The 30 Second Mindset Shift Every Chief Transformation Officer Needs.

Most transformation slowdowns start long before execution does.

Author

Glenda Carnate
January 06, 2026

Read time: 2.5 minutes

When momentum fades inside large organizations, the cause is rarely laziness or lack of effort. More often, teams slow down because too many decisions stay unresolved while work keeps moving forward.

Most transformation efforts begin with urgency and optimism. Leaders want movement, teams respond, and activity ramps up quickly. Meetings fill calendars, initiatives launch, and progress feels visible. Over time, though, small cracks appear. Ownership stretches across groups, priorities shift slightly, and decisions get revisited instead of closed.

What gets labeled as resistance usually feels different from the inside. Teams want to move, but the direction keeps changing. Without clear decisions to anchor their work, confidence slips and progress starts to feel heavier, even though effort stays high.

The 5 Patterns Behind Most Transformation Slowdowns:

  1. Alignment usually breaks before speed does.
    Teams move quickly, but not in the same direction, which creates confusion rather than progress.

  2. Shared ownership often weakens decisions.
    When too many voices stay involved, closure becomes harder and execution slows.

  3. Changing direction creates friction, even when the change seems small.
    Each shift forces teams to pause, recalibrate, and wait.

  4. Clear decisions reduce drag across the system.
    Rework drops, escalations ease, and meetings become shorter and more focused.

  5. Urgency without closure creates churn.
    Open decisions ripple downward and slow execution everywhere.

💡Key Takeaway: 

Transformation does not scale through urgency alone. It scales through decisions that land clearly and stay stable long enough for people to trust their next step.

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