The Breaking Point

Let's not dwell on the abysmal failure rates for business transformation.

Instead, let's dwell on what is being asked, and who's doing the asking.

We know from research that persuasion is not a viable avenue to create transformational change. We know from research and experience that top-down change doesn't work very well.

We also know that thinking, feeling, flesh and blood human beings do not thrive in a world where they have no anchors, nothing to believe in, and a lack of identity.

So what do we do in a world where the experts are telling us that we not only have to accept change, but we have to accept that change will happen in real time, all the time, and relentlessly.

Are they right?

Well, at some point the fire alarms conflict with the reality of what human beings can actually tolerate.

At that point the system breaks and we see these abysmal failure rates.

How does it manifest?

We see it on a micro level in transformational deal work in the form of deal fatigue. We see it on a macro level with attrition rates, plummeting job satisfaction rates, and cultures where employees are routinely giving their employers the proverbial finger.

We've purposely called what we do Transformation Enablement because meaningful transformation has to be enabled, not coerced.

It's cruel and counterproductive to force people to constantly drink from a fire hose.

Even in the short term it can be dangerous, but as a way of life, the people will either drown or go away.