Change efforts fail more often than they succeed. Not occasionally. Not under extreme conditions. Not without warning or explanation. They fail routinely and often. Companies continue investing trillions in change initiatives, yet outcomes largely remain unchanged. Unsuccessful change efforts aren’t just inefficient; they’re a waste of human potential, leaving organizational scar tissue that diminishes both appetite and capacity for future adaptation.
However, transformation doesn’t have to be a gamble. In How Change Really Works (Harvard Business Review Press), authors Julia Dhar, Kristy R. Ellmer and Philip Jameson reveal how mastering the five phases of transformation empower leaders to significantly boost the odds of sustainable success.
Successful change demands proactive oversight from boards on behalf of shareholders. Directors must pressure-test the strategic ambition of the transformations, ensure capital allocations align with investor expectations, ensure the right management team is in place with aligned incentives, test the program for best practices and ensure equal focus on shifting the culture to enable outcomes.
How to Start, How Boards Can Help
The transformation journey begins when the executive team decides change is needed. Leaders debate why a change is required, what needs to change and how it could occur. Boards play a critical role ensuring the management team comes to true agreement on “the Why, the What and the How” of the program. This phase can take between one and six months, representing 20-30 percent of executives’ time.
Once agreed, executives enter the planning for change phase. Here, they establish a Transformation Office, define the approach and appoint leaders. Essential preparations, including events, training and rituals, are planned. By the end of this phase, executives have a detailed plan for launch and execution. This phase will last one to two months and consume 20-50 percent of executives’ time. The role of the board should test that best practices have been incorporated.
The starting change phase launches the transformation broadly, and senior leaders lead teams to prepare bottom-up plans. This is a time to prioritize and finalize the full transformation plan. As execution of the transformation plan begins, some teams deliver early wins to build momentum. The starting change phase can take between four and six months, requiring 50-70 percent of executives’ time. The Board should review this detailed plan to ensure alignment with transformation goals, risks and any new investments required.
Maintaining Momentum
Next, teams enter the persisting with change phase. During this period, management, with board support, must proactively measure and respond to employee sentiment, sustain established rituals and maintain focus amidst pressures. Leaders of change address these contextual challenges through existing transformation processes. Lastly, leaders should refresh the pipeline of initiatives and projects. This phase can last between six months and two years and represents 30-40 percent of executives’ time.
Finally, the executives and board agree to conclude the program, signaling the ending change phase. Here, executives must determine the nature of future change and decide how to formally end the transformation. A celebration to honor and thank employees is a critical bookend. This is also a period to consolidate institutional knowledge and allow time to conduct organizational and personal reflection. Ending change typically takes one to two months and 20-30 percent of executives’ time. The Board should ensure that the executives conduct closing activities.
Successful transformation isn’t about enforcing change from above. Instead, it’s about shaping environments where design, incentives and thoughtful nudges naturally encourage desired behaviors. By embracing the structured, human-centered approach of How Change Really Works, leaders can guide organizations to lasting impact. With deeply engaged boards who guide the management team with best practices throughout the journey, transformations can be exceptionally successful.
