Change Management In Supply Chain

Leading change isn't just about having a compelling vision or a well-crafted strategy. Through my years as a transformation leader, I've discovered that the most challenging aspect lies in understanding and addressing the human elements that often go unnoticed. The fundamental mistake many leaders make is assuming people resist change itself. People don't resist change - they resist loss. Research shows that the pain of losing something is twice as powerful as the pleasure of gaining something new. This insight completely transforms how we should approach change management. When implementing change, we must recognize five core types of loss that drive resistance. * First, there's the loss of safety and security - our basic need for predictability and stability. * Second, we face the potential loss of freedom and autonomy - our ability to control our circumstances.  * Third, there's the fear of losing status and recognition - particularly relevant in organizational hierarchies.  * Fourth, we confront the possible loss of belonging and connection - our vital social bonds. * Finally, there's the concern about fairness and justice - our fundamental need for equitable treatment. What makes these losses particularly challenging is their connection to identity.  When change threatens these aspects of our work life, it doesn't just challenge our routines and who we think we are. This is why seemingly simple changes can trigger such profound resistance. As leaders, our role must evolve. We need to be both champions of change and anchors of stability.  Research shows that people are four times more likely to accept change when they clearly understand what will remain constant. This insight should fundamentally shift our approach to change communication. The path forward requires a more nuanced approach. We must acknowledge losses openly, create space for processing transition and highlight what remains stable. Most importantly, we need to help our teams maintain their sense of identity while embracing new possibilities. In my experience, the most successful transformations occur when leaders understand these hidden dynamics. We must also honour the present and past. This means creating an environment where both loss and possibility can coexist. The key is to approach resistance with curiosity rather than frustration. When we encounter pushback, it's often signaling important concerns that need addressing. By listening to this wisdom and addressing the underlying losses, we can build stronger foundations for change. These insights become even more crucial as we navigate an increasingly dynamic business environment. The future belongs to leaders who can balance the drive for transformation with the human need for stability and meaning. True transformation isn't just about changing what we do - it's about evolving who we are while honouring who we've been. #leadership #leadwithrajeev

“That’s how it’s always been done.” “This won’t work in our industry.” “You’re too new to get it.” If I had a penny for every time I heard these lines when proposing a change—I’d probably be running a unicorn startup by now. 😅 I still remember one of my first experiences in a new role. I suggested revisiting a job description—not to overhaul it, but simply to remove ambiguities, overlaps, and duplication of work that had crept in over time. The reaction? “This JD has worked for years. No one’s complained so far.” There it was: the resistance wall. Over the years, I’ve seen this play out across functions and industries: 🔹 A new joiner suggests digitizing a manual report—gets told, “This Excel sheet has worked for us for 10 years.” 🔹 A manager proposes flexible shift timings—hears, “Our clients expect us to be online 9 to 6.” 🔹 A team member raises a safety concern about slippery delivery ramps in monsoon and recommends anti-skid mats—gets dismissed: “We’ve never had an accident. Just be cautious.” 🔹 A process engineer suggests eliminating a redundant approval step to speed things up—only to be told, “That’s how our hierarchy works. Don’t skip protocol.” What’s really going on here? ➡️ Change triggers fear—of disruption, of being proven wrong, of additional effort. ➡️ Defensiveness kicks in—especially when the idea comes from someone “new” or “junior.” ➡️ And improvement turns into a power struggle, instead of a shared goal. But here’s what experience teaches you: 💡 Resistance doesn’t always mean rejection. It often means someone feels unsure, unprepared, or undervalued. So how do we move from resistance to reflection? ✅ Start with what’s working—and build from there. ✅ Ask instead of assert—“What if we tried this for a week?” ✅ Show vs sell—pilot it, demonstrate the impact. ✅ Involve, don’t impose—people support what they help create. ✅ Leaders: protect and back your changemakers—especially the quiet, persistent ones. 🌱 Most change doesn’t need a revolution. Sometimes, it just needs someone to ask: “Would you be open to a better way?” ⸻ What’s a change you tried suggesting that hit resistance? Did you push through—or pivot? Let’s talk about it 👇 #ChangeManagement #LeadershipInAction #WorkplaceCulture #OrganizationalChange #HRStories #VoiceAtWork #ContinuousImprovement #RealWorkplaceTalk #BreakingBarriers #ModernWorkplace #PsychologicalSafety P.S my own change met with resistance and then just becoming the norm.

“People are resistant to change” is one of the laziest diagnoses in leadership. It blames your people before asking whether you’ve led the change well. Last week, I had the pleasure of working with a leadership team navigating a significant change. What I appreciated most was their humility and curiosity. They didn’t assume their people were the problem. Instead, they asked: “What’s getting in the way of our people adopting this change?” That’s a much better question. It opens up the possibility that the issue might be clarity, capability, workload, competing incentives, trust, fear, loss or the way the change is being led. Two books shaped our conversation: "How Change Really Works" by my old friend Julia Dhar and her colleagues at BCG, and “Leadership on the Line” by my former Professor Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linsky. Heifetz’s distinction between technical and adaptive challenges feels particularly relevant right now. Technical challenges can usually be addressed through expertise. Choose the tools, redesign the process, run the training. Adaptive challenges are harder. They require people to change habits, question assumptions, build new capabilities and sometimes let go of ways of working, sources of status or professional identities that have served them for years. This is where many AI transformations are getting stuck. They’re being treated as technical rollouts when the hardest parts are deeply human. What does this mean for my role? Will the expertise I’ve spent years building still matter? What am I now expected to stop doing? Can I experiment without being judged if I get it wrong? Where will my value come from in the future? You can’t solve those existential questions with another training session or a more enthusiastic launch email. No offense to anyone who has tried The barriers in “How Change Really Works” give you a practical place to start. ❓Do your people have the knowledge, skills, time and resources they need? ❓Do they have genuine permission to work differently? ❓Can they see something meaningful to gain? ❓And what do they believe they might lose? These aren’t touchy-feely questions. They’re THE work. Because what looks like resistance may actually be exhaustion, confusion, fear, mistrust or a perfectly rational response to a change that hasn’t yet made sense. Your job as a leader is to stay curious about what’s really happening, rather than pushing harder and blaming your people when they don’t move quickly enough. Before deciding your people are resistant to change, ask: “Are we treating an adaptive challenge as though it were only a technical one This is where the magic lives.

Change efforts often fail because they are driven by selling rather than compelling. Selling induces decisions. Compelling alters beliefs, and beliefs drive behavior long after decisions fade. I've been thinking a lot about this lately, and dived into the rich literature on belief formation and perseverance. Once beliefs are formed, they are psychologically resilient (even in the face of clear disconfirming evidence) because people build internal explanations that continue to support them. Beliefs change not when people are beaten by facts, but when they feel safe enough to rethink the explanations that make those beliefs meaningful. So, how do you compel people to change their minds about something? Three ideas: 1. Create safety before challenge People don’t rethink beliefs while defending their identity. Affirm intent, competence, and shared goals first. Lower psychological threat before introducing cognitive friction. Curiosity opens minds faster than correctness. 2. Work on explanations, not positions Beliefs persist because the explanations behind them persist. Don’t argue conclusions. Explore how the belief works, when it breaks, and what it struggles to explain. Insight happens when people discover cracks themselves. 3. Let people author the new belief Belief change sticks when people build the alternative. Co-create a better explanation. Run small experiments. Replace the old story with one that explains reality more clearly and feels safe to adopt. In practice, compelling change means moving conversations up and to the right: Lower the costs of being wrong, and shift focus of the discussion from conclusions to explanations. That’s where beliefs transform. If you want people to change their minds, rather than selling better answers consider helping them outgrow the explanations that once made the old ones feel true. #change #learning #beliefs #leadership #growth #reflection #insights #compelling #selling #influence

The CEO's voice crackled with anxiety over the video call. "𝑾𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑵𝒐𝒘." I sighed inwardly. Our 3rd emergency meeting in 11 weeks. 𝐀 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐱𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲. The pattern was clear: ↪ Market shift triggers uncertainty in business model ↪ Anxious CEO calls for full strategy overhaul ↪ Team scrambles to re-plan everything ↪ Brief illusion of control ↪ New market shift.  ↪ Rinse. Repeat. The CPO was frustrated: "𝑾𝒆'𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌." The CSO was exasperated: "𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒑..." Innovation stalled. Base business thudded. The team was burning out. My role as advisor? 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐱𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐩 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞. Inspired by an aha moment in my morning walk, I posed a question. "𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞?" Confused looks all around, but I also saw a glimmer of intrigue. 🧠 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤: • Embrace uncertainty as a catalyst for innovation • Replace rigid plans with adaptive strategies • Cultivate team resilience over leader omniscience 🛠️ 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐬 𝐖𝐞 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝: • Weekly "uncertainty check-ins" to normalize change • Rapid prototyping instead of endless planning • Celebrating adaptive wins, not just meeting targets 👏 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬 • Endless strategy sessions cut by 70% • Two major product launches in 6 months • CEO anxiety noticeably lowered • Team cohesion and creativity skyrocketed 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧: 𝐀𝐧𝐱𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥. 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐲, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭. 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧: What leadership anxiety can you transform into the rocket fuel of adaptability? Photo: me recreating my face when hit by the Anxiety♻️Adaptability aha that morning! #Entreprenurship #Anxiety #AdaptiveLeadership #Transformation #EmotionalIntelligence

I’ve never seen innovation begin with comfort. I’ve seen it begin with financial pain, or with the ambition to leapfrog the competition. When I spearheaded business process reengineering at Hyatt in the early 1990's, the pain was real. Owners were not making the returns they expected. Processes were outdated. Layers of “we’ve always done it this way” had created inefficiency. People were working hard. The system was not. Pain creates clarity. But clarity alone does not create change. What broke the status quo was a clear executive mandate. Without top-down support, outdated systems defend themselves. With mandate, something shifted. Ideas began bubbling up. Not from consultants. Not from strategy decks. From people inside the system. Years later, as a consultant, I saw the same pattern repeat. The best ideas were already in the room. People closest to the problem often know exactly what needs to change. They just need: Permission. A little nudging. And someone willing to ask better questions. What’s slowing you down? Where are customers frustrated? If you could redesign this from scratch, what would you do differently? Innovation is rarely a lightning strike. It is friction or ambition, combined with leadership courage and disciplined listening. What pain are you tolerating, or what ambition are you ready to pursue, that could become your next breakthrough? #Leadership #Innovation #ChangeManagement #Strategy

In healthcare, innovation isn’t just about shiny apps or breakthrough devices. The most impactful innovations can involve rethinking how an entire system works—while still keeping it running. That’s the challenging truth facing large US health systems like Advocate Health and Sutter Health. With mounting pressures—rising costs, staff shortages, and digital-first competitors—these organizations are finding that focusing only on incremental change won’t cut it. They’re building enterprise-wide innovation ecosystems designed to unlock creativity at scale. I explore what they’re doing in a new article for Forbes (a link is in the Comments below). At Advocate Health, for example, this means going beyond pilot projects or siloed innovation labs. Their approach includes: - Strategic partnerships with startups and accelerators - Internal investment funds and innovation districts - Tech transfer capabilities to bring discoveries to market - Leadership development programs built around tools like Jobs to Be Done, human-centered design, and the business model canvas It’s a significant shift—embedding innovation not just in strategy decks, but in the day-to-day work of solving persistent pain points. Teams aren’t just testing new tech. They’re tackling the real “struggling moments” for patients, clinicians, and administrators alike—from vendor inefficiencies to emergency room backlogs—and redesigning care delivery around those needs. One key lesson? Change happens when innovation teams forge close ties with operational leaders and treat them as co-creators, not gatekeepers. That approach opens the door for adoption and scale—critical in a sector that can be both risk-averse and in dire need of reinvention. In a future where innovation methods are as standard as EHRs and MRIs, standalone “innovation departments” may become obsolete. But, until then, health systems that build these capabilities now will be better equipped to navigate uncertainty—and lead the industry transformation already underway. The takeaway for innovators everywhere: When facing entrenched systems and high stakes, don’t just think different—build systems that work differently.

A knee-jerk reaction to team resistance might be: “Fire them all and start again.” But here’s the truth you probably don’t want to hear: Your team isn’t resisting change, they’re resisting you. That’s a tough pill to swallow, but let’s be honest, change rarely fails because the idea is bad. It fails because trust is broken and because you skipped the “why,” and fear filled the silence you left behind. When your team pushes back, here’s what they’re really saying: “I don’t trust where this is going.” “No one asked me.” “I’m scared, and I don’t feel safe saying that out loud.” “You’ve changed things before and left us to clean up the mess.” Change is emotional, human, and messy. So if you want real buy-in? Don’t start with a strategy deck, start with your people. Here’s how: 1️⃣ Ask Invite input early. Before rolling out a change, ask your team what they think. What are their worries? What would make this easier for them? Use open-ended questions like: “What do you see as the biggest challenge here?” “How do you think this change could help us?” 2️⃣ Listen Really listen. Don’t just nod along, take notes, ask clarifying questions, and reflect back what you’re hearing. Acknowledge the emotion: “It sounds like you’re worried about how this will impact your workload. That’s a valid concern.” 3️⃣ Validate Show you value their perspective. Even if you can’t act on every suggestion, let them know their voice matters. Be transparent about any constraints. Make the change with them, not to them. Co-create solutions. Let the team own parts of the process. When things get tough, solve problems together, not in isolation. And when things get bumpy? Because they will: ✅ Celebrate the tiny wins, because they matter more than you think. ✅ Talk about the challenges and fix them together. When leaders try to solve the bumpiness alone, they leave their team feeling lost at sea. And let’s be honest, that’s a tough place to be left alone. So bring your team into the journey, or at least keep them in the discussion. My rule is simple: If it impacts them, communicate, don’t hide. Want to drive change that actually sticks? Start with trust, not tactics.

When my team resists a strategic shift, I ask one question: "What would have to be true for this to be the right move?" It's a consciousness practice disguised as a business question. Instead of defending my position or presenting more data, I'm inviting them to examine their assumptions. The conversation shifts from "Jason wants us to do X" to "what are we actually afraid of here?" Learned this integrating 100+ partner platforms at Google. A VP kept blocking an API strategy that would have unlocked $200M in revenue. Turned out his resistance wasn't technical—it was fear of cannibalizing a relationship with his former employer. One question surfaced what three months of presentations couldn't. Your team's resistance isn't opposition. It's information. The practice is learning to receive it without defensiveness.

For years, I thought I understood motivation. Turns out, I was wrong. In fact, most of what I believed was either incomplete… or completely wrong. Here are 5 hard-earned lessons I had to unlearn, and what actually works instead: 1. “Rewards drive results.” 🛑 Not always. External rewards can 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵 from the work itself, especially for people motivated by mastery or purpose. I’ve seen performance drop 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 bonuses were announced. Why? Because the work became transactional. 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: “What makes this work feel meaningful to you?” 2. “Everyone wants to be promoted.” 🛑 Strange but true: some people actually see promotion as punishment. A new title, new colleagues, more meetings, more work, less of the work they 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 enjoy. I've seen high performers given a team lead role, only to watch their energy and motivation drain overnight. They didn’t want status. They wanted autonomy. Now I ask: “What would growth 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 for you?” 3. “If someone’s not speaking up, they’re disengaged.” 🛑 Silence can be self-protection. I’ve worked with brilliant people who were completely switched off in meetings. Why? Because their motivators clashed with a culture of constant change and challenge. Lesson: Some motivators shut people down 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 they even speak. 4. “High performers are naturally self-motivated.” 🛑 No one is immune to misalignment. I’ve seen top performers go from 100% to checked-out in under 3 months, often because as their role evolved, their drivers no longer matched the work. Motivation isn’t static. It needs to be 𝘳𝘦-𝘮𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 regularly. 5. “You can motivate people the way you’d want to be motivated.” 🛑 This one’s the big one for me. You can’t lead from your own motivational style. You have to 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘥𝘦 theirs. What drives you might drain them. That’s just a human reality. TL;DR: Motivation isn’t about pushing people harder. It’s about uncovering what already pulls them forward and making sure their work aligns with it. There are outstanding tools to help you do this important work. If you're a leader, forget what you were taught about motivation. Start listening for what most people never say out loud. __________________________