The Paradox of Leading Change

The Paradox of Leading Change: To Speed Up Organizational Change, Slow Down
We know from recent organization culture assessment data that most board members, leadership teams, and employees feel like the pressure to change and adapt at work is accelerating.  We also know that successfully implementing organizational change remains one of the greatest challenges leaders and organizations face. Leadership simulation assessment data tells us that leaders often believe that the faster they push change initiatives, the quicker they will see results. Research, however, and change management consulting experience suggest the opposite: to speed up sustainable organizational change, leaders must first slow down.

We call this going slow to go fast.  And it works to create lasting and effective organizational change. But slowing down is not always easy or supported.

The Pressure to Change Faster Continues to Increase
Change is often required for leaders and businesses to thrive and survive.  According to a global survey by Slack, 71% of leaders report being under increasing pressure to get higher performance from their teams to reduce waste and boost overall productivity.  That makes sense to us.  Market shifts, customer demands, employee needs, competitive threats, and investor priorities all create pressure for faster change.  And in many struggling companies and teams, change is long overdue.

While the pressure and rate of change can feel overwhelming, the root cause of failed change initiatives typically ties back to change management basics — stakeholders are not ready, willing, or able enough to behave, think, or act differently.  In fact, the American Psychological Association found 30% of employees believe management has a hidden agenda for setting change in motion.  As you can image, this leads to increased levels of skepticism, resistance, stress, mistrust, and disengagement.

It is hard to execute strategies when stakeholders are not fully aligned.

The Paradox of Slowing Down to Speed Up
While a crisis (e.g., health pandemic, product recall, data breach, safety violation, financial collapse, employee misconduct, etc.) certainly requires a clear and immediate leadership-driven response, most rapid, top-down change efforts often lead to change resistance, stakeholder confusion, and employee disengagement. When organizations rush transformational change, they risk missing critical insights, failing to align stakeholders, increasing workplace politics, and stalling strategic progress.

If you want to win over the hearts and minds of those most affected by change, change leaders should deliberately slow down at key moments outlined in most change management training programs (i.e., assessing change readiness, fostering employee buy-in, and securing stakeholder alignment).  This is required to purposefully build the foundation for change that eventually alters the key behaviors, beliefs, and business practices required to shift the status quo.

Understanding the Human Side of Change
We know from change management simulation data that organizational change initiatives often fail not because of flawed business strategies, but because they overlook human dynamics. Strategies must go through your culture and your people to be successfully implemented.  Employees need time to process, adapt, and commit to new ways of working.

When leaders slow down to communicate the “why” behind change, the level of change urgency, address concerns, and invite honest input, they build trust and an ownership mindset. Both are critical elements to foster change resilience and accelerate the adoption of new behaviors.

5 Steps to Slow Down Change for Faster Change Results
To better manage the paradox of leading change, take these five steps to slow down change for faster change results:

1. Clarify the Vision and Strategy
   We know from organizational alignment research that the business case for change must be clear enough, believable enough, and implementable enough in the eyes of those affected by change. Before launching a change initiative, take time to define clear objectives, anticipate obstacles, manage pockets of resistance, and gain commitment to measures of success. Rushed initiatives often suffer from vague goals and shifting priorities, which create uncertainty.
2. Engage Key Stakeholders Early
   Actively involving key stakeholders from the outset ensures strategic alignment and reduces change resistance. Seek honest input, listen to concerns, and co-create solutions whenever possible to increase commitment and accelerate execution.  The goal is to improve ownership and accountability for the new ways of working, thinking, and behaving.
3. Communicate with Intention and Transparency
   Unclear or inconsistent messaging breeds fear and misinformation. Slowing down to develop a thoughtful change communication plan — one that is transparent, frequent, and two-way — ensures employees remain informed and engaged.
4. Strengthen Leadership and Culture
   Organizational change requires leadership at all levels. Investing in change leadership training, coaching, and cultural alignment before major shifts occur allows teams to embrace and drive change more effectively.
5. Pilot, Learn, and Adapt
   We know from change project postmortem data that the ability to adapt can be the difference between change success and failure.  Whenever it is strategically and politically possible, test key change initiatives in smaller phases instead of in one sweeping motion. Gathering honest feedback, learning from early adopters, getting quick wins, and making adjustments lead to smoother and more effective rollouts because people have time to learn, trust, and adjust.

The Bottom Line
Strategic speed is often required to seize opportunities, navigate challenges, and outpace competitors. Successful organizational change, however, is about resisting the pressure to move “too fast” and ensuring that you are moving as fast as your culture and people can manage — that means taking the time to build enough collective alignment, commitment, and purpose for the changes to stick. When done right, slowing down — especially at the start of change — enables organizations to better manage the paradox of leading change at a faster pace.

To learn more about the paradox of leading change, download 5 Science-Backed Lenses of Successful Change Leadership