Change. Hold. Drop.
Just because something can be improved doesn't mean it should be changed now.
Image by piai / Adobe Stock
I was recently reviewing my professional biography with Charlie, my assistant. They suggested removing this quote because it sounded rather generic.
Every interaction is an opportunity to accelerate positive growth and impact.
A reasonable editorial observation, perhaps. Except the quote was my own, written many years ago. It had become my personal motto, expressing how I work.
The suggestion was minor, but it made me wonder how often we do the same thing as leaders: change something before understanding why it is there.
The Compulsion to Change
Change is part and parcel of leadership. We expect leaders to improve performance, challenge existing practices, build capabilities and transform organisations. Standing still is rarely seen as an option.
In my work with leaders, I see one initiative arrive before the last is properly embedded. Often several are running at once, while leaders and their teams are expected to keep delivering.
Much of this change is essential, and not always within the leader's control.
So why, against this backdrop, do leaders sometimes introduce changes that don't really need to happen?
Perhaps it’s the desire to make a mark or be seen to be doing something. A manageable change can also feel reassuring when the more important issues are difficult, politically sensitive or outside our control.
Not every motivation is conscious, nor is every unnecessary change driven by ego. Organisational cultures can reward visible activity and quick wins more readily than the less visible work of sustaining performance and making existing strategies succeed.
The pressure can be particularly strong for leaders in transition. New leaders often want to establish credibility quickly, bring fresh thinking and show what they can contribute. All understandable. And the urge to make an early impact can get ahead of understanding what already works, why it works and what might be lost by changing it.
Making your mark and making a meaningful difference are not necessarily the same thing.
When Change Gets in the Way of Change
Here's what concerns me more. When leaders and their teams are already overwhelmed with change, introducing another initiative of questionable value isn't simply unnecessary. It can make the important work harder.
Another process to learn. Another report to produce. Each may look manageable on its own, but the same people have to absorb them alongside everything else. The effects can follow them home.
A 2024 Gartner survey found that 73% of 473 HR leaders reported their employees were fatigued by change. That resonates with what I hear from leaders and teams trying to absorb successive transformations.
And the consequences extend beyond fatigue. Attention becomes fragmented. Priorities compete. Important initiatives lose momentum. People may become sceptical when yet another announcement arrives about doing things differently.
In their Harvard Business Review article Too Many Projects, Rose Hollister and Michael Watkins describe how organisations keep layering new initiatives onto existing ones, even when priorities have shifted. The resulting overload often lands on those expected to make the changes happen.
Small improvements can remove persistent irritations or free up time. But a new performance dashboard will not resolve unclear accountability or competing priorities. The reporting may improve, while the underlying problem remains. And someone still has to prepare it.
The question isn't simply whether an improvement has merit. It's whether it deserves attention when so much else is competing for that same attention.
We can become so busy making improvements that we undermine our ability to deliver the change that genuinely matters.
The Judgement: Change, Hold or Drop
I am not arguing for preserving the status quo. Some changes are essential, even urgent. Others have merit but can wait until we have the capacity to do them properly. If we put a change on hold, we should say when we will reconsider it and what would need to be different. If the benefit does not justify the effort, we should drop it rather than leave it waiting for attention.
Before introducing another initiative, perhaps three questions deserve more attention:
Does this change really matter? What problem are we addressing, and what happens if we leave things as they are?
Why am I choosing it? Would I still pursue it if nobody gave me credit?
Is now the right time? What will it displace? If we hold it, when will we reconsider it?
Our people are already dealing with constant change. Will this next change bring enough benefit to make the extra work worthwhile?
I believe exceptional leadership changes lives, not just bottom lines. Having navigated the demands of global executive leadership myself, I'm passionate about helping leaders thrive with authenticity and edge.
Partnering with senior executives and leadership teams across global and Australian organisations, I help them navigate transitions, complex relationships and the challenges of leading in an ever-changing world.
I welcome genuine connections on LinkedIn. You never know when our paths might cross. Sales pitches and spam? Still allergic!
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