The Importance Of Change Management In Digital Innovation

Digital Transformation is not about technology. I see too many C-suite leaders pouring millions into new tech, hoping it will "transform" their companies. Facts. - If your culture, processes, and leadership mindset are stuck in the past, no amount of AI or automation will save you from your more agile competitors. Big Facts. - Digital transformation initiatives fail because execs treat it like an IT project, not a business-wide initiative. - New tools are pointless if the people and operating models behind them are broken. Bigger Facts. - Fragmented teams still operate in silos despite "collaboration" tools. - Leaders cling to outdated KPIs that don't measure real-time success. - Employees burnout from forcing legacy processes into modern platforms. - Resistance to change from all levels kills innovation. You're wasting resources and budget by repeating these mistakes. Digital transformation should start with transforming mindsets -- not tech stacks. Do not. - Treat digital transformation as a one-time project. This never stops. - Think new software alone will fix broken processes or disjointed teams. - Ignore the need to elevate leadership and employees to embrace new ways of working. Fixes. - Create a Center of Excellence that embodies digital-dexterity and empowers teams to innovate, collaborate, and adapt. - Align transformation goals with business outcomes, not just tech implementation. - Empower your leadership team to drive change, not fear it. At the end of the day, technology is only as powerful as your readiness to harness it as an organization.

These days I’m sure grateful for the Change Management work I did as a student at Harvard. The data is sobering. 👉 MIT’s NANDA study: 95% of generative AI pilots fail to move into production. 👉 McKinsey: 70% of initiatives remain stuck in development or expansion after a year. 👉 Abandonment: 17% of projects in 2024 → 42% in 2025. 👉 Scaling success: only 5–10% of companies ever get there. The technology is not the problem. The people, processes, and organizational structures are. That’s where John Kotter’s 8 Steps for Leading Change still feel urgent today. AI isn’t just a tool you stack on top of existing workflows. It requires rewiring how companies operate. Yet most organizations continue to treat AI adoption like a software upgrade rather than a deep transformation. ↳ Create Urgency → Leaders assume urgency is obvious. It’s not. AI must be framed with data and stories that make stakes clear: competitors will use efficiency to outscale you. ↳ Build a Guiding Coalition → Pilots run by IT alone fail. Cross-functional coalitions with visible champions succeed. ↳ Form a Strategic Vision → Saying “we’re investing in AI” is not a vision. Linking it to growth, efficiency, and innovation is. ↳ Remove Barriers → Resistance is natural. Job fears are real. Change management has to dismantle these barriers directly. ↳ Generate Short-Term Wins → Early ROI in back-office functions builds trust and momentum. Without visible wins, resistance hardens. ↳ Institute Change → AI sticks when embedded in hiring, training, incentives, and culture. Startups don’t wrestle with this. They scale with AI by avoiding new hires and redesigning work as they go. Large companies face the harder task: unlearning, rewiring, and rebuilding. The lesson from Kotter and from the data is the same: Transformation is not about the technology. It’s about change leadership. If we want AI to succeed inside large companies, we have to stop asking: ❌ “How do we scale the model?” ✅ “How do we scale trust, adoption, and organizational learning?” Three actions to drive forward now: ✅ Use data and stories to prove urgency at every level. ✅ Create early ROI wins and broadcast them widely. ✅ Embed AI into culture, not just IT, through hiring, training, and incentives. Do. Fail. Learn. Grow. Win. Repeat. Forever. ♻️Repost & follow John Brewton for content that helps. 📬 Subscribe to Operating by John Brewton for deep dives on the history and future of operating companies (🔗 in profile).

Top 3 Reasons to Use Strategic Change Management in Enterprise Transformation 1️⃣Aligns Organizational Goals with People Strategy Enterprise transformation is not just about restructuring systems or processes—it’s about driving behavior and mindset changes across the organization. Strategic change management ensures alignment between organizational goals and the people who execute them. Using proven frameworks like Prosci’s ADKAR model, organizations can address individual change and tie it directly to enterprise-level success, ensuring employees embrace and sustain the transformation. 2️⃣Minimizes Resistance and Accelerates Adoption Resistance to change is one of the biggest barriers to transformation success. Strategic change management provides structured approaches to mitigate this resistance, enabling faster and more effective adoption of new initiatives. Leveraging tools such as stakeholder analysis and change impact assessments, organizations can proactively identify resistance points and address them. This not only reduces disruption but also accelerates the realization of business outcomes. 3️⃣Enhances ROI by Increasing the Probability of Success The success of any enterprise transformation hinges on its ability to deliver measurable outcomes. Prosci research shows that projects with effective change management are six times more likely to meet or exceed their objectives. By embedding strategic change management into transformation initiatives, organizations can maximize ROI, reduce implementation risks, and achieve sustainable long-term benefits. In today’s complex business environment, strategic change management is essential to navigating and thriving in transformational efforts. Including my favorite Prosci graphic “Status of Change” depicting the importance of CM. Prosci Association of Change Management Professionals (ACMP Global)