Why Change Efforts Fail

60-70% of all change initiatives fail to obtain their sustained intended outcomes. If leaders know what’s broken, how to fix it, and how to implement the changes then why are the benefits still elusive? Stalled initiatives, minimal adoption, and leadership fatigue are real challenges felt from the top down.

“Sell Change,” “Identify Resistance,” and “Start with Strategy” are common buzz-phrases that repeat over and over. These aren’t wrong, but they don’t help organizations understand what problem they’re solving to deliver change.

What if there was a simple method to increase adoption and set the organization up for success?

Simplicity increases the probability of successful execution so let’s break it down.

The Hidden Problem: The Fitness Parallel

Stage preparation is something most people can relate to once they see it from their own personal life, the gym paradox.

Did you know that after one year, only 22% of new gym members still attend? More than 50% of new exercisers quit within the first 3–6 months. The numbers are eerily similar in the corporate world.

In a fitness study based on the Stages of Change Theory, individuals were grouped into four wellness profiles:

• Healthy
• Unhealthy
• Poor psychological wellness
• Poor physical wellness

Members in the poor psychological wellness group were 2.24 times more likely to terminate after one year compared to the healthy group.

Members in the unhealthy group were 2.4 times more likely to terminate.

Those in the poor physical wellness group did not significantly increase the likelihood of termination, but they attended less frequently, essentially paying for a service they weren’t fully using. Any SaaS solutions you have sound familiar?

Why people stopped attending (and why organizations stall):

• Poor psychological wellness: High stress and low satisfaction reduce self-regulation and the ability to maintain routines.
• Unhealthy profiles: When multiple dimensions are low (psychological, physical, metabolic, sleep), individuals are more likely to drop out.
• Lack of structured feedback or accountability: Without tracking progress or visible wins, motivation fades.
• Overambitious starts and unrealistic pacing: Going too hard too fast leads to burnout.

What was not a primary reason for dropping out:

• Lack of time
• Membership cost
• Gym facility issues
• Lower fitness or metabolic levels alone (unless combined with other factors like poor sleep or stress)

The catalyst for dropping out? Internal disruption. Not for service or financial reasons. So how do you understand your current assessment and where you fall in the stages of change?

Understanding Where Your Organization Falls

The similarities between fitness and organizational change are striking. Why does improvement, whether in physical health or business performance, often fail to sustain? Review these phrases and see if any sound familiar:

Common Phrases in Low Psychological Safety Organizations

Employees may say:

• “That’s above my pay grade.”
• “I just do what I’m asked.”
• “It’s easier to stay quiet and let it work itself out.”
• “Any good ideas we bring up backfires and adds to our work so it never gets done”

Qualities of a Poor Physical Wellness Organization

Employees may say:

• “We’re constantly putting out fires; there’s no time to think ahead.”
• “Every time one project ends, another starts immediately.”
• “We don’t have the bandwidth, we just get it done.”
• “It feels like we’re sprinting a marathon.”

Qualities of an Unhealthy Organization

Employees may say:

• “I stopped sharing ideas, it’s not worth the pushback.”
• “No one really knows what success looks like here, things just get done.”
• “The same people who do the most work always end up doing more.”
• “Everyone’s exhausted, but that’s just how it is.”

Qualities of a Healthy Organization

Employees may say:

• “We take a breather between projects to see what worked.”
• “I know my input matters.”
• “We collaborate even when we disagree.”
• “We know what to expect and the teams follow through.”

Consequences of Not Understanding Your Organization

What is the real impact of misunderstanding your organization’s readiness?

In fitness, the consequences are often visible, but in organizations, many are hidden through layers. Let’s break them down simply into psychological, physical, and financial impacts.

Psychological:

Erosion of confidence: Repeated failed attempts create learned helplessnessà“I guess change just doesn’t work for us.”

Identity dissonance: The organization starts to lose connection with its “why.”

Physical:

Declining performance: When misaligned operations lose efficiency and endurance.

Chronic fatigue and stagnation: Energy is spent maintaining the status quo vs building new capacity.

Low vitality: Engagement, creativity, and problem-solving weaken creating “organizational brain rot.”

Financial:

Wasted investment: Outcomes never materialize, leaving sunken costs and frustration.

Hesitation to invest again: After being “burned” before, leadership becomes risk-averse, perpetuating stagnation.

Reputation and retention loss: Credibility diminishes, weakening both internal and external confidence.

The Stages of Organizational Change

Let’s translate this into a standard stages of change model which can be leveraged in both fitness and business as progress unfolds in predictable stages.

Kanosis identifies the Stage 0- the Pre-Change Stage with 4 Stages of Change for organizations.

Stage	Mindset	Organizational Signs
0. Pre-Change- Awareness	“We’re fine.”	Low feedback, defensive culture
1. Evaluate- Contemplation	“We might need to change.”	Leadership conversations, no action
2. Commit- Preparation	“We’re ready to try.”	Early pilots, vision work
3. Implement- Action	“We’re doing it.”	Energy spikes, role friction
4. Integrate- Maintenance	“This is how we work now.”	Integrated behaviors, stable metrics

Each stage (whether in personal fitness or organizational health) requires different types of support. Misalignment between stage and strategy is the #1 cause of wasted effort.

Organizations consist of teams of individuals, and each team can exist in a different stage of change. The Kanosis Clarity™ Change Readiness diagnostic uncovers where each team truly is, providing structure and leadership support that fosters alignment.

The result: consistent accountability, fluid messaging, aligned goals, and synchronized collaboration.

The Consequences of Skipping Stages

Many companies “declare” change at Stage 3 (Commit) while much of the organization still operates at Stage 1 or 2.

• The fallout is predictable:
• Change fatigue
• Fragmented culture
• Loss of trust in leadership

Resistance alone does suffocate change. Resistance is the symptom of the real issue: leaders skipping critical stages of readiness before moving forward.

Leading with Readiness

Readiness can be leveraged as a strategic asset when utilized correctly. Organizations that match initiatives to their actual stage see faster adoption and higher ROI falling in the 30% of successful change initiatives.

Benefits of stage-based readiness include:

• Readiness-based segmentation: Shows where teams are on the change journey, informing strategy and timing.
• Measurable progress: Clear stages and checkpoints create transparency.
• Simplified adoption: Reduces buzzwords and unnecessary roadblocks.
• Higher success rates: Applicable to both fitness and business change.

Before your next deployment, ask: Which stage is everyone in? Perform an internal check across your teams. Or leverage the Kanosis Clarity Stages of Change diagnostic to obtain an evidence based perspective to avoid internal delays, costly delays, and misalignment.

Clarity Before Change

Kanosis is built for elevating through motion. Our diagnostics and assessments map exactly where your organization is in its change journey so you can move forward with confidence.

Request a no-cost Kanosis Clarity™ Change Readiness fit consult if your goals are defined, or explore the Kanosis Clarity™ Framework to identify opportunities for the highest impact.

Clarity the Drives Performance.