Intrenion

Pattern: Transformation theater

Change programs signal action while leaving underlying conditions intact.

Situation

  1. In this condition, organizations regularly announce transformation programs presented as comprehensive change initiatives.
  2. In this condition, new roles, committees, workshops, and reporting formats are introduced during each change cycle.
  3. In this condition, core decision rights over budget, hiring, and strategic direction remain with the same authority holders before and after the initiative.
  4. In this condition, employees participate in additional meetings, training, and documentation activities linked to the change program.
  5. In this condition, operational bottlenecks and approval layers observed before the initiative persist after its formal rollout.
  6. In this condition, performance reporting highlights adoption metrics and milestone completions related to the transformation.
  7. In this condition, similar change narratives reappear over time with updated terminology but comparable stated objectives.

Assessment

  1. This occurs because senior leaders face pressure to signal responsiveness without redistributing decision rights or reallocating core resources.
  2. This occurs because altering authority, budget control, or incentive systems generates political resistance that symbolic programs avoid.
  3. This occurs because short performance cycles reward visible activity and narrative coherence more than structural redesign with delayed payoff.
  4. This occurs because middle managers are evaluated on compliance with declared initiatives rather than on challenging binding constraints.
  5. This occurs because transformation offices and consultants are mandated to coordinate frameworks and reporting structures, but lack the power to change decision ownership.
  6. This occurs because legacy governance mechanisms, such as approval gates and risk controls, retain veto authority over proposed changes.
  7. This occurs because admitting structural design failure threatens reputational capital at the executive and board level.

Consequence

  1. Without altering decision rights and resource allocation, transformation efforts will not change operational outcomes tied to those constraints.
  2. Without removing legacy approval layers, additional governance structures will increase coordination overhead and slow execution.
  3. Without aligning incentives with new objectives, employees will prioritize legacy performance criteria over stated transformation goals.
  4. Without visible structural shifts, organizational credibility will decline as repeated initiatives fail to change underlying conditions.
  5. Without confronting concentrated authority, informal power networks will continue to determine actual decisions regardless of formal change narratives.

Decisions

  1. We decide to allocate our working time only to initiatives where we directly control budget or decision rights because this gives us measurable authority over outcomes instead of participating in cross-functional transformation forums without mandate, and accept that we will be excluded from visible strategic conversations.
  2. We decide to evaluate and report our performance solely against operational results we can causally influence because this gives us defensible accountability instead of reporting adoption metrics tied to the transformation program, and accept that our contributions may appear misaligned with official dashboards.
  3. We decide to decline ownership of deliverables that require approval from unchanged legacy gatekeepers because this gives us control over execution timelines instead of committing to milestones dependent on external veto points, and accept that we will forgo recognition attached to high-profile initiatives.

Direct formulations

  1. I will not spend time on transformation initiatives where I do not control the budget or decision-making rights, even if that means I am removed from high-visibility forums.
  2. I will report my performance only in terms of operational results I directly influence and will not present adoption or participation metrics as evidence of impact.
  3. I will refuse ownership of deliverables that depend on unchanged approval gatekeepers and will not commit to timelines I cannot control.