Why So Many Transformations Fail – and What Successful Change Leadership Takes
- Sini Lindholm
- Oct 28
- 4 min read
Organizational change is part of everyday business – yet only about a third of transformations truly succeed.What’s your experience, or your best guess, as to why that happens?
We’ve had the privilege of supporting many clients through significant change initiatives. Along the way, we’ve developed the following framework that summarizes the key elements of effective change leadership.
This visual brings together the essentials that help keep change alive in daily work – ensuring it doesn’t remain just a project or a PowerPoint presentation.
💬 We’d love to hear your thoughts: what does this framework bring to mind? What would you add or emphasize differently?
📋 A Checklist for Leading Change
1️⃣ Start with Why – Clarify the Purpose of Change
📍 Have you created a clear and concise change narrative?
Why is change necessary? What is the cost of immutability – and what does the change enable (vision)?
How can people relate to the change and find their own place in it?
Communication around change often emphasizes the inspiring vision – what the change enables and where we’re heading. That’s important, but even more important is communicating why the change is necessary.
What is the cost of not changing? What happens to us if we don’t evolve?
Change requires energy.
People are wise – they don’t spend energy on things they don’t believe in. If the reason for change remains unclear, motivation will not emerge. That’s why explaining the cost of immutability is a critical part of the change narrative. It must be articulated clearly and convincingly – ideally supported by benchmarks or data. A clear “why” and a compelling story help people understand why now is the time to move forward.
2️⃣ Create Shared Understanding and Show the Direction
📍 If you asked your leadership team and your employees to describe the direction of change, would you get consistent answers?
📍 Do people know what is expected from them on this change journey?
Shared understanding is often a myth in change. Rarely does everyone see the direction the same way – each person interprets change through their own role, experiences, and context. That’s why you need time for dialogue, collective sensemaking, and psychological safety to ask even the toughest questions.
A simple communication framework helps:
What is the cost of immutability
What is our inspiring vision
What are our next steps
3️⃣ Build Continuous Dialogue and Commitment
📍 Do you have regular forums to discuss progress and learnings related to the change?
📍 How do you ensure that people feel a sense of belonging in the midst of change?
💡 The most fundamental human need is Sense of Belonging, to be seen and heard – and this often wavers during change. It’s crucial to create opportunities for influence and for people to be heard, even when not every opinion can be implemented.
A sense of belonging and appreciation is the fuel for commitment.
4️⃣ Ensure Capabilities and Resources
📍 Do you have the right capabilities to lead and deliver the change?
📍 If resources cannot be increased, what will you deprioritize?
The importance of project and change management capabilities is often underestimated. It’s a common misconception that anyone who excels in their day-to-day role can also lead a change initiative. This is not the case.
Change and project leadership are specialized skills that require experience, structure, and discipline – investments that pay off many times over.
Many transformations also fail or stall due to lack of resources. Change cannot be executed as an add-on to regular duties. If additional resources are not possible, priorities must be made – and those decisions must come from leadership.
A professional identity is often deeply tied to one’s core work. Experts will continue doing their primary tasks to the highest standard – even when overwhelmed by change-related demands. That’s why it’s the leadership’s responsibility to clarify what will be paused or stopped, so people can succeed in the change without burning out.
Employee wellbeing is a critical change metric: when it starts to decline, the transformation is in trouble.
5️⃣ Track Progress and Celebrate Wins
📍 The feeling of progress fuels motivation. Track and communicate it clearly and specifically.
📍 Be open to feedback – continuous learning requires courage to share observations and receive criticism.
📍 And remember: time is a critical factor. If possible, make the change a managed journey rather than a never-ending marathon.
The sense of progress is one of the strongest motivators. When people see that things are moving forward, they start to believe in success.The bigger the change, the more it should be broken down into smaller steps and tracked regularly – even weekly. Small, visible wins keep energy high and make change feel achievable and human.
One often-overlooked aspect of planning is understanding interdependencies. Many of the same people are involved in several initiatives simultaneously. Without awareness of these overlaps, the workload can become unsustainable. Recognizing these interconnections helps plan the change so that people have a realistic workload and the conditions to succeed.
📊 According to McKinsey (2021):The biggest difference between successful and unsuccessful transformations wasn’t what specific actions organizations took – but how many actions they implemented consistently across the entire change journey.
We believe this finding directly relates to how well people stay engaged throughout the transformation — understanding the shared direction and feeling a sense of belonging.
💬 What do you think – what makes change truly succeed?
