Having established how damaging change fatigue can be to employees, change initiatives, and the organisation, I want to turn attention back to gaining a deeper understanding of why change fatigue occurs. In reality, there is no deep secret to the underlying reasons behind change fatigue. They lie in two distinct areas.

Understand your people are not stupid

In this interconnected world, people are more informed than they have ever been. They know that most change initiatives fail, and especially if they work in an organisation that instigates constant change initiatives with none matching their promised effectiveness.

Making change stick is hard work, but people also realise that a change initiative will require them to put in extra effort.

On top of their already crowded day they will be asked to do more, take on extra responsibility, and probably spend more time at work. In an organisation where new change initiatives are a common thread, this situation is quickly demoralising. With another change project just around the corner (probably set to undo most of what is promised by the current change project), people simply stop collaborating in constant change.

Understand that your change method may induce change fatigue

Most organisations employ one of three standard change project structures, expecting them to work every time. Often, it is this rigid structure that leads to change fatigue. They are set up to burn out.

The burning platform method of change project management

Made famous by Stephen Elop’s Burning Platform memo to staff at Nokia, this method seeks to create an urgency for change. The organisation concentrates on market threats to its existence, making people aware of what will happen if the organisation doesn’t change. The problem with this method is that people in turn concentrate only on the problem and the threat, failing to work towards a solution.

The real threat to the organisation that uses this method is that people rush to create change, thus missing the opportunities that the threat afforded. With little forward momentum, the threat seems to grow, and the most talented people jump ship before it goes down.

The immediate change method

Markets move quickly, and market conditions change overnight. Organisations try to adapt just as quickly, but this is usually impossible, especially for the largest organisations. Of course, there is urgency to change; but this urgency must be accompanied by a clear and compelling vision of the future and a mission that adapts corporate culture. It takes a long time for these new behaviours and beliefs to bed in – years, in many cases – so it is better to create a culture of constant change than expect the organisation to change immediately.

A change in strategy will undoubtedly require a number of change initiatives to be instigated: these will need to be coordinated and planned in detail - and that takes time.

Focussing attention on the change management team

While change initiatives must be led, many organisations make the mistake of focussing too hard on the change management team. They recruit what they consider to be the biggest talent within the organisation, creating dedicated teams and then removing them from the business they seek to change.

This can create an ‘Us vs. Them’ mentality, disrupting team harmony and fostering a lack of change project ownership. Change leaders are reduced to being labelled as failures.

There will also be a natural time lag between the design of a change initiative, the establishment of the change management team, and the delivery of the change project: by which time the need for change has itself changed with market developments.

Removing the propensity for change fatigue

The secret ingredient to avoid change fatigue is to ensure that your change leaders are prepared to lead change, and then prepare their people for change. The above methods don’t fail because they are inherently flawed, but because they are executed poorly: and that is the fault of poor leadership. In my next article, I’ll look at four techniques to invigorate change leaders and avoid change fatigue.

Read More:

Change Fatigue: A Killer Disease in a Constantly Changing Economy

14 Symptoms of Change Fatigue

Four Techniques to Invigorate Change Leaders and Avoid Change Fatigue

How to Lead the People-Side of Your Change Initiative: Good Practices vs. Bad Practices