Corporate strategy loves predictability. It craves control, clear inputs and outputs and a structured roadmap that leads neatly from A to B. But here’s the problem. We’re talking people, and people are messy.

We’re irrational, emotional, complex – and, paradoxically, predictable in how we resist change. We seek security, fall into habits and revert to what we know when faced with uncertainty.

And that’s why so many corporate change strategies fall short. Because while organisations map out processes, restructure teams and roll out transformation programmes, they forget one thing: real change doesn’t happen in boardrooms. It happens in the messy, human, unpredictable reality of how people think, feel and relate.

The iceberg problem

Most businesses approach change by addressing what they can see – the surface-level structures and processes. But what drives behaviour is everything beneath the surface:

• Beliefs – the assumptions people hold about their role, their future and the world around them

• Experiences – the personal histories and work events that shape how people approach uncertainty

• Motivations – the mix of intrinsic and extrinsic drivers that push people forward (or hold them back)

• Fears – the anxieties, risks and personal stakes that change threaten

And if you’re not designing change with these in mind, you’re just rolling the dice and hoping for the best.

Imagine you have a workforce of people who have experienced being acquired twice in five years. Or a workforce that has just been brought out of administration. Or a business that has grown rapidly and is doing something brilliantly on repeat, but that market has now flipped. What beliefs and experiences are true to these workforces that will impact their attitudes to impending change?

Speed vs. the beautiful human mind

There’s another challenge at play. The speed of change in the corporate world is accelerating. AI, digital transformation, new operating models – everything is moving fast. But people don’t adapt at the speed of an executive decision.

We’re built for gradual evolution, not overnight transformation. Businesses expect employees to switch gears instantly, but that’s not how mass behaviour change works. If organisations don’t give people the time, tools and motivation to adapt, they’ll resist – consciously or unconsciously – and snap back to the old ways.

So, what’s the answer?

If you want change to stick, you have to stop treating people as cogs in a system and start working with human nature, not against it. That means:

1. Understanding where people are starting from. Attitudes to change aren’t universal – some embrace it, others resist. Map this out first.

2. Anticipating the blockers. What will stop people from engaging? Fear, confusion, apathy? Address the psychological barriers, not just the structural ones.

3. Creating the space to practise. Safe environments to experiment, take one step forward and two steps back.

4. Building momentum, not mandates. Change isn’t a switch you flip. It’s a process of gradual adoption, built through shared experiences, real stories and ongoing reinforcement.

5. Tracking mindset shifts, not just milestones. Progress isn’t just about hitting project deadlines. How are people feeling? Are they moving forward, or are they quietly checking out?

Ultimately, change isn’t about the plan. It’s about those living it. And if you’re not designing for the complexity of how people actually think, feel and act, don’t be surprised when they resist – and, eventually, regress back to the old ways.