Beyond Surviving Change: How To Transform It Into A Core Strength

Are you truly ready for change? This question sits at the heart of organizational success. Change readiness separates thriving companies from those merely struggling to keep up.

The statistics tell a compelling story: 73% of organizations anticipate more change initiatives in the coming years, yet an alarming number will fail. Why? Because they're approaching change all wrong. Organizations with change readiness embedded in their culture are 3.5% more likely to outperform competitors, but most companies never properly assess their change capabilities beyond checking boxes. The secret isn't in the change itself—it's in the preparation.

When leaders engage employees early and foster psychological safety, adoption rates soar. Yet only 40% of organizations actively involve their people in transformation efforts. As the Shingo model teaches, respecting every individual means building change with people, not imposing it upon them. Additionally, ACMP research shows that 80% of change projects focus on isolated functions, creating disconnected implementation efforts that ultimately fail. Successful change isn't about flipping one switch—it's understanding how every part of your organization connects.

To make change stick, start with conversations instead of announcements. Involve teams early by asking for input and listening to concerns. Connect changes to personal purpose by helping each team member see what's in it for them. Finally, celebrate progress along the way—not just at the finish line. Progress celebrated becomes progress repeated. Remember that change isn't an event but a cultural mindset. Your people aren't obstacles; they're your greatest enablers. Ready to transform how your organization approaches change? Let's continue the discussion, and share this episode with fellow leaders who need this message.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to Excellence Foresight
• 1:05 Reality Check: Change Acceleration
• 1:29 The Human Factor in Change
• 3:41 System-Wide Perspective on Change
• 6:34 Three Ways to Make Change Stick
• 7:53 Final Takeaways and Call to Action

Transcript

Nancy Nouaimeh: 0:13

Hello and welcome to the Excellence Foresight, the podcast where we explore the mindset, models and strategies that fuel sustainable excellence. I'm Nancy Nouaimeh, your host, and today we're diving into something that every leader, team and organization should be asking Are we truly ready for change? So welcome to this episode on change readiness. We all know change is inevitable, but readiness, that's definitely a choice, and let me tell you, 2025 is shaping up to a year where change readiness isn't just a nice to have anymore, it's a survival skill. So let's unpack why together. I'm going to take you through the three different items today, starting with the reality check. Change is only accelerating. 73% of organizations expect an increase in change initiatives over the next few years. But change fatigue is real and from my experience, I really can confirm that. A few years ago, I started hearing the word change fatigue and I've experienced it since then, working with organizations in different sectors. Many of their employees feel overwhelmed, disengaged or resistant when bombarded with transformation efforts. But here's the kicker Organizations that build change readiness into their DNA are known to have 3.5% more likely to outperform competitors. So what does that tell us? It's not change itself. That the challenge or the problem. It's how we prepare for it. Now let's think about it. When was the last time your organization assessed its readiness for change Not just the big, flashy initiatives, but the everyday adaptability that determines long-term success of your organization? You might answer never.

Nancy Nouaimeh: 1:56

The second point I want you to think about the human factor. Now let's talk about that element in the room. Why do so many change efforts fail? Because they focus on systems, not people. If you want change to stick, it has to start with people feeling respected, heard and valued. Now, research from ACMP, the Association of Change Management Practitioners, shows that leaders who engage employees early and foster psychological safety see adoption rates soar, yet only 40% when they provide their input into the transformation. It's hard for them to connect to it and it's hard for them to do the right thing. So how do we fix that?

Nancy Nouaimeh: 2:46

The principle respect every individual, which is one of the fundamental principles in the Shingo model, tells us that change isn't something you do to people. It's something you build with them. You need to create a change with people, and I think Peter Drucker said it too. So here's a question for you today when was the last time your team had an open conversation about a change initiative? You might think maybe not that long time back, but add to it that conversation happened before the initiative was rolled out. Your answer could be never or rarely, and it's time to rethink how change is introduced in this case. A lot of times we see senior management senior leadership bringing new initiatives and just telling people that it has to happen. That's not necessarily the right thing to do.

Nancy Nouaimeh: 3:33

I'm going to give you three tips at the end of today's episode that helps you understand how to do things right, but before that I would like to jump to the third topic, or third element of this discussion the system-wide perspective. Think systematically. Another major reason why change efforts fail is they are tackled in silos, and I'm sure all of us have a lot of examples to share. One research of ACMP found that 80% of change projects focus on isolated functions, leading to disjointed execution and resistance. Change isn't just a project. It's a shift in how the entire system operates. Sometimes and it should be treated as such we see now more and more change management integrated in other functions in the organization. I was teaching operational excellence. Part of it was change management. We work in project management. We see more and more integration with change management, and the ACMP standard speaks to that. So it's very important to consider change to what it is, and that's where S where sync systemically another core Shingo principle comes in.

Nancy Nouaimeh: 4:42

Successful change isn't just about flipping one switch. It's about understanding how every moving part in your organization connects. And let me give you this example. If a company is rolling out a new digital tool, the IT department might focus on technical implementation, while HR focus on training, leadership focus on the return on investment. But what if no one is thinking about how the customer experience will be impacted or how frontline employees will actually integrate it into their daily work? Will that be a success? Change readiness isn't about checking or ticking a box. It's about zooming out, seeing the full picture and making sure every stakeholder is aligned.

Nancy Nouaimeh: 5:22

And one time I was talking to one of my clients and we were discussing about his new initiative about introducing an ERP system digitalize things, processes and he shared with me a story about their sales team and how they struggled initially and they were not coping with the system. They were not adopting the system. It's only when they asked them why they understood that the system was made for people behind their desks in front of their computers, while the sales team was always on the road. They just provided them iPads so they can enter their transactions in the system. And it goes back to really talking to people, involving them in the change. And we talk about change.

Nancy Nouaimeh: 6:00

It's very important for people to understand why it's important to change and why it's important because what's the consequences of not changing? So you need to tell them why they need to change and what happens if the organization and if they don't change. Change doesn't have to hurt. It hurts sometimes we do believe that, but it doesn't have to. So let me give you the three ways to make it stick in your organization.

Nancy Nouaimeh: 6:26

First, start with conversations, not announcements. Change fails when people feel blindsided. So, instead of delivering decisions from top down, involve teams early. Here are the three things you could do Ask for input, listen to concerns and build trust before building new structures. If people help design the change they want resisted, they will definitely own it.

Nancy Nouaimeh: 6:48

Second tip connect the change to personal purpose, if you can. People don't resist change. They resist loss of meaning. Help each person see what's in it. For me, link the change to individual goals, values and growth opportunities, and share stories, not just strategies. Share what's happening and let everyone connect to it when the change feels personal, it feels worthwhile. And the third tip celebrate progress, not just big wins. Waiting until the final goal is reached kills momentum. Celebrate small milestones. Highlight team contributions. Often Let them feel proud about it. Create rituals that reinforce the new behaviors. Progress celebrated becomes progress repeated. Change sticks when it feels human, hopeful and happening with people, not to them.

Nancy Nouaimeh: 7:36

So let me now end up my podcast today with this message. So, as you get up for the rest of the year, here's what I want you to take away Stop treating change as an event. It's not just an event. Start embedding readiness into your culture, into the way projects are happening in your organization, improvements are happening in your organization and new initiatives are adopted in your organization. Respect every individual. Your people aren't the obstacle, they are the enablers. Bring them early on in your process. Think systemically.

Nancy Nouaimeh: 8:09

Change doesn't happen in a vacuum and don't approach it like it does. Make sure that every part of your organization, every component, every department understand what the change is and how that change is going to impact others. Remove silos by creating cross-functional teams, by creating alignment around that change that you're bringing in your organization. If you want to explore this further, book a call. I'm happy to continue the discussion and if you found this episode valuable, share it with a leader who needs to hear it. Until next time, stay curious, adaptable and always in pursuit of excellence. This was the Excellence Foresight Podcast on Change Readiness. Thank you for tuning in.