Shradha A.H. Ahuja

Ingenuity isn’t creativity.
It’s strategic survival.

We often celebrate resilience and problem-solving, and rightly so.

But they maintain systems.
Ingenuity reimagines them.

It shows up when:

– A critical process collapses, and someone builds a smarter workaround
– Budget cuts force a team to rethink from scratch, and they find hidden value
– Standard methods fall short - and a new model quietly reshapes how things are done

These aren’t “initiatives.”
They’re survival moments - and they happen more often than we admit.

But here’s the catch:
Most organizations still treat ingenuity as accidental.
Something lucky.
Something extra.

That mindset won’t last much longer.

If disruption is constant, then ingenuity must be built in.
Protected, activated, and rewarded like the essential advantage it is.

I call it:

The survival code of adaptive organizations.

➤ Where are you seeing ingenuity emerge under pressure, and how is it being protected (or not)?

#ThoughtLeadership #BusinessStrategy #OrganizationalIngenuity #IngenuityCODE #FutureOfWork #SAAVoice

Most companies don’t get disrupted by bold new entrants.

They get dismantled - quietly - by their own comfort zones.

Transformation doesn’t fail because people resist change.

It fails because comfort convinces them there’s no need to.

The signs are easy to miss:

• Legacy roles that no one challenges.

• Outdated processes that run on inertia.

• KPIs that are tracked but not respected.

And the most dangerous sentence of all:

“We’ve always done it this way.”

I’ve led transformation through chaos, resistance, and urgent pivots.

And what I’ve learned is this:

True change begins when you confront comfort, not just complexity.

So ask yourself:

If your company had to rebuild today, what would you retire first?

And what are you still protecting… just because it feels familiar?

Title: Why Change Fails — and What to Do About It

Change doesn’t fail because people resist it. It fails because leaders don’t align people, systems, and strategy.

Resistance is rarely emotional. It’s usually a signal—a symptom of confusion, exclusion, or poor follow-through. When strategy is defined in isolation, when systems aren't adapted to support execution, and when people are expected to figure things out on their own, the result is predictable: stalled momentum, wasted effort, and transformation theatre.

In two recent short videos, I broke down what really derails change and what leaders can do to fix it. Here's the integrated view.

1. Resistance Isn't the Problem

We often label pushback as "resistance to change," when in reality, it's a response to:

• Unclear decision rights

• Lack of communication follow-through

• Misaligned structures and outdated KPIs

People don’t resist change because they’re lazy or negative. They resist when they can’t see how the change makes sense, when they weren’t part of shaping it, or when the support structure is missing.

It’s not emotional resistance. It’s operational misalignment.

2. What Actually Helps Change Land

There are plenty of change models out there, but two continue to stand out in my work:

• Prosci’s 3-Phase Process

  • A clear approach to managing the people side of change

  • Focuses on awareness, desire, knowledge, ability, and reinforcement

• McKinsey’s 7S Framework

  • Aligns strategy, structure, systems, skills, style, staff, and shared values

  • Particularly useful for understanding how change ripples across an organization

I think of models like GPS. They’re helpful for navigating from point A to B - but only if you know where you’re starting and what the terrain looks like. And just like with travel, no single route fits every journey.

In practice, I often blend models. Prosci helps clarify the people dimension, while 7S brings structure to the organizational side. Used together, they bring the kind of clarity and context most change efforts lack.

3. Strategy is Not a Slide. It's a System.

In many transformations, the ambition is real. The decks are impressive. The town halls are inspiring.

But execution crawls. Not because people didn’t care. But because the foundation wasn’t aligned.

If your incentives reward the old behavior, if your systems are still optimized for yesterday’s risks, and if your org design creates confusion instead of clarity - change doesn’t land.

Execution without alignment is just expensive theatre.

Final Thought:

If you're leading change, don't just roll out a new process. Pause and ask:

• Are people, systems, and strategy pointing in the same direction?

• Are we designing change, or just delivering it?

Frameworks can help. But only when the fundamentals are clear.

Because at the end of the day, people don’t resist change. They resist confusion. And real transformation only sticks when everything around it supports it.

This article integrates themes from my Streamly video series on Change Leadership. If you're a business leader navigating transformation, I invite you to follow the series or reach out to discuss what execution looks like when clarity comes first.

Watch Part 1 

Watch Part 2

Why Change Really Fails: A Strategic View on People × Systems × Execution Gaps

Everyone blames people for resisting change
But that’s not the real reason change fails.

In my work across banking, marine offshore, and professional services, I’ve seen one consistent pattern: misalignment between people, systems, and strategy derails transformation.

This is the breakdown I see most often - and what I shared recently in a visual format on LinkedIn. Here’s the deeper view:

1. Change doesn’t fail because people resist.

It fails because leadership skips the hard work of alignment. If strategy, systems, and people aren’t moving together, change stalls, or worse, backfires.

2. People don’t fear change. They fear 'chaos'.

What they resist is being thrown into uncertainty without clarity, support, or context. Change feels threatening when it’s badly led.

3. Here’s what people really resist:

Confusion – No clarity on the purpose or path
Exclusion – Change is done to them, not with them
Poor Sponsorship – Leaders disappear after kickoff

4. Intent vs. Reality: The Leadership Gap

“We’ve communicated everything.” → “No one told us why.”
“The plan is clear.” → “Execution is chaos.”
“We gave support.” → “We’re doing this alone.”

Sound familiar? It’s not a comms issue. It’s a system gap.

5. Ask this before your next transformation:

Are we leading people through change… or just leaving them to survive it?

Change doesn’t land unless you guide people through it.

6. The takeaway?

In urgent, messy transformations, there’s one pattern that holds:

Change succeeds when People × Systems × Strategy move together.


This article is adapted from my original LinkedIn post

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