Your Transformation Isn’t Failing—Your Middle Management Is Killing It (Quietly)

Read time: 2.5 minutes

Ways to Prevent Your Process from Harming Your Transformation

1. You Don't Have a Change Problem…You Have a Translation Problem

• Strategy at the top may change. However, the middle will rewrite it rather than execute it, and the intent will be lost before the action occurs.

Action Items:

• The best way to fix this is to clarify whether the changes are operational or conceptual.

• Create clear system actions that align with the strategy.

2. Middle Management is Doing its Job

• Middle management was built to maintain the status quo and mitigate risks. It is also optimized for consistency. Therefore, it will naturally resist change.

Action Items:

• Align your incentive plans with the transformation goals.

• Encourage middle management to begin looking not just for stability, but also for adaptability.

3. Old KPIs Reinforce Old Behaviors

• The metrics that drive decisions are more important than actual strategy and the legacy KPIs reinforce those behaviors.

Action Items:

• To correct this, eliminate at least one KPI linked to legacy behaviors.

• Measure what is actually needed for the transformation.

4. Layers Slow Down Decision Making

• More levels of approval will create friction in the process.

• As accountability moves to more layers, the speed of decision-making will decrease.

Action Items:

• Immediately remove one layer of approval.

• Move decision-making closer to the execution.

5. Workflows Will Lock You in the Past

• Cross-functional processes are based on the organization's old priorities, and teams will continue to execute against the processes rather than the strategy.

Action Items:

• Redesign one complete end-to-end workflow.

• Ensure that it aligns with the new operating model.

💡Key Takeaway: 

Resistance is not the reason for transformation failure… rather, the lack of a design to support it is.