Change Management And Innovation

70% of change initiatives fail. (And it's rarely because the idea was bad.) Here's what actually kills transformation: You picked the wrong change model for the job. It's like performing surgery with a hammer. Sure, you're using a tool. But it's the wrong one. I've watched brilliant CEOs tank their companies this way: Using individual coaching (ADKAR) for company-wide transformation. Result: 200 people change. 2,000 don't. Running a massive 8-step program for a simple process fix. Result: 6 months wasted. Team exhausted. Nothing changes. Forcing top-down mandates when they needed subtle nudges. Result: Rebellion. Resentment. Resignation letters. Here's what nobody tells you about change: The size of your change determines your approach. Real examples from the field: 💡 Startup pivoting product: → Used Lewin's 3-stage (unfreeze old way, change, refreeze) → 3 months. Clean transition. Team aligned. 💡 Enterprise going digital: → Used Kotter's 8-step process → Created urgency first. Built coalition. Enabled action. → 18 months later: $50M in new revenue. 💡 Sales team adopting new CRM: → Used Nudge Theory → Made old system harder to access → Put new system as browser homepage → 95% adoption in 2 weeks. Zero complaints. The expensive truth: Wrong model = wasted months + burned budgets + broken trust Right model = faster adoption + sustained results + energized teams Warning signs you're using the wrong model: • High activity, low progress • People comply but don't commit • Changes revert within weeks • Energy drops as you push harder • "This too shall pass" becomes the motto Match your medicine to your ailment: Small behavior change? Nudge it. Individual performance? ADKAR it. Cultural shift? Influence it. Full transformation? Kotter it. Enterprise overhaul? BCG it. Stop treating every change like a nail. Start choosing the right tool for the job. Your next change initiative depends on it. Your team's trust demands it. Your company's future requires it. Save this. Share it with your leadership team. Because the next time someone says "people resist change," you'll know the truth: People don't resist change. They resist the wrong approach to change. P.S. Want a PDF of my Change Management cheat sheet? Get it free: https://lnkd.in/dv7biXUs ♻️ Repost to help a leader in your network. Follow Eric Partaker for more operational insights. — 📢 Want to lead like a world-class CEO? Join my FREE TRAINING: "The 8 Qualities That Separate World-Class CEOs From Everyone Else" Thu Jul 3rd, 12 noon Eastern / 5pm UK time https://lnkd.in/dy-6w_rx 📌 The CEO Accelerator starts July 23rd. 20+ Founders & CEOs have already enrolled. Learn more and apply: https://lnkd.in/dwndXMAk

In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, leadership development can't afford to stand still. Just as we regularly upgrade our technology, we must consistently upgrade our leadership capabilities - but unlike a software update, leadership skills can't be installed overnight. Along with my colleagues Leslie Kawai and Erin Wilson Burns from The RBL Group, we've identified five essential strategies that are reshaping how organizations develop their leaders. Drawing from our Leadership Code Research Initiative findings, we explore evidence-based methods, expanded coaching access, personalized development approaches, stakeholder-focused assessments, and the critical need for strategic reflection time. These aren't just theoretical concepts - we've included real-world examples of organizations successfully implementing these strategies to build stronger leadership pipelines and drive measurable business results. I invite you to read our full article and share your experiences: Which of these five strategies has had the most impact in your organization? What other leadership development approaches are you finding effective in today's business environment? Let's learn from each other as we work to build the next generation of leaders. #Leadership #LeadershipDevelopment #TalentDevelopment #HR #OrganizationalDevelopment

According to the 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐈𝐎 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐲 by Foundry, 𝟕𝟓% of CIOs find it challenging to strike the right balance between these two critical areas. This difficulty is notably higher in sectors such as education (𝟖𝟐%) and manufacturing (𝟕𝟖%), and less so in retail (𝟓𝟒%). (Source: https://lnkd.in/ebsed9i7) 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐄𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬: The increasing emphasis on digital transformation and artificial intelligence (AI) is driving the need for innovation. In 2024, 28% of CIOs reported that their primary CEO-driven objective was to lead digital business initiatives, a significant increase from the previous year. This push towards innovation often competes with the imperative to maintain operational excellence, including upgrading IT and data security and enhancing IT-business collaboration. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐎𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: The tension between innovation and operational excellence can lead to a misallocation of resources if not managed correctly. It can result in either stifling innovation due to overemphasis on day-to-day operations or risking operational integrity by over-prioritizing disruptive technological advancements. For instance, sectors with a high focus on operational challenges, such as education and healthcare, particularly emphasize IT security and business alignment over aggressive innovation. 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐈𝐎𝐬: • 𝐄𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚 𝐃𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚: Get used to it! CIOs should advocate for an IT strategy that equally prioritizes operational excellence and innovation. This involves not only leading digital transformation projects, but also ensuring that these innovations deliver tangible business outcomes without compromising the operational integrity of the organization. • 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈𝐓 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Strengthening the collaboration between IT and other business units remains a top priority. CIOs should work closely with business leaders to ensure that technological initiatives are well-aligned with business goals, thereby enhancing the overall strategic impact of IT. • 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩 𝐚 𝐅𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥: To manage the dynamic demands of both innovation and operational tasks effectively, CIOs should adopt a flexible resource allocation model. This model would allow the IT department to shift resources quickly between innovation-driven projects and core IT functions, depending on the business priorities at any given time. ******************************************* • Visit www.jeffwinterinsights.com for access to all my content and to stay current on Industry 4.0 and other cool tech trends • Ring the 🔔 for notifications!

Every organization needs to innovate. But what type of innovation to give priority to? This simple matrix with four types of innovation may help. Innovation basically means introducing something new (‘nova’). This “something new” can be anything and that’s where the problem starts. In two ways. - First, by an overemphasis on product (or service) innovation, thereby not giving enough attention to other types - Second, by getting overwhelmed by all the innovation opportunities that are out there. To solve both problems at the same time, it helps to gain some clarity on what types of innovation there are. To that end, I’ve created this simple 2x2 matrix containing what I think are the four most important types of innovation for every organization. Let me first explain the two axes. The first is the inward-outward axis. Outward-oriented innovations are those innovations that are mostly targeted at the market, at doing something new for customers. Inward-oriented innovations, on the other hand, are innovating the organization itself. On the second axis, Operational innovations are typically quite technical and tangible, and focused on the practical work and output. Strategic innovations, on the other hand, regard how the organization is functioning overall and how it creates value. This leads to the following four types of innovation: 1. Product Innovation. The most well-known type of innovation in which you change, improve or renew an organization’s products and/or services, or create new ones. 2. Process Innovation. Often efficiency and quality-driven to improve the way the organization works on a day-to-day basis. This can concern any type of process. 3. Business Model Innovation. A newer type, focused on changing how the organization creates and captures value. Often focused on developing new revenue models. 4. Management Innovation. Less commonly known but critical, this type concerns innovating how an organization is organized, managed, and led. Often implies decentralization. All four types are important and with this matrix you can start managing your innovation portfolio. Ask yourself questions like: Do I have sufficient initiatives in all quadrants? And, which type of innovation should get priority now? [Featured in The Strategic Leadership Playbook. Originally published in June, 2023] More of this? For 63 more tools like this, plus step-by-step instructions for using them, get The Strategic Leadership Playbook. See link in the comment below. #innovationmanagement #processimprovement #productdesign #businessmodel

From Chaos to Clarity: Why Agri-Trade Leaders Need HAIR Framework Now More Than Ever!! In the world of agriculture commodity trade today, volatility isn’t a risk—it’s the default setting. Geopolitical disruptions can reroute entire shipping lanes overnight. Climate anomalies shift harvest patterns, impacting availability, pricing, and quality. Meanwhile, global buyers are asking for more—traceability, sustainability, compliance—while farmers face ground-level uncertainties that often go unheard. Over the years, working with agri-exporters, policymakers, and innovators across 40 countries, I’ve seen how traditional decision-making frameworks in agriculture trading often fall short. They’re either too high-level to be practical or too transactional to be visionary. That’s what led me to develop the HAIR Leadership Framework—a philosophy for trade leaders navigating disruption with confidence, clarity, and purpose. In my newly released article, “HAIR Leadership Framework in Agriculture Commodity Trade – Navigating Volatility with Vision, Data, Imagination, and Execution,” I outline how this framework can empower agri-traders, exporters, processors, and policy leaders to think and act differently. 🔹 H – Helicopter: The ability to zoom out to view global patterns like weather forecasts or policy shifts in Brussels, and zoom in to act on ground realities—say, a supply chain glitch at Visakhapatnam Port. 🔹 A – Algorithm: Seeing agri-trade not as a chain but as a system. Use data to connect mandi prices with freight costs, harvest health with hedging, and build trade intelligence that works in real time. 🔹 I – Image: Envision new possibilities—a carbon-labeled turmeric brand from Erode, or a blockchain-based sesame traceability model for EU buyers. This is not just strategy. It’s imagination with discipline. 🔹 R – Rooted: All ideas must be tested on real ground. Pilots. Feedback loops. Region-specific adaptation. That’s how you build trust and ensure execution aligns with vision. The HAIR framework doesn’t just help you survive volatility—it helps you shape your own trade advantage. 👉 Check out the article and explore how HAIR can transform the way you lead in agri-commodity trade: Let’s shift from reactive trade practices to resilient leadership.

How can you grow innovation in an organisation that is tired and overloaded? No! Not by launching yet another innovation programme. Tired teams don’t need more. They need different. Here are 5 things to do: 1. Kill before you create You can’t grow innovation on top of a full plate. Make a stop list before a to-do list: which meetings, reports, projects and rituals will you end to free up energy for new ideas? 2. Protect small islands of focus time Innovation dies in back-to-back calendars. Block fixed “no meeting” slots or a monthly sprint where teams can work on one opportunity without interruptions. Guard this time like you guard client deadlines. 3. Shrink the ambition, speed up the learning Overloaded people fear “big transformation”. Instead, ask for tiny experiments: 1 idea, 1 customer segment, 1 simple test within 2–4 weeks. The goal is learning, not a perfect business case. 4. Change leadership behaviour, not posters Culture follows what leaders do on Monday morning. Leaders should ask: “What did we learn?” more often than “Did we hit the numbers?” and publicly reward smart experiments, even when they don’t “win”. 5. Make progress visible and human Tired organisations often are moving… they just can’t see it. Create a simple “innovation wall” (physical or digital) showing ideas, tests, and outcomes. Celebrate small wins with names and faces, not just dashboards. Innovation culture doesn’t start with energy. It starts with permission, space and small, real progress – especially when everyone is tired. #innovation #innovationculture #leadership #change #futureofwork #organisationaldevelopment

🤔 Weekend Reflections 👉 As we head into the #AIActionSummit, the idea of creating a CERN for AI—both in Europe and beyond—continues to gain momentum. This call has been further amplified by SoftBank's recent $500 billion investment announcement in the US and the release of Deepseek in China 🌍. 🤔 But is a centralized, CERN-style model the only way forward for sustained, responsible innovation in AI? 👉 In my piece for Frontiers Policy Labs, I proposed a different path: a polycentric, distributed approach to AI and science. This model addresses three key challenges in the current AI ecosystem: 1️⃣ Access to computational resources 💻 2️⃣ Access to high-quality data 📊 3️⃣ Access to purposeful AI modeling 🤖 🔗 Read my full article here: https://lnkd.in/ezXxaX_Z 👉 The same rationale can be applied to AI governance, much like the distributed internet governance model I proposed earlier. 🤔 Distributed governance offers a more resilient, flexible, and inclusive framework with several key advantages: ✅ Facilitates cooperation among existing and emerging actors without the need for new bureaucratic structures. It encourages decentralized dialogue on key issues, fostering more flexible and creative solutions to emerging issues and applications than a top-down, centralized system. ✅ Acts as a “routing” function, enabling interoperability and collaboration by adopting shared standards and common ontologies. This approach empowers dispersed actors to contribute innovative solutions, shifting decision-making power to communities and experts who might otherwise be excluded. ✅ Promotes information-sharing and evidence-based decision-making. Distributed governance networks prioritize data-driven approaches, allowing stakeholders to accurately evaluate the effectiveness of governance initiatives across different regions and contexts. ✅ Allows for both granularity (localization) and scale (globalization). Issue- or expert-based organizing principles help coordinate decisions at the local, national, regional, and global levels. This ensures local actors are included in global conversations and prevents issues from escalating unnecessarily (This will also be discussed on Tuesday at our event on Aligning Local and Global AI Governance - See https://lnkd.in/eb8xfJh9). Q How to design AI governance—not as a monolithic institution, but as a dynamic, interconnected network of nodes working toward a common good? 🔗 Read my paper: A Distributed Model for Internet Governance (and eager to hear how it may apply to similar challenges of AI governance): https://lnkd.in/ejyUtset #AIActionSummit #OpenScience #DistributedGovernance #AIInnovation #Collaboration #PolycentricAI #AIgovernance #Deepseek #CERN

"This paper explores the potential of dynamic, collaborative public-private governance to foster safe innovation. Drawing from primary research, including interviews with tech industry leaders, U.S. Members of Congress, and staff, and an analysis of 150 AI-related bills introduced by the 118th U.S. Congress, this work identifies emerging areas of alignment between policymakers and industry stakeholders. It also highlights opportunities for a unified national approach, despite the challenges of a fragmented legislative environment. The authors propose a dynamic governance approach that brings government and industry together while combining the foresight of ex-ante measures with the adaptability needed to respond to technological advancements. Coupled with existing ex-post mechanisms, the Dynamic Governance Model creates a comprehensive framework to promote competition, innovation, and accountability. It represents a policy-agnostic extra-regulatory framework, including a public-private partnership for standards setting and a market-based ecosystem for audit and compliance. Ultimately, this governance approach can provide regulatory clarity and predictability, fostering an environment where businesses and innovation thrive while mitigating the risks inherent to AI’s transformative power" Paulo Carvao Slavina Ancheva Yam Atir Shaurya Jeloka Brian Zhou

Leadership development isn't a workshop. It's a battlefield. Companies investing in five or more development approaches are 4.9X more likely to improve leadership capability. Let that sink in. Not 20% better. Not twice as good. Almost five times more effective. Yet most organizations still believe in the magic of the two-day offsite. The inspirational speaker. The binder full of frameworks that collects dust on office shelves. The certificate that means nothing six months later. This is why we have managers, not leaders. Position-holders, not vision-carriers. Real leadership development isn't an event. It's an ecosystem. A deliberate architecture of growth that works across multiple dimensions simultaneously. Like a garden that needs sun, water, soil, time, and care – not just one ingredient. The leaders who grow fastest are learning across five dimensions: Coaching – because mirrors don't lie when held by someone who cares enough to be honest. Reflection – because experience without introspection is just busy work. Community – because no one becomes exceptional in isolation. Data – because feelings lie but patterns reveal truth. AI – because technology can show us blind spots humans are too polite to mention. We've been approaching leadership like it's a skill. Something you can master in a weekend retreat between trust falls and PowerPoint slides. But leadership isn't a skill. It's an identity. A way of being. And identities aren't built in workshops – they're forged through consistent, multi-dimensional pressure and support. This isn't about resources. It's about resourcefulness. About understanding that transformation doesn't happen in straight lines or single interventions. The question isn't whether you can afford five approaches to development. The question is whether you can afford the mediocrity that comes from using just one. Because in a world where everyone has access to the same information, the same technology, the same markets – leadership capability isn't just a competitive advantage. It's the only advantage that matters.

Leadership is often misunderstood as the constant ability to respond quickly, decide confidently, and provide direction. While decisiveness matters, equating leadership with having all the answers creates an unhealthy dynamic. In complex organizations, knowledge is distributed. Teams on the ground see details, constraints, and opportunities that leaders cannot fully access from the top. When every decision must be validated or solved by leadership, progress slows and responsibility shifts upward. Effective leaders focus on clarity rather than control. They define the objective, establish clear boundaries, and ensure alignment on priorities. Within that framework, they trust their teams to make decisions. This approach increases speed, strengthens accountability, and builds stronger decision-making across the organization. Empowerment is not the absence of leadership. It is leadership that enables others to think, decide, and take ownership. Teams that are trusted do not rely on constant approval, they operate with confidence and accountability. The role of a leader is not to have every answer, but to build an environment where the right answers can emerge consistently. That is how strong teams and sustainable organizations are built.