Navigating Organizational Change

I had initially decided I wasn’t going to post about Amazon’s RTO mandate because there was already so much noise, but the more I hear of current employee reactions and experiences, the more I am compelled to add my thoughts to the conversation.   Because I don't believe that the backlash from employees about Amazon’s RTO mandate is about remote work.   Instead, it's about a profound breach of trust they are feeling, shaking the foundation of #employeeengagement and #employeeexperience at Amazon.   Where and how did the trust get broken? A few examples I have been hearing from current employees…   💔 Employees who were hired in the last few years during a time of heavy remote work, hired under the guise that their roles would always be remote, feel that the trust has been broken because this is not the expectations they agreed to.   💔 Employees who first heard about the RTO from the news instead of their own leadership feel like they can no longer trust their leaders for open communication and transparency.   💔 Employees who have altered their lives as a result of remote work now have to upend them (again), making them feel unheard and uncared for, another breach of trust.   Trust is the cornerstone of any successful organizational culture. Trust is what drives innovation and collaboration, organizational commitment, and high performance.   It takes time to build but can be broken in an instant.    And when trust is broken, it reverberates through every aspect of the employee experience, making people doubt your decisions and motives, making them anxious for the next change, making them wonder if they belong.    They become suspicious. And suspicious people aren't engaged or productive.   That's what we are seeing with these Amazon employees. It's not about WHERE they work, it's about how they feel they have been treated and the mistrust they now feel.   As Amazon moves forward, it will be interesting to see if and how they prioritize rebuilding this trust by fostering open communication, honoring commitments, and demonstrating genuine care for employee well-being. #iamtalentcentric

🌍 Some companies aren’t waiting for the sustainability playbook to be written—they’re writing it themselves, through real and often difficult business model transformation. This recent Harvard Business Review article by Ivanka Visnjic, Felipe Monteiro, and Michael Tushman spotlights four such firms—Enel Group, Holcim, OCP Group, and Suzano. What they share is not a single blueprint, but a willingness to rethink how value is created, delivered, and measured across their organisations. They’re reshaping innovation portfolios ⚙️, building ambidextrous structures 🔁, and enabling experimentation at the edge 🧪—while keeping an eye on scale and integration. These are practical responses to a complex challenge, not abstract aspirations. One thing the article captures well is the real organisational work involved. Enel set up separate business units to explore new energy services. Holcim created a global programme to empower local plants with data and digital tools. Suzano is investing in community-based initiatives and backing them with budget authority, not just words. OCP’s internal platform, Le Mouvement, is turning employees into active designers of sustainability solutions. All of this takes place while navigating three tough but familiar tensions: 📉 Delivering on short-term performance while building for the long term 🌐 Driving global goals while staying grounded in local realities 🤝 Opening up to external partners while maintaining internal alignment These tensions can’t be eliminated—but they can be managed intentionally. And the companies profiled are showing that it’s possible to do so without losing focus or diluting ambition. For me, the article reinforced a broader point: sustainability, when taken seriously, demands organisational creativity—not just technical fixes or stronger targets. It requires rethinking capabilities, incentives, and learning structures across the organisation. And it often means questioning core assumptions about what business is for, and whose interests it serves. So the questions I’m left with are these: 🔹 Are we preparing our organisations—structurally and culturally—for this kind of transformation? 🔹 And are we willing to confront the uncomfortable trade-offs it inevitably exposes? I’d highly recommend this piece to anyone working at the intersection of strategy, innovation, and sustainability. It’s rich in insight and refreshingly grounded in real organisational practice: https://lnkd.in/dtEqnezP

It's out! Today, Textile Exchange has published its report, authored by yours truly, exploring how we can reimagine growth in the fashion, apparel and textile industry. This landscape analysis is intended to provide a state of play on this highly complex and contentious topic - outlining why we need to shift from exponential increases in production and consumption volumes based on unchecked resource extraction. Instead it provides a vision for alignment with regenerative economy and post-growth principles, centering a complete reimagining of value creation. Very simply, continued improvements on the product and process level are not going to be enough for the level of change required. What this report shows is the need for reduction as an active strategy, addressing head on the tension that presents. Importantly, it emphasises doing so as necessary to ensure resilience; mitigating future risk due to supply chain instability, resource depletion, overreliance on finite resources and incoming legislation. The report proposes a suite of pathways for change, including eliminating virgin fossil-based synthetics, designing products for longevity and reflecting externalities in their pricing, scaling circular business models, and addressing marketing practices. It further explores new success metrics, mobilising finance and alternative ownership and governance models, as well as the need to ensure a just transition—protecting the rights, livelihoods and well-being of people across the value chain. These pathways will require systemic support to achieve anything close to a post-growth future, with the need for ambitious government policy and collective corporate commitment to get there. The report calls on business leaders, policymakers and financial stakeholders to take immediate, meaningful steps. This isn't simple and it won't be easy. As I say in the press release: “Reimagining growth represents a fundamental paradigm shift, requiring not just incremental adjustments but a complete transformation of how the industry operates. As a challenge of systems change, inherently rooted in complexity, it will demand contributions from all stakeholder groups to achieve a more sustainable and equitable future.” Thank you to all of the incredible people who contributed to this report in consultations, workshops, expert interviews, review processes and ear bending by me. And mostly thank you to Beth Jensen and Claire Bergkamp for their incredible support and leadership on this work over the past three years, and for having the courage of conviction, alongside the Textile Exchange board and wider team, to table this topic and publish something so bold and so crucial for the future of our industry, our planet and the people on it. Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/eScK9uyy #postgrowth #sustainablefashion #overconsumption #fashion #textiles 📷  Madeleine Brunnmeier 

If you are a leader or practitioner of #diversity, #equity, or #inclusion, do you facilitate activities, or do you create impact? They're not the same thing. In conversation after conversation I've had with DEI teams in the last few months, a common theme is anxiety in the face of change. The language they've spent years using is being forced to change. The activities they've made into their bread and butter are being suspended or forced to adapt. Newer or less mature DEI teams tend to see their activities and their impact as one and the same. They reason that, if they provide event programming and support employee networks, their impact on the organization must be "event programming existing" and "employee networks feeling supported." In the face of change, they grieve not only the loss of the status quo, but the perceived loss of all impact they could make. More established or mature DEI teams see their activities as a means to achieve their desired impact. They're able to identify problems in the organization that need solving and develop activities that best utilize their resources to solve these problems. They reason that, because the organization fails to adequately create belonging for all of its employees due to inconsistent manager support and a company culture that doesn't value people, they can solve the problem by increasing managerial consistency and creating a more people-centric culture. In the face of change, they grieve the loss of their activities—but can quickly pivot to new ones that achieve the same goals. We can learn a lot from these teams. If you want to sustain your impact even through disruptions to your team's typical operations, you can start by doing the following: 🎯 Define the problem you're working to solve, in context. Data, both qualitative and quantitative, ensures that you can identify the biggest gaps in your organization's commitment to its values, understand what areas DON'T need fixing so you can conserve your effort, and can start strategizing about how to solve root causes. 🎯 Pull out the biggest contributors to unfairness and exclusion. It's one thing if a manager in Sales communicates disrespectfully. It's another thing altogether if the culture of the entire Sales team glorifies disrespect. Understanding the scale of the issues we face can help us prioritize solving the biggest issues affecting everyone, rather than chasing symptoms. 🎯 Design interventions, not activities. Too many practitioners create an initiative because that's what they've been asked to do. Think of them instead as interventions: carefully-designed attempts to shift the status quo from Point A to a more inclusive, more fair Point B, by solving real problems that hold your organization back. The more we shift our work toward real impact, the more effective we'll be—regardless of the sociopolitical climate, regardless of backlash. Let's hone our focus.

Why rely solely on surveys when you can uncover the true state of DEI through concrete metrics? This is a question that echoes in my mind each time I embark on a new journey with a client. Surveys can provide valuable opinions, but they often fall short of capturing real facts and the nuanced realities of individuals within an organization. 🔎 Here are 6 key DEI metrics that truly matter: 📍 Attrition Rates: Take a closer look at why employees are leaving, especially among different groups. This will help you understand if there are specific challenges or issues that need to be addressed to improve retention. 📍 Leadership Pipeline Diversity: Evaluate the diversity within your leadership team. Are there opportunities for underrepresented individuals to rise into leadership roles? Are they equally represented on all levels of leadership? 📍 Promotion and Advancement Rates: Assess if all employees, regardless of background, are getting equal opportunities to advance in their careers. By monitoring promotion and advancement rates, you can identify any biases and work towards creating a level playing field. 📍 Pay Equity: Ensure that everyone is paid fairly and equally for their work. Address any discrepancies in pay based on not only gender, but also race, age, ethnicity or other intersectional factors. 📍 Hiring Pipeline Diversity: Examine the diversity of candidates in your hiring process. Are you attracting a wide range of talent from different backgrounds? Tracking this metric helps you gauge the effectiveness of your recruitment efforts in creating a diverse workforce. 📍 Employee Engagement by Demographic: Measure the level of engagement and satisfaction among employees from various groups. Are there any disparities in engagement levels? Run the crossings of identity diversity and organizational one. By focusing on these 6 concrete metrics, you can gain real insights into your organization's DEI progress based on actionable data that drives progress. ________________________________________ Are you looking for more HR tips and DEI content like this?  📨 Join my free DEI Newsletter: https://lnkd.in/dtgdB6XX

My AI lesson of the week: The tech isn't the hard part…it's the people! During my prior work at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), we talked a lot about how any technology, whether a new drug or a new vaccine or a new information tool, would face challenges with how to integrate into the complex human systems that alway at play in healthcare. As I get deeper and deeper into AI, I am not surprised to see that those same challenges exist with this cadre of technology as well. It’s not the tech that limits us; the real complexity lies in driving adoption across diverse teams, workflows, and mindsets. And it’s not just implementation alone that will get to real ROI from AI—it’s the changes that will occur to our workflows that will generate the value. That’s why we are thinking differently about how to approach change management. We’re approaching the workflow integration with the same discipline and structure as any core system build. Our framework is designed to reduce friction, build momentum, and align people with outcomes from day one. Here’s the 5-point plan for how we're making that happen with health systems today: 🔹 AI Champion Program: We designate and train department-level champions who lead adoption efforts within their teams. These individuals become trusted internal experts, reducing dependency on central support and accelerating change. 🔹 An AI Academy: We produce concise, role-specific, training modules to deliver just-in-time knowledge to help all users get the most out of the gen AI tools that their systems are provisioning. 5-10 min modules ensures relevance and reduces training fatigue.  🔹 Staged Rollout: We don’t go live everywhere at once. Instead, we're beginning with an initial few locations/teams, refine based on feedback, and expand with proof points in hand. This staged approach minimizes risk and maximizes learning. 🔹 Feedback Loops: Change is not a one-way push. Host regular forums to capture insights from frontline users, close gaps, and refine processes continuously. Listening and modifying is part of the deployment strategy. 🔹 Visible Metrics: Transparent team or dept-based dashboards track progress and highlight wins. When staff can see measurable improvement—and their role in driving it—engagement improves dramatically. This isn’t workflow mapping. This is operational transformation—designed for scale, grounded in human behavior, and built to last. Technology will continue to evolve. But real leverage comes from aligning your people behind the change. We think that’s where competitive advantage is created—and sustained. #ExecutiveLeadership #ChangeManagement #DigitalTransformation #StrategyExecution #HealthTech #OperationalExcellence #ScalableChange

The biggest cultural red flags? (Spoiler alert: they never look like red flags) They show up as tiny shifts, until one day you realise the culture didn’t “break.” It eroded. Here’s what that erosion really looks like: 1. When people start having pre-meetings before the real meeting. Because they need to test the temperature before speaking honestly. Fix it by making the real meeting the safest place to disagree. 2. When new hires adapt to the dysfunction faster than the norms. Because the behaviour you tolerate carries more weight than the values you preach. Fix it by correcting the “small stuff” early, it compounds faster than you think. 3. When decisions get made, but no one feels emotionally connected to them. Because the process is transactional, not collaborative. Fix it by involving people earlier. Ownership isn’t assigned, it’s created. 4. When people start whisper-networking who they “actually” trust. Because credibility detached from job titles. Fix it by bringing those informal leaders into the centre, not treating them like shadows. 5. When everyone is working hard but nothing meaningful is moving. Because busy became a coping mechanism for confusion. Fix it by removing half the priorities. Momentum beats multitasking every time. 6. When quiet people stop contributing altogether. Because silence feels safer than being dismissed. Fix it by creating space for what’s unsaid, culture lives in the pauses, not the talking. 7. When people avoid conflict because they know nothing happens after it anyway. Because “feedback loops” became black holes. Fix it by letting people see the effect of their input, change is the only real trust signal. 8. When you hear “It’s fine” too often. Because that’s the sentence people use when they’ve emotionally checked out. Fix it by noticing energy drop-offs early. Energy always shifts before performance does. Cultures don’t fall apart because of a single moment. They fall apart because of a slow drift nobody thought was a big deal. If you catch the drift early, you save the culture. If you don’t, you end up fixing problems that didn’t need to exist.

There’s something uniquely unsettling about waking up to new tariffs or trade rules that weren’t there the night before. One day you're planning supply chains and setting prices; the next, you're trying to make sense of sweeping policy shifts. From sudden 50% duties on imports to new customs fees that turn small shipments into financial headaches. In times like these, how do leaders keep steady? Here’s what matters: •⁠ ⁠Lean into adaptability. When surprise policies land, rigid plans crack. The organisations that pivot: quickly reallocating sourcing, reshuffling models, even experimenting with different price points, are the ones that endure. •⁠ ⁠Seek clarity, not certainty. You may not know today what tariffs tomorrow will bring, but you can commit to ongoing dialogue. Talk to customs experts, stay close to trade counsel, and listen to the real-time feedback from your partners on the ground. •⁠ ⁠Champion creative resilience. From diversifying suppliers to exploring new markets, or even introducing tariff surcharges in line items, so pricing stays transparent, resilience isn’t one strategy. It’s a toolbox. •⁠ ⁠Communicate with heart. Your teams, your clients, your network? They don’t need polished spin. They need honesty. Explain what’s shifting, why it matters, and how you’re responding. Recently, India’s Chief Economic Adviser warned that U.S. tariffs could shave 0.5–0.6% off GDP this year. Meanwhile, sectors from beauty brands to fashion labels are retooling sourcing strategies, reformulating products, and leaning on digital tools to stay nimble. These are reminders that adaptability is a lifeline. The world around us won’t pause for clarity. But we can build organisations that don’t wait for calm to act. We can stay rooted in purpose, connected to our teams, and always ready to adjust. Not because we expect change, but because we recognise its role in how we choose to lead. #global #adaptability

Your brand that got you to Series A feels sacred. You're nervous a rebrand will spook customers or erase equity. Meanwhile, brand debt is compounding quietly and your strategy inside no longer matches your story outside. I get it, and it’s valid. I've spent over two decades helping visionary founders navigate this moment. Here's what I’ve learned: The rebrands that work solve real business problems: - McKinsey: top-quartile design companies grew revenue 32 percentage points faster - HBR: emotionally connected customers are 2x as valuable as highly satisfied ones We've rebranded organizations across deep tech, fintech, esports, B2B SaaS. But most founders resist even when the market has moved past them. Why? They can't separate valid concerns from paralysis analysis. Here are 4 biggest misconceptions founders have about rebranding (and when each one is actually valid): 1. ‘We'll alienate our audience’ VALID WHEN: You change too much without a story. People form habits around cues. Change triggers loss aversion. NOT VALID WHEN: The meaning is coherent. Airbnb's Bélo got mocked mercilessly at launch. But "Belong Anywhere" reframed them from cheap beds to belonging. The story carried the change. 2. ‘We’ll impact our equity negatively’ VALID WHEN: You throw away familiar assets that still work. Those are memory shortcuts. NOT VALID WHEN: Old assets fight the new strategy. Meta kept Facebook while creating a parent for the metaverse bet. Alphabet solved Google's architecture without breaking product recognition. Structure beats sentiment. 3. ‘The timing isn’t perfect’ VALID WHEN: You're reacting to a slow quarter or leadership can't articulate a sharp position. Rebranding amplifies strategy. It can't substitute for it. NOT VALID WHEN: Your strategy HAS changed (new audience, new model, M&A) but your brand hasn't. That's debt. And waiting for perfect consensus kills more deals than bad logos. 4. ‘The risks are too high’ VALID WHEN: You treat it as a cosmetic surprise. Gap scrapped its logo after backlash because the change wasn't attached to strategy. Tropicana lost 20% of sales doing the same. NOT VALID WHEN: You execute it as a leadership act. Rebrands fail when they're marketing projects. They work when they're strategy decisions expressed in public. Most founders carry brand debt for years because they think all four concerns are equally valid. They're not. If your strategy is intact and 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘂𝗽, do a refresh. Evolve the identity, voice, and UX. If your strategy has changed but your brand hasn't, rebrand. Reset the meaning. Markets move faster than visual systems. The debt compounds in hiring, pricing power, and sales cycles. Strong design correlates with superior growth. Emotional connection outperforms satisfaction. Stop waiting for the perfect moment. The market already moved. Motto®

❓ Is your sustainability strategy ready for the real world? So, You've done the work—research, securing stakeholder buy-in, choosing the right partners. You’ve laid a strong foundation for a sustainable supply chain. But before you launch, have you considered every detail that’ll keep your efforts on track? Imagine this: You’ve set ambitious goals, like reducing fleet fuel consumption by 5% or cutting warehouse electricity use by 10%. But to hit those marks, you'll need the right checkpoints. In the first month, check in with your data partner—is everything being captured effectively? At two months, ask your suppliers if they're comfortable with the Service Level Agreements (SLAs) you’ve set together. By six months, assess whether the data you’ve gathered allows you to make meaningful predictions and take new action. Data backs the need for these checkpoints. A study by McKinsey reports that companies with a structured sustainability strategy see 20% higher supply chain efficiency. And according to the World Economic Forum, sustainable supply chains can reduce overall environmental impact by up to 50%, while increasing resilience against future challenges. But sustainability isn’t just about hitting numbers. It’s a cultural shift. From top leaders to new hires, your team needs to embrace the mindset that goes beyond "doing business as usual." Internal education is essential—create programs that inspire every team member to see the value of these efforts. When your employees understand how their day-to-day work impacts long-term goals, the commitment deepens. Remember, Sustainability is also about outward visibility. Sharing your journey publicly can set you apart as a trusted, forward-thinking organization in your industry. When others see your authenticity and progress, customers and partners are more likely to trust and admire your mission. Let’s lead the change, One small improvement at a time, and proves that businesses can drive meaningful impact for people, the planet, and profit alike.