Why do change Fails?

Over 70% of organizational change initiatives fail, but change itself isn’t the stumbling block. Change is
common and natural, even inevitable. Seasons change, people change, mountain ranges change — yet
successful change management remains a lofty, even insurmountable challenge for many organizations.

Organizational change happens every day as a matter of course. The challenge lies in instituting and
managing manufactured change in a deliberate and focused direction, and within a specified timeframe.

Strategic Shortcomings

Successful change management starts with a sound strategy. It’s crucial to know why you want a change
to take place, what the expected outcome will be, whom it will impact, and how you plan to get there.
Many change management processes fail because simple logistical or tactical details were overlooked,
or the team wasn’t properly equipped.

Underestimating Scale and Scope

As with most significant undertakings, there are often a greater amount of resources and time necessary
to achieve success than initially expected. Many process change initiatives failed because of an
underestimated scope, a lack of resources, or the clock running out.

Neglected Stakeholders

It might seem obvious who most of your main stakeholders will be in the change management process,
but it’s easy to forget others who will be impacted by the changes you’re working to implement. They
have an equally substantial stake in the outcome.

Poor Communication

A Willis Towers Watson study found that “only two-thirds (68%) of senior managers say they are getting
the message about the reasons behind major organizational decisions. Below the senior management
level, the message dwindles further. Only half (53%) of middle managers and 40% of first-line
supervisors say their management does a good job of explaining the reasons behind major decisions.”

Lack of Buy-in

Once you’ve identified who your stakeholders are, you’ll need to earn their buy-in.

A successful change initiative requires buy-in from every level of the organization, which means earning
buy-in from entry-level employees to senior leadership and everyone in between
Lack of Vision

If you want to create a successful change management process, it’s crucial to develop a clear vision of
the post-change state to share.

Active Resistance

Unfortunately, many change management programs fall victim to active resistance. This mode of failure
is often a result of missing some of the key elements mentioned above, but it can also be the result of a
deeper cultural issue.

Lack of Endurance

While a well-developed and supported change management program may be able to achieve a
significant transformation in a small amount of time, it’s rarely (if ever) going to happen overnight.
As Brent Gleeson explains in his article for Inc., even change management experts and consultants find
their one-year change management plans taking two or more years.