Why Change Fails: The Hidden Games Your Organisation Is Playing
Organisational change programs continue to flop, with Kearney reporting an 83% failure rate and Deloitte finding only 27% of firms feel they manage change well. The article argues that most initiatives focus on surface‑level content while ignoring the hidden "games"—the unconscious rules, rewards, and anxieties that drive behavior. By mapping these games to eight archetypal modes, it shows how scarcity or abundance shapes an organization’s immune response to change. For HR leaders, especially CHROs, the path to success lies in diagnosing the underlying game before redesigning any intervention.
The Framework Graveyard: What the Consulting Industry Did to Good Research
Anthropologist Corina Enache traced popular management frameworks back to their academic origins, revealing that most have been heavily simplified or misrepresented by the consulting industry. She shows that Maslow’s fluid needs, Kübler‑Ross’s grief stages, Lewin’s field theory, and the MBTI...
Change Is Not Persuasion: These 3 Key Elements Are What Every Transformation Strategy Needs
Most change initiatives stumble because they rely on passion alone, assuming righteousness will carry them through. Effective transformation demands a clear grievance, a compelling vision, and a focused "Schwerpunkt"—concentrated effort on a decisive point. The approach must stay dynamic, continuously...
Small Steps, Leading with Heart: How Transformation Sustains with Richard Koch
In a recent conversation, Richard Koch stresses that sustainable transformation hinges on nurturing the inner system—mindset, relationships, and human connection—rather than solely driving outer processes and metrics. He warns that improvement teams often over‑step, taking ownership of work and limiting...
The Writing On The Wall Episode #235: Just Say No
In episode 235 of the business‑focused podcast “The Writing On The Wall,” host Alan Weiss, PhD, explores the strategic power of saying “no.” The conversation delves into why leaders often overcommit, the hidden costs of unchecked agreement, and practical frameworks for setting...
Strategic Stuckness
Strategic stuckness occurs when firms recognize poor results but fail to change course, often because they view their organization as a complex adaptive system (CAS) with unpredictable cause‑and‑effect loops. Managers trained as technocrats seek certainty, yet the CAS environment rarely...
How Agentforce Is Disrupting Salesforce Professional Services Firms
Traditional Salesforce consulting firms rely on a one‑person‑one‑role model, but margins are slipping. A 2025 SPI survey of 403 firms shows EBITDA at 9.8% and billable utilization down to 68.9%, signaling strain. Agentforce introduces AI agents as assignable resources within...
AI Doesn’t Drive Savings, Innovation, or Performance. Sourcing Excellence Does.
Procurement leaders are confronting a hype‑driven belief that AI, dashboards, or better data will automatically cut costs and boost performance. Paul Martyn, a veteran sourcing strategist, argues that only structured, model‑based decision making—what he calls Sourcing Excellence—delivers real savings. This...
Consulting vs Advisory
The article draws a clear line between consulting, which delivers finite, project‑based solutions to known problems, and advisory, which offers ongoing strategic guidance for ambiguous, evolving challenges. It introduces the concept of the “Locus of Certainty” to explain why one...
Sourcing Excellence IS Optimization!
The article argues that true sourcing excellence hinges on rigorous optimization rather than emerging AI tools. It highlights a dwindling pool of seasoned professionals capable of delivering such optimization, naming Paul Martyn as one of the few remaining masters with...
How Successful Leaders Guide Change without Overwhelm or Burnout
Episode 350 of The Change Signal podcast tackles why most change programs now fail, citing an 85‑95% failure rate as organizations wrestle with relentless disruption. Host David and author Michael Bungay Stanier argue that traditional top‑down mandates are outdated and that leaders must...
New Book Announcement: Psychological Safety for Lean Leaders — Vote on the Title
A new practical guide for Lean leaders, titled *Psychological Safety for Lean Leaders*, is being written to address why problem‑solving initiatives often stall. The author argues that silence, not methodology, is the primary barrier and that specific leadership behaviors can...
DeepJudge + Epiq Advisory Partner For KM Implementation
DeepJudge, an AI‑driven knowledge‑management startup, has teamed up with Epiq Advisory, the consulting arm of legal‑tech conglomerate Epiq, to deliver structured AI implementation and governed workflow adoption for law firms. The partnership promises to translate DeepJudge’s enterprise search and AI...
When Personal Tools Become Enterprise Systems
The article explains how low‑code, SaaS, and AI tools enable individuals to create solutions that quickly address unmet needs, turning personal productivity hacks into de‑facto enterprise systems. As these shadow‑IT solutions scale, they begin to store shared data, support recurring...
Capability / Function / Department
Executive leaders often redesign org charts before understanding the firm’s true mechanics, confusing capabilities, functions and departments. The article argues that a capability—an integrated mix of people, processes, technology and data—should be the DNA of any organization, while functions act...
Warner Bros. Discovery and Irenic’s Plan for SNAP With Dr. Paul Nary – Special Situations Report Podcast Episode 63
Episode 63 of the Special Situations Report Podcast features Wharton professor Paul Nary discussing four high‑profile corporate actions. The conversation covers Warner Bros. Discovery’s widening bid spread, Irenic Capital’s activist campaign targeting Snap, Bill Ackman’s intricate proposal for Universal Music...
Digital vs IT vs Business Strategy
Mithun A. Sridharan warns that conflating Business, IT and Digital strategies creates misaligned investments and stalls growth. Business strategy defines the firm’s destination and competitive edge, while IT strategy secures the technical backbone, and Digital strategy reshapes value creation through...
Directions North America 2026 Preview: Challenges on the Journey to BC Migration Success
At Directions North America 2026, a new session titled “15 Real‑Life Questions to Ask Before Your Migration to Business Central” will spotlight the strategic pitfalls that derail ERP migrations. The presenter argues that many organizations treat migration as a simple...
Associate Partner vs Director
The article clarifies the distinct functions of Directors and Associate Partners in professional‑service firms. Directors are technical leaders who ensure delivery quality, manage internal systems, and mentor talent. Associate Partners transition toward ownership, focusing on business development, client relationships, and...
Consultant vs Coach
The article draws a clear line between consultants and coaches, emphasizing that consultants own the answer and deliver tangible solutions, while coaches help leaders uncover answers within themselves. It explains how technical challenges demand consulting expertise, whereas adaptive, people‑centric issues...
A Minute With Alan® — The Low Bar
Alan Weiss, PhD, published a new entry in his "A Minute With Alan" series titled "The Low Bar" on April 17, 2026. The micro‑format delivers a concise business insight in under a minute, continuing the brand’s habit of quick, actionable...
Consultant vs Interim Manager
Corporate leaders must decide between hiring a consultant, who provides strategic diagnosis and an external perspective, or an interim manager, who steps into the organization with legal authority to execute decisions. The article highlights that consultants excel at identifying knowledge...
The 8 Wastes of Lean: A Practical Guide (With Healthcare Examples)
The article revisits Toyota’s eight‑waste framework, emphasizing that Lean is a tool for improving value—not a scavenger hunt for flaws. It illustrates each waste type with healthcare examples, from costly medication defects to unnecessary patient transport, and highlights the critical...
Alan at 80™ — Episode #23
Alan at 80™ released its 23rd episode on April 15, 2026, featuring veteran business strategist Alan Weiss, PhD. The installment is part of a continuing series that delivers executive‑level insights on strategy, leadership, and growth. While the post provides only...
LogiPharma 2026: Seamus Keane on Building Smarter Supply Networks
Seamus Keane, VP of Pharma and Healthcare for Europe at Kuehne+Nagel, will lead a LogiPharma Europe 2026 panel on building intelligent, resilient supply networks. He argues that resilience must be embedded in network architecture through data, scenario modeling, and end‑to‑end visibility rather...
What Can a CI Director Do When Executives Undermine Psychological Safety?
Continuous improvement (CI) directors often confront senior leaders whose blame‑oriented habits erode psychological safety. The article explains why coaching resistant executives is difficult—habitual power dynamics, lack of self‑awareness, and systemic incentives reinforce toxic behavior. It offers pragmatic tactics such as...
Why Eliminating Waste Alone Doesn’t Work: Understanding Muda, Muri, and Mura
Lean initiatives often zero in on Muda—the visible waste—only to see the same inefficiencies resurface. The article argues that without first tackling Muri (overburden) and Mura (unevenness), waste elimination is merely a temporary fix. Toyota’s proven sequence—address Muri, then Mura,...
A Minute With Alan® — Losing Perspective
Alan Weiss, PhD, uses his "A Minute With Alan" column to warn that professionals often lose perspective amid data overload and day‑to‑day pressures. He argues that an unchecked focus on granular metrics can blind leaders to broader strategic trends. Weiss...
Why You Need to to Rewild Your Organisation
The article contends that the Taylorist, machine‑mindset still governing most organizations is obsolete, contributing to dismal employee engagement—23% globally in Gallup’s 2024 report and a further drop to 21% in 2025. It introduces a “rewilding” lens drawn from ecology, urging...
What a Construction Technology Team’s Hackathon Reveals About the Organizational Transformation Problem in AEC
Zero's construction technology team halted regular work for a full‑day hackathon, bringing together over twenty engineers, operators, and business leads across multiple locations. The event yielded three AI‑driven tools—a business‑development intelligence system, a project‑signal monitoring platform, and a documentation workflow...
Energy Consultancy of the Year Sets New Standard for Hotel Cost Reduction
Advantage Utilities was named TELCA Consultancy of the Year for Large Customers after demonstrating measurable energy‑cost reductions for UK hotels. Its consultancy‑led model spans procurement, bill validation, analytics and sustainability, delivering contracts that match seasonal hotel demand and exposing hidden...
Procurement Under Pressure: Disruption, AI, and the New Operating Model
Procurement leaders are confronting relentless disruption that now includes supply shortages, tariffs, cyber risk and operational failures, while business expectations have expanded beyond cost control to growth and risk mitigation. A recent Art of Procurement podcast, featuring AlixPartners’ Jon Jensen...
Next Practices of Organizational Transformation
The article outlines a next‑practice framework for organizational transformation, emphasizing workforce augmentation across three cognitive layers—Operational (speed), Analytical (insight) and Strategic (wisdom). It argues that AI should handle repetitive tasks while humans focus on ethical decision‑making and strategic intent. Successful...
I Love Being a fCRO Even More Now
Neil Weitzman, a seasoned CRO turned fractional operator, explains why seasoned revenue leaders are swapping full‑time seats for part‑time, in‑seat roles. He argues that a fractional CRO provides the same hands‑on GTM execution—pipeline design, hiring, compensation, and playbooks—at a cost...
Building Knowledge Graphs As An Agentic Operating System
The post argues that knowledge graphs should serve as an operating system that aligns AI agents with a company’s strategy, turning technology into a reliable partner rather than a disruptive force. It stresses that AI models alone are too inconsistent...
Lost a Consulting Opportunity? What Really Went Wrong
The article offers a practical framework for consulting firms to diagnose why a proposal was lost. It presents two sets of post‑loss questions—one to evaluate the firm’s business‑development process and another to assess prospect‑related factors. By answering these questions, firms...
Gain an Edge with Aviation Consultants
Aviation’s regulatory rigor, capital intensity and volatile demand create an environment where marginal inefficiencies quickly erode profit. To navigate this landscape, many carriers are turning to specialist consulting firms that combine strategic planning with execution capabilities. These advisors offer privileged...
New Book: “Psychological Safety for Lean Leaders” — Now Available (In Progress) on Leanpub
Mark Graban announced the first three chapters of his new book, "Psychological Safety for Lean Leaders," are now available on Leanpub. The guide targets Lean practitioners, offering prescriptive actions—Model It, Encourage It, Reward It—to embed psychological safety into daily improvement...
The Unstoppable Business Formula
The McKinsey 7S model provides a structured framework for diagnosing and improving organizational performance by examining seven interdependent elements—Strategy, Structure, Systems, Shared Values, Style, Staff, and Skills. When these elements are aligned, companies achieve clarity, speed, and competitive advantage; misalignment...
Grace Bourke, Consulting Director, Baker Tilly: The Problem Isn’t the Technology
Grace Bourke, Consulting Director at Baker Tilly, explains why healthcare technology projects often flop: organizations deploy solutions without first clarifying the underlying problem. She cites Sutter Health’s EHR rollout, where communication gaps—not software—were the true issue, and a Pacific Northwest...
Monetizing Thought Leadership
Alan Weiss’s "Monetizing Thought Leadership" program targets seasoned consultants, speakers, and coaches who want to replace tactical advice with an identity shift that commands six‑ and seven‑figure fees. The curriculum covers economics of expertise, positioning as an indispensable authority, and...
The New Organizational Architecture
The post outlines a new organizational architecture that emerges after six AI‑driven transformation forces have run their course. It argues that architecture decisions compound, creating structural debt if mis‑aligned. Companies that establish the right architecture early can lock in structural...
WTW Splits EMEA Consulting and Tech Business to Boost AI Strategy
WTW reorganized its EMEA insurance consulting and technology business into two dedicated units—EMEA Property & Casualty (P&C) and EMEA Life—to meet rising client demand and the accelerating adoption of artificial intelligence. Tim Rourke, with eight years at the firm, will...
Bridging Strategy and Execution: How Daily Management and Hoshin Kanri Work Together
The article explains how daily management and Hoshin Kanri, two core lean practices, complement each other to turn strategy into operational results. Daily management provides stability, real‑time metrics, and rapid problem‑solving, while Hoshin Kanri focuses on a few breakthrough objectives that shape...
FranklinCovey Provides Customized Solutions for Healthcare Organizations to Solve Key Issues: Nurse Retention and Patient Satisfaction
FranklinCovey is teaming with hospital leaders to boost nurse retention and patient satisfaction through customized leadership and trust programs. Documented results include moving patient‑satisfaction percentiles from the 26th to the 76th in four months and cutting leadership turnover by half...
Alan at 80 — Episode #10
Alan Weiss, PhD, released Episode #10 of his "Alan at 80" series on March 27, 2026. The post marks the tenth consecutive daily installment in a rapid‑release podcast that began a week earlier. Each episode features Weiss’s commentary on consulting,...
You Fell for the Nonsense Change Management Models and Now Your Projects Are Failing
The article debunks the widely repeated claim that 70% of change initiatives fail, tracing it to a misquoted 1993 study. It criticizes popular change‑management frameworks—Kotter, ADKAR, Lewin, McKinsey’s Influence Model, BCG’s Change Delta, and even Nudge Theory—for lacking peer‑reviewed evidence...
The AI-Based Transformation of PricewaterhouseCoopers to PwC One
PwC has launched PwC One, an AI‑driven platform that unifies its audit, tax and consulting capabilities with advanced automation. The system promises faster insight generation, streamlined processes and a human‑centric client experience. PwC credited the platform with a 3.7% rise...
Strategy Deployment: Are You Playing Catch Ball or Chucking Rocks?
The article contrasts two approaches to strategy deployment: the collaborative "catch ball" method, where goals flow down and feedback flows up, versus the authoritarian "chuck rock" style that pushes top‑down targets without input. It illustrates how catch ball refines metrics—like...
Wait, That’s My Job | How AI Exposed the Organizational Immune System Nobody Wanted to Talk About
The article argues that generative AI is reshaping organizational dynamics by enabling a single employee to complete work that once required multi‑person committees, triggering a new "That's my job" resistance. It identifies five archetypal personas—Kingdom Keeper, Deep Expert, AI Evangelist...