Why 70% of Transformations Fail (And How to Be in the 30%)

I once walked into a program launch where twelve teams each had their own roadmap. Nobody agreed on what “done” looked like. Everyone was busy. Nothing was changing.

Whether the exact failure rate is 70% or 57% matters less than the pattern: transformations fail for the same human reasons, repeatedly. Here’s how we run them differently.

Establish a Clear Purpose Statement

Before anything else, answer this: what is the one sentence that describes success? A director should be able to say it without looking at notes.

• Is value coming from revenue, cost, or risk reduction?
• That statement governs every governance discussion
• Every status update connects back to it
• Work that doesn’t serve it gets moved to “later”

Focus is a resource. Spend it deliberately.

Enable Leadership Execution

Sponsorship isn’t a name on the first slide. It’s visible, consistent, and operational.

Real sponsorship looks like:

• Decisions returned within 48 hours, not weeks
• Leaders showing up to working sessions, not just steering committees
• Willingness to stop work that isn’t delivering

When leadership is consistent, resistance fades. People stop waiting to see which way the wind blows because the direction is clear.

Design Achievable Implementation Work

Go-live is not success. Adoption is.

The difference between systems that get used and systems that get worked around comes down to how you design the change:

• Map what changes for each role, not just which buttons to click
• Build training around realistic scenarios, not feature tours
• Equip managers to coach, not just forward emails

Leading indicators matter: Are people using it consistently? Are they getting better at it? Has the grumbling stabilized?

Implement Transparent Governance

Governance should be boring. That’s the goal.

• One place for documentation
• One cadence for reporting
• One log for decisions
• No shadow decision-making
• No surprises in status updates
• Finance at the table, so conversations stay grounded in value

When everyone sees the same picture, energy goes toward solving problems instead of debating what the problems are.

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If your transformation feels heavy on motion but light on progress, let’s talk. We help organizations redirect energy toward outcomes that actually stick.