Recent research from Bain & Company (2024) shows that a staggering 88% of change initiatives fall short of their intended goals. This is mostly due to employee resistance and a lack of leadership support. As AI transformation accelerates, leaders must navigate both the technical and human sides of change to drive true transformation.
In other words, even when changes are well-planned and make sense for the business, and even when they’re executed relatively well on a practical level, they still fail most of the time. This isn’t surprising when you reflect on our human history: until very recently, it was almost always safer not to change.
At Proteus, we use a framework called the Change Arc, which describes the mental and emotional shift any person must go through to make change happen. We’ve seen it become even more critical today as leaders navigate AI transformation and other disruptive shifts that demand new ways of thinking, working, and leading.
Applying the Change Arc to Organizational and AI-Driven Change
In the work we do with clients, we use our understanding of how individuals move through change to improve the odds of success. We’ve figured out how to cascade the mindset shift at the heart of the Change Arc throughout an entire group or organization. At the same time, we are also attending to the nuts-and-bolts aspects of implementation.
Here’s the five-step Change Model we use:
Wait, Why Are There a Bunch of Arcs on Top of the Model?
The five-step model is a path for moving change through an organization well, integrating both human and practical aspects. The arcs show that people begin going through their own Change Arc when they’re introduced to the change, which could be at any step of the model.
Imagine the person starting their arc in Step 1 is the head of production who first realizes AI could transform outdated production processes. By the time he approaches the senior team, he’s already moved from seeing AI adoption as difficult, costly, and weird to seeing it as potentially easy, rewarding, and normal.
When he makes a compelling case, the team decides to integrate AI tools. They clarify what the change will be, why it’s needed, and what the future company will look like with AI embedded in workflows, moving through Steps 1 and 2: Define the Opportunity and Envision the Future State. During this time, the senior team begins its own mindset shift.
Building the Change: Creating Buy-In and Clarity
In Step 3, Build the Change, the senior team determines who will lead implementation and engages key stakeholders to plan it. These new people benefit from the clarity achieved in the earlier steps, making it easier to move through their own Change Arc.
Leading the Transition: Supporting Your People
In Step 4, Lead the Transition, the focus shifts to helping those most affected understand, accept, and adopt the change. The change team develops and executes a robust transition plan, ensuring employees have the support they need to integrate new tools and ways of working. This is especially critical with AI adoption, where fear of job displacement or unfamiliarity with technology can create added resistance.
Keeping the Change Going: Sustaining Transformation
Finally, in Step 5, Keep the Change Going, the focus is on ensuring the change is fully embedded, delivering the intended benefits on both a practical and human level.
Why This Approach Works, Especially for AI Transformation
We’ve found that integrating thoughtful planning with an intentional focus on helping people navigate their individual Change Arc yields a much higher success rate. Leaders become better equipped to guide their teams through disruptive shifts, and employees become more willing and able to adopt new technologies, processes, and mindsets.
In today’s fast-moving world, where AI is rapidly redefining what’s possible, helping people see change as easy, rewarding, and normal isn’t just nice to have. It’s essential to unlocking true transformation.
