Why Change Fails: Insights from New Studies
- Karen Ladany
- Jul 9
- 2 min read
A QUICK NOTE:
Thanks for subscribing to our new series, Well•Read. Each week, we'll highlight some interesting articles we are reading and add practical ways to apply it to your work. We hope you find it helpful!
THIS WEEK'S READS
1. The False Alignment Trap — Harvard Business Review
Most change fails at the moment everyone only thinks they agree
This happens 50–70% of the time making it's the norm, not the exception
Why? Vague words, unspoken disagreements, moving too fast
Our Take:
The fix is NOT more alignment meetings. This is a trust issue, and you need to get to the bottom of it.
Is every individual approaching this from an organizational perspective (what's best for the group), or an egotistical perspective (what's best for themselves)?
Do people feel safe to disagree productively?
2. When Employees Are Drowning in Change — MIT Sloan Management Review
Psychologically, people can absorb 1–2 big changes a year
By 2027, executives are anticipating 3–4 major changes a year
The problem is not ambition, it's math
Our Take:
Readiness is a capacity, not a mood. Before you launch the next initiative, the honest question is what it's competing with for the same limited attention, and what you're willing to pause so the thing you care about actually lands.
BRINGING IT TOGETHER
Put these side by side and the same lesson shows up twice: what looks like a productivity problem almost never is. One study says you never truly agreed. The other says you never had the capacity.
Both are invisible on the plan and obvious in the system — which is the whole point. A stalled rollout is telling you where the alignment was fake, or the capacity is not available. So save yourself the time in the long run and take the time to figure out what is really going on.
YOUR NEXT MOVE
If you find yourself facing any of these issues, here's what we suggest you do next.
Pick one initiative that's moving slower than it should to focus on. Ask your team two questions, out loud:
Where do we actually not agree yet?
What is this competing with for people's attention?
The answers are usually sitting right there in front of you. You just have to create a safe environment to say it out loud.
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