrain. For each person, ask:

• Can they explain the case for change in their own words, or are they just relaying the deck? Do they have a vision?

• Is change leadership specified in their job description and performance expectations, or is it purely additive to their “day job”?

• Do they have real authority to make decisions? Can they create the plan and adjust locally, or are they simply reacting?

• Are other work responsibilities reduced during change inititiatives, or just piling on top?

• Are they showing up grounded and self-aware? Or are they scattered, dysregulated and overwhelmed?

The answers will tell you which zone you're resourcing for and which one you've been expecting leaders to reach on their own.

Change leadership isn't a personality trait that some people have and others don't. It's a learned capability that every leader can design and intentionally create - but only when she simultaneously has the space and the authority to make it happen. That's the work!

— Jennifer, Founder and CEO, Resilience Coaching and Consulting

Oreo image credit: https://unsplash.com/@yuliamatvienko?utm_source=wix-media-manager&utm_medium=referral