Organizations are investing millions in transformation — AI, digital modernization, new operating models, etc. — all with the expectation that these efforts will fundamentally change how work gets done. And yet, despite the scale of investment, outcomes remain inconsistent.

Research from McKinsey & Company continues to show that roughly 70% of transformations fail. Other research suggests that increasing spend on products isn’t translating into better results. If anything, the gap between ambition and execution is widening.

Most organizations respond by revisiting the same levers: refining the strategy, upgrading the technology, or expanding training efforts. But these responses are built on an assumption that doesn’t hold up in practice — that once the right plan and tools are in place, people will naturally adjust how they work.

Where Transformations Actually Stall

When companies are going through transformation, the standard model typically looks like this: first, organizations define the strategy — clarifying goals, mapping the future state, and aligning on success metrics. Next, build or implement the necessary technology, integrating systems and enabling new capabilities. Finally, train employees on how to use those tools, often through structured onboarding, documentation, and formal learning programs.

After these three phases, teams often continue to rely on familiar workflows, even after new tools are introduced. Managers, uncertain themselves, hesitate to model new behaviors, which creates mixed signals for their teams. Processes remain anchored in the old way of working, limiting the value of new capabilities. Over time, workarounds emerge, allowing people to maintain a sense of control without fully engaging with the change.

These patterns emerge when change requires people to operate differently without giving them the support to do so.

The Missing Phase: Building Adaptability

If organizations want different outcomes, they need to expand how they think about transformation. It’s time to add a critical phase: developing people’s ability to adapt.

Adaptability is what determines whether strategy, technology, and training actually translate into new ways of working. Without it, each of those elements remains partially unrealized. With it, they begin to reinforce one another.

Building this capability means helping people develop the skills to navigate uncertainty, regulate their responses under pressure, and adjust their behavior in real time. It also means creating environments where experimentation is expected, learning is continuous, and change is something people engage with rather than avoid.

What Adaptability Training Looks Like in Practice

Organizations that take adaptability seriously move beyond one-time training and focus on embedding it into how people learn and work.

The process often begins with self-awareness. Leaders need to understand how they typically respond to ambiguity, pressure, and change before they can intentionally shift those responses. Without that awareness, default behaviors tend to persist, even in the face of new expectations.

Adaptability is not built through hypothetical scenarios or isolated exercises; it develops when people engage with the actual challenges they are facing — making decisions with incomplete information, navigating competing priorities, or integrating new technologies into existing systems. This is where learning becomes behavioral rather than conceptual.

Equally important is the role of peer learning. When individuals are exposed to different perspectives, industries, and approaches, they begin to see that there is rarely a single correct path forward. That realization creates space for experimentation and reduces the perceived risk of getting it wrong.

This approach is central to how leaders are developed in our programs. We focus not on delivering more content, but on creating the conditions where people can practice adapting — repeatedly and in context — until it becomes part of how they operate.

Technology Doesn’t Transform Companies — People Do

As AI and other technologies continue to accelerate the pace of change, the ability to adapt becomes even more critical. Tools will continue to evolve, strategies will continue to shift, and new ways of working will keep emerging.

What will differentiate organizations is not just what they implement, but how effectively their people can adjust, integrate, and move forward in real time. Technology enables transformation. People determine whether it actually happens.

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