Spring break is still a few weeks away in our house, but my son has already started the countdown. The focus he’s applying to the calendar right now is… impressive (and yet strangely absent when homework is involved). There’s something powerful about a scheduled pause. Just seeing it on the calendar changes the energy. It creates permission to reset, and occasionally, people actually take it.

But inside most organizations, this time of year lands differently because late March isn’t just the end of Q1, it’s the unofficial start of the year. Budgets came in late. Leadership shifts slowed decisions. Priorities took longer to settle than anyone planned (or will admit). None of that is the issue. What happens next is.

Instead of acknowledging the delayed start, organizations do what they do best: pretend it didn’t happen. A full year of work gets compressed into the three quarters that remain. Everything from Q1 gets pushed into Q2, landing squarely in the laps of leaner teams, tighter budgets, and efficiency targets that never seem to go down.

By September, the outcome is predictable: half-finished initiatives, exhausted teams, and a quiet sense the year got away from you.

And then we all act surprised.

A real reset requires something most organizations avoid: honesty. Not as an excuse. Not to lower the bar. But because your people already know the year didn’t really start in January, the pace is off, and the math isn’t mathing.

And naming that doesn’t create tension, it releases it.

So as you head into whatever version of spring is coming, consider a different kind of reset. If the year really starts now, then the question isn’t how to catch up, it’s what actually deserves to get finished.

Warm regards,

THE LATEST

Routinizing Change
February 27, 2026
by Mary Faulkner
Read more>

When High Performance Costs Too Much
December 5, 2025
by Amie Deak
Read more>

Seven Years In (and Still Surprised)
January 7, 2026
by Mary Faulkner
Read more>

PM Corner

Your PMO might be hitting every milestone, staying on budget, and going live on schedule, but is anyone actually managing the change? This month, Sammye Walton explores the gap between project delivery and real adoption, why accountability for the human side of change so often falls through the cracks, and what PMOs can do to close it before momentum quietly disappears.

PMO is managing the plan, but is anyone managing change?
March 18, 2026
by Sammye Walton
Read more>

OF INTEREST

The next business differentiator is…thriving workers?
Read More >

Harvard Business Review wonders about the end of thought leadership.
Read More >

Open source AI – surely nothing could go wrong.
Read More >

I, for one, welcome our robot vacuum overlords.
Read More >

a trusted partner.

Our 100% business case approval and perfect NPS certainly speak to our results, but our real measure of success is when we’re no longer needed. In a time when trust is critical, turn to the advisors who truly have your best interests at heart.

The post The Real March Madness: Nine Months to Finish a Twelve-Month Year appeared first on IA Transforms.

I’ve seen it happen. The milestones are met. The steering committee gets regular updates. The RAID log is current, the budget is under control, and the rollout goes live right on schedule. On paper, everything looks right. And yet the business still struggles to realize the value it expected. Teams resist new ways of working. Leaders don’t reinforce the change. Adoption lags. Benefits stall.

That gap between delivery and realization is exactly why project management and change management cannot be treated as the same thing.

Which brings me to a question I find myself asking more often than I’d like: while the PMO is managing the plan, is anyone managing the change?

The PMO does its job…which is part of the problem

In many organizations, the PMO is the engine of structure. It brings governance, transparency, consistency, and execution discipline – work that is genuinely essential. A strong PMO helps teams move from ideas to delivery with far more control and much less chaos.

But by design, PMOs center on scope, schedule, budget, risk, dependencies, and reporting. Those are delivery mechanics. They are necessary, and they are not the whole picture.

A project plan can confirm that a system has been configured, tested, and deployed. It can show that communications were sent and training was completed. But those outputs don’t guarantee that the organization is ready; that managers know how to lead through the transition, or that employees will actually use the new process in the way intended.

A delivered project is not always the same as a successful change.

Where the accountability gap lives

This is the blind spot I see most often. The PMO is doing its job, but the human side of change remains only partially owned.

Sometimes it’s assumed that communication will cover it. Sometimes HR is expected to step in. Sometimes business leaders are told to “bring their teams along,” often with little or no support. And sometimes everyone contributes a little, which usually means no one is truly accountable.

In my experience, that diffusion of ownership is where change efforts quietly die – not dramatically or with a clear failure moment. Just a slow erosion of momentum that no one quite knows how to name or fix.

Making change visible, measurable, and intentional

This is where PMOs have an opportunity they don’t always take.

Even if the PMO does not own formal change management, it can elevate the right questions early: Who is impacted? How significant is the behavior shift? Who is accountable for stakeholder engagement? How will readiness be assessed? What support do managers need? How will adoption be measured after go-live?

These are not “soft” questions. They are delivery questions – especially if the goal is not just launch, but results.

PMOs can also strengthen governance by expanding what success looks like. If steering committees only review schedule, cost, and risk, they’re seeing only part of the picture. A more complete view includes readiness indicators, stakeholder engagement, training effectiveness, sponsor visibility, and early adoption signals. That doesn’t make governance heavier; it makes it more honest. It shifts the conversation from “Did we deliver?” to “Is the business actually moving in the direction we want?”

The good news

Organizations don’t have to choose between strong project management and strong change management. They need both, working together.

A PMO does not have to become a dedicated change function overnight, but it can help ensure change has an owner, that adoption risks are surfaced early, and that business readiness is treated as part of delivery – not an afterthought. That’s where PMOs become most valuable: not just as managers of plans, but as enablers of outcomes.

So yes, the PMO should keep managing the plan. That work is foundational.

But the most effective organizations go one step further. They make the change visible, accountable, and real.

When that happens, projects don’t just finish.

They stick. They scale. They deliver the value they were meant to create.

The post PMO is managing the plan, but is anyone managing change? appeared first on IA Transforms.

Digital acceleration, AI integration, geopolitical instability, shifting workforce expectations and relentless cost pressures have collapsed the traditional rhythm of change. What used to unfold in multi-year programs now arrive in overlapping waves, yet many organizations are still wired to treat transformation as an “initiative” to be launched with fanfare, managed as a project, and declared complete before the next disruption hits.

That operating model is obsolete.

The organizations outperforming in today’s environment aren’t necessarily better at change management. Instead, they’ve made a more fundamental shift to routinize change. In other words, they’ve embedded adaptability as a daily leadership practice, evolving both operating norms and cultural expectations. Change is no longer an interruption to the system. It is the system.

For HR leaders, this shift represents both a mandate and an opportunity.

From Event-åBased Change to Continuous Adaptation

Most organizations still approach transformation as a sequence of large-scale efforts, whether it’s a new HRIS implementation, a reorganization, a digital modernization program, or a culture reset. Each requires its own governance structure, communications plan and change toolkit.

But when change is constant, that model creates fatigue. Employees experience transformation as disruption layered upon disruption, leaders default to “initiative overload,” and HR becomes the air traffic controller of competing priorities rather than the architect of adaptability.

Routinizing change flips the script. Instead of managing change as an event, organizations design for it as an enduring capability. This means:

• Leaders treat experimentation as part of performance, not a side project.
• Teams expect processes and roles to evolve.
• Feedback loops operate continuously, not just during engagement surveys.
• Learning is embedded in the flow of work.

The shift is subtle but profound. Transformation becomes less about mobilizing people for periodic upheaval and more about building the muscle to adjust, learn, and recalibrate in real time.

Why the C-Suite Should Care

For CEOs and CFOs, the argument for routinized change is largely economic.

In a volatile environment, the ability to pivot quickly, reallocate talent, reshape work, and redeploy capital is a competitive differentiator. Organizations that institutionalize adaptability respond faster to market signals, integrate acquisitions more seamlessly, and operationalize new technologies (including AI) with less friction.

Conversely, companies that treat change as episodic tend to experience longer value-realization cycles. Strategy shifts get bogged down in resistance. Technology investments stall in adoption gaps. Talent burns out. The cost of not routinizing change is no longer just cultural, it’s financial.

For CHROs, this is a moment to reposition HR from steward of change programs to designer of adaptive systems.

The Leadership Pivot From Stability to Dynamic Clarity

One barrier to routinizing change is the deeply embedded leadership assumption that stability equals effectiveness. Historically, strong leaders created clarity through consistency, stable structures, defined roles and predictable operating rhythms. Today, clarity must coexist with fluidity. Leaders must provide direction without over-specifying the path.

This requires a new discipline, what I call “dynamic clarity.” This means:

• Anchoring teams in purpose and outcomes, even as methods evolve.
• Being transparent about uncertainty instead of masking it.
• Framing change as iterative progress rather than one-time transformation.

HR plays a critical role here in pushing leadership development programs beyond communication and resilience modules to cultivate adaptive judgment, systems thinking, and comfort with ambiguity.

If leaders treat every shift as a crisis, employees will too. If leaders normalize adjustment as part of performance, teams will follow.

Embedding Change into Operating Rhythms

Routinizing change is less about slogans and more about design. Organizations that succeed in this shift rewire their operating rhythms in three key ways:

1. Shortening Feedback Cycles

Annual planning and once-a-year engagement surveys are artifacts of a slower era. Adaptive organizations rely on frequent, lightweight feedback mechanisms such as pulse surveys, sprint retrospectives, and real-time performance data to sense and respond quickly.

HR can partner with business leaders to create structured moments for reflection and recalibration. The goal is to make course correction routine rather than reactive.

2. Rewarding Learning, Not Just Outcomes

If incentives only reward flawless execution, employees will avoid experimentation. True innovation and adaptability require trial and error.

Performance systems must signal that responsible risk-taking and learning agility are valued. This doesn’t mean lowering standards; it means recognizing that in fast-changing environments, speed of learning often matters more than initial precision.

3. Designing Flexible Role Architectures

Rigid job descriptions slow transformation. As AI automates tasks and market priorities shift, the nature of work itself is becoming more fluid. Organizations that routinize change move toward skills-based models and project-based talent deployment. HR’s role is to empower visibility into skills, facilitate internal mobility, and reduce the friction of redeploying talent.

When employees see movement as opportunity rather than instability, adaptability becomes aspirational rather than threatening.

Making Adaptability Safe

Perhaps the most underestimated factor in routinizing change is psychological safety. Employees will not embrace continuous transformation if they fear reputational damage for missteps or obsolescence in the face of automation. In environments where change is constant, fear compounds quickly.

HR leaders must work with the C-suite to redefine the psychological contract, including:

• Transparency about why changes are occurring.
• Clear pathways for reskilling and growth.
• Visible executive modeling of learning and vulnerability.

When leaders openly acknowledge that they, too, are adapting, it lowers the emotional cost of change across the organization. This is particularly critical in the age of AI. As new technologies alter workflows and decision rights, trust becomes the currency of adoption. Without it, even the most sophisticated tools stall.

Avoiding the “Perpetual Transformation” Trap

There is, however, a caution.

Routinizing change does not mean living in permanent chaos, because constant motion without coherence breeds exhaustion. The aim is not endless disruption, but a steady evolution anchored in clear strategy.

HR can help guard against transformation fatigue by:

• Ensuring strategic alignment before launching new initiatives.
• Sequencing changes thoughtfully.
• Monitoring workload and well-being indicators.

Adaptability should feel purposeful, not frantic.

A New Mandate for HR

HR must become the architect of adaptive capacity. This means influencing organizational design, shaping leadership mindsets, modernizing performance systems, and embedding continuous learning into the fabric of work.

The question is no longer, “How do we manage this transformation?” It is, “How do we build an organization where transformation is simply how we operate?”

For the C-suite, the imperative is clear. Competitive advantage increasingly depends less on predicting the next disruption, but more on building the capacity to recognize it early and respond to it faster and more effectively than your peers.

For HR, the opportunity is equally clear. By routinizing change, we move from orchestrating transitions to shaping the very capability that defines modern enterprise success.

In a world where disruption is constant, adaptability must be ordinary. And that is a transformation worth leading.

The post Routinizing change: Making continuous transformation a leadership discipline appeared first on IA Transforms.

February has a way of removing illusion.

The holiday glow is gone, the ambitious January declarations have met the calendar, and the year is no longer theoretical, it’s operational. If January is where we set intentions, February is where those intentions meet email, meetings, and the quiet realization that “new year, new me” is mostly “same me, just more scheduled.”

This is when strategy becomes execution.

In our conversations right now, leaders aren’t struggling with vision as much as capacity. They’re being asked to modernize the business, integrate AI responsibly, increase efficiency, and improve experience, all while “doing more with less” (a phrase that continues to endure despite no one ever volunteering for it). Budgets, unsurprisingly, did not expand simply because the calendar flipped, and the list of “top priorities” shows little interest in becoming shorter.

What’s encouraging is the tone shift. The appetite for platitudes has largely disappeared, replaced by a desire for clarity and real prioritization. Leaders want to know what truly matters, and what can wait (ideally before the next steering committee meeting adds a few more “urgent” initiatives).

That’s where we do our best work.

IA has never been about chasing noise. We help make complexity navigable by refining ways of working, pressure-testing assumptions, and distinguishing theater from innovation that actually changes outcomes. It isn’t flashy work, but it is meaningful, and, at times, the good kind of exhausting.

Two decades into this journey, I’ve learned that momentum isn’t built in the celebratory moments. It’s built in steady execution, thoughtful decisions, and the occasional courageous “no.” The reward is rarely applause. More often, it’s progress…followed by another calendar invite.

I’m still sneaking in a run when I can, still asking too many questions, and still convinced that clarity is one of the greatest gifts we can offer leaders navigating uncertainty.

The year is underway. Let’s build it deliberately, and with just enough humor to maintain perspective.

Warm regards,

THE LATEST

When High Performance Costs Too Much
December 5, 2025
by Amie Deak
Read more>

Seven Years In (and Still Surprised)
January 7, 2026
by Mary Faulkner
Read more>

MustardHub Podcast: Navigating Change with Courage
December 5, 2025
with Mark Stelzner
Watch here>

PM Corner

In a world of dashboards and polished slide decks, it’s easy to assume more technology means better alignment. But some of the most effective program sessions start with something simpler: a blank whiteboard. This month, Sammye Walton explores how hands-on, real-time facilitation can spark sharper thinking, stronger engagement, and clearer ownership – whether your team is in person or hybrid.

Why going analog still matters in project and program management
February 24, 2026
by Sammye Walton
Read more>

OF INTEREST

Is it AI…or is it just a bunch of people overseas driving autonomous cars?
Read More >

Microsoft AI CEO claims all white collar jobs will be gone in 18 months. 
Read More >

You can break the rules in marketing…but Pepsi broke the wrong one.
Read More >

Introvert batteries have a time limit – it’s science. So don’t push it.
Read More >

an independent voice.

Because we believe our clients thrive when they have an agnostic guide to help them navigate the technology provider ecosystem, IA is fiercely independent. We derive no revenue from any solution provider (and we never will). Our aim is to foster long-term mutual collaboration and partnerships – for our clients and for providers.

The post When strategy meets the calendar (and the calendar wins) appeared first on IA Transforms.

But some of the most effective project and program sessions I’ve led recently didn’t revolve around slides at all. They centered on real-time whiteboarding, sketching roadmaps by hand, and building the story with the group instead of presenting a finished one.

The difference was noticeable: more engagement, sharper conversations, and stronger alignment.

There’s a takeaway in that for project and program leaders. Digital tools are essential for scale and documentation. But hands-on, analog practices often create the clarity, collaboration, and shared ownership that polished decks alone can’t.

Why Analog Works

From a facilitation standpoint, analog techniques shift a session from passive consumption to active co-creation.

Slide decks are linear and fixed. They guide people down a path you’ve already mapped. Whiteboards are emergent. They invite people to help draw the map. I see this play out time and again when working with teams. With a deck, stakeholders tend to evaluate. With a whiteboard, they contribute.

Whiteboarding a strategy planning session, for example, forces the conversation to unfold in real time. Assumptions become visible. Dependencies get drawn and redrawn. Priorities are negotiated in the open. The artifact on the wall becomes our thinking, not my thinking.

There’s also something powerful about the friction of writing by hand. You can’t capture every word, so you capture what matters. That forced synthesis sharpens clarity for everyone.

For program managers operating in complex environments with multiple workstreams, cross-functional dependencies, and competing priorities, this kind of shared visualization is invaluable. It accelerates alignment and reduces the risk of misinterpretation downstream.

Simple Ways to Bring More Analog Into Your Sessions

If you want to experiment with this approach, you don’t need to overhaul your process. Start small.

1. Try “board first,” not “deck first.” Open your next roadmap or strategy session with a blank board and a guiding question:“What outcomes must this program deliver in the next two quarters?” Build the structure live instead of revealing it slide by slide.
2. Make dependencies physical. Use sticky notes for initiatives, milestones, and risks. Move them as relationships emerge. When people physically see trade-offs, the conversation changes.
3. Keep a visible decision log. Reserve space on the board for decisions made in the room. Writing them publicly increases commitment and reduces later revisionism.
4. Use silent writing before open discussion. Ask participants to write their top risks or priorities before anyone speaks. This reduces anchoring and gives quieter voices equal weight.
5. Present from what you created together. When you summarize, stand at the board. Reference the work the group built. It carries a different kind of credibility than clicking through slides.

These techniques are simple, but they fundamentally shift people from audience members to collaborators.

What About Remote and Hybrid Teams?

The pushback I hear most often: “That’s great, but we’re hybrid. We can’t go analog.”

The answer is not to abandon the philosophy, but to adapt it. The core principle of going analog is not the physical board itself. It is co-creation, visibility of thinking, and tactile engagement. Those outcomes can still be engineered in virtual settings.

Here’s how:

• Start with a blank Miro or Mural board instead of a finished one.
• Ask participants to add their own virtual sticky notes instead of typing everything yourself.
• Time-box silent contribution before discussion to reduce groupthink.
• Narrate your thinking as you sketch frameworks live.
• Revisit prior boards to reinforce continuity across program increments.

In hybrid settings, consider assigning a co-facilitator whose sole job is to represent remote participants. Equal influence doesn’t happen by accident.

When Analog Is Most Effective

I’ve found these techniques especially powerful for situations such as strategy definition and refinement, early-stage program scoping, risk identification and mitigation planning, cross-functional alignment workshops, and retrospectives.

For purely informational updates or executive reporting, a tightly constructed slide deck may still be the right choice. This isn’t about abandoning digital tools. It’s about choosing the right tool for the outcome you want.

The Leadership Signal

There is a subtle leadership signal when you step away from a heavily scripted deck and build the narrative in real time.

It communicates confidence. It shows openness. It makes it clear that the outcome isn’t predetermined, that stakeholder input genuinely shapes direction. In environments where change fatigue is real and disengagement is common, that signal matters.

Digital transformation doesn’t require us to abandon tactile, human-centered practices. If anything, as our tools become more sophisticated, the differentiator is how we facilitate thinking — not how polished our slides look.

Going analog isn’t nostalgia.

It’s intentional design for engagement.

And in project and program management, engagement is often the difference between compliance and real commitment.

The post Why going analog still matters in project and program management appeared first on IA Transforms.

Life presents a series of milestones that imbue a wide litany of unique and ever-changing emotions. Ranging from the raising of a celebratory glass to a tear-filled remembrance, they often conjure a multitude of reactions that can seem at odds. These anniversaries are intensely personal and often quite public, forcing us to react to other’s perceptions of joy or duress.

Today is such a day as we recognize the 20-year anniversary of IA. The number itself candidly shocks me, but as I close my eyes, each of the hundreds of engagements we’ve supported come rushing in. And as I open them, the face staring back certainly carries the weight of pouring oneself deeply into the work of transformation.

I am so proud –  and more than a little humbled – by our accomplishments, the most measurable being the deep and meaningful friendships we’ve developed along the way. Yes, we can look at the size, scope, and impact of projects and programs, but honestly that feels somewhat irrelevant, particularly now.

When I’m (frequently) asked what keeps me going, my answer is simple and honest: the people. Our amazing team. Our equally amazing client partners. The providers who undergird the services and technologies. Our industry is filled with a dynamic ecosystem of humans doing their best to survive and thrive in an environment with little patience, incredibly high expectations, and never enough money or resources.

It’s also embodied by those who show up every day, carry water for what they believe in, and rarely have the luxury of rest. When you see me next, my fatigue may be apparent, but I’m still quick to laugh and self-deprecate. I’m a ridiculous person who just so happens to have found a calling that has sustained me for more than three decades, two of which with no one to blame but myself. Thus are the guts and glory of founding anything.

As for “what now,” it’s likely the expected things. A fun 20-year logo. A refreshed website. A refined set of services. A rethinking of where we pour the one thing that’s limited – our time – into the remainder of our working years. A place our employees can call home, with pride.

I’m a better human for having this experience together, and I’m excited to wake up tomorrow, hopefully sneak in a run, and then get to work on our collective behalf. Thank you one and all for the opportunity, grace, friendship, and partnership.

Warm Regards,

FLASHBACK TO 2006

When IA was born in 2006, life was simpler (and slightly more awkward):

• The Motorola Razr was peak technology
• Twitter launched and 140 characters felt like plenty (or not nearly enough)
• Facebook was still “cool” (and college-only)
• Beyoncé’s “Irreplaceable” was everywhere
• Low-rise jeans ruled, Pluto got demoted, and we all watched TV live

No algorithms. No endless notifications. Just vibes, ringtones, and a lot of confidence in questionable fashion choices.

keep in touch!

Stay connected with us on LinkedIn for updates, insights, and the occasional throwback. And as always, don’t hesitate to reach out. We’d love to hear from you!

The post Reflections on 20 years of IA appeared first on IA Transforms.

A Turning Point

In many ways, 2025 marked a turning point for workplace mental health. Not because stress disappeared but because the scale and speed of change became impossible to ignore. Rapid transformations, ongoing restructures, and the accelerating adoption of AI have reshaped roles faster than people can emotionally adapt. For many employees, progress now comes with unease, anxiety, and a quiet question: Can I keep up without breaking down?

At the same time, organizations are saying something different – something important. Well-being is no longer framed solely as a perk or a personal responsibility; it is increasingly discussed as a strategic priority. In practice, many leaders are navigating complex trade-offs – working to support employee well-being while managing financial pressures, shareholder expectations, and sustained performance demands. Not surprisingly, for many employees, there remains a significant gap between what is said and what feels safe to practice. The challenge now is closing that gap and redefining what high performance truly looks like in a working world still learning how to care for the humans inside it.

When Fear Plays a Role

After more than two decades working in transformation and behavior change, I’ve seen this pattern repeat across industries. We talk often about work–life balance, but far less about the fear underneath it. People are not unsure what would help their well-being. They know rest matters. They know boundaries matter. What they don’t know is how to protect their health without putting their job or future opportunities at risk.

Can I log off without being seen as disengaged?
Can I say no without being replaced?
Can I prioritize my mental health in a market that rewards speed and visibility?

When organizations are in flux and AI is changing roles faster than job descriptions can keep up, these questions feel deeply personal, not only for employees, but for leaders as well. Many are wrestling with the same uncertainties while also being asked to hold people to high standards and deliver sustainable results. So how do we share the responsibility?

Rising to the Challenge

Individuals are being asked to remain resilient, adaptable, and relevant while also protecting their energy and income. That requires clarity, honest communication, and intentional choices about where effort truly matters. Organizations must meet this with action. Leaders have a responsibility to be equally clear and transparent about expectations – what matters most, what can wait, and what sustainable performance looks like in practice. If well-being is truly a priority, it must be reflected in how work is designed, how leaders behave, and how safe it feels to be human at work. No one should have to choose between their health and their livelihood.

The question before us now is not whether work will continue to change, because it will. The question is whether we are finally ready to build workplaces where people can do meaningful, challenging work without sacrificing their health to keep their job.

The future of work will continue to demand adaptability, courage, and learning especially as AI reshapes how value is created. But it must also demand humanity.

The post When High Performance Costs Too Much appeared first on IA Transforms.

There’s a certain clarity that comes at year’s end and it has me thinking about the road we have all taken to arrive here. 2025 was a year that rarely stayed still. It surprised us, stretched us, and at times demanded more creativity and resilience than any of us anticipated. Yet even in the midst of that constant motion, the year also revealed what becomes possible when we choose to lean into change with intention rather than hesitation.

Across industries, leaders felt the ground shifting beneath them. Technology continued its rapid march, reshaping not only how work gets done but how people expect to experience it. AI became more integrated and more scrutinized. Talent needs evolved faster than traditional systems could respond. And organizations everywhere found themselves wrestling with a simple but profound question: How do we build structures that honor both efficiency and humanity in equal measure?

In the center of all this movement, IA evolved its rhythm, and you all played a central role. The work we did together wasn’t just about solving discrete problems or deploying new tools. It was about rethinking our foundations: how we operate, how we serve our people, and how we prepare for what’s next. I watched teams navigate ambiguity with a steadiness that made me proud. You all asked the hard questions, challenged assumptions, and never lost sight of the humans behind every process, decision, and transformation.

Internally, what struck me most this year was the sheer range of challenges we faced. One day we were helping a global organization reimagine its workforce experience; the next, we were guiding a leadership team through a complex operating model shift; and in the same breath, we were making sense of evolving capabilities that hadn’t existed a year before. Through it all, we showed our clients – and one another – that clarity is always possible, even when the landscape is unfamiliar.

As much as this season invites reflection, it also forces us to look ahead. In January, IA will mark its 20th anniversary. It’s a milestone worth acknowledging, though I’m careful not to let it take over the story. Longevity alone isn’t the accomplishment; what matters is what we’ve done with those years, and what we intend to do with those yet to come.

When IA was founded, the world of work looked very different. Even so, the belief that organizational success begins with understanding people has remained our compass. It has guided us through periods of rapid change, moments of uncertainty, and the countless transformations we’ve supported across two decades. Now, as we enter our third, that belief feels more relevant, and more urgent, than ever.

For the foreseeable future, leaders will keep wrestling with the tension between innovation and responsibility, striving to move forward without losing sight of their people. Employees will expect workplaces that are more adaptive and more attuned to the pressures they’re carrying. And organizations will need to make choices not just about what they build, but why. Through all of this, IA will be right there, helping navigate with clarity, courage, and compassion.

My hope for the coming year is simple: that we stay curious, stay bold, and stay grounded in humanity. That we continue to be advisors who tell the truth kindly, who simplify what feels unwieldy, and who create calm in environments that don’t always reward it. Our anniversary is a moment to honor where we’ve been, but the real story is the one we’re still writing…together.

Thank you for your trust, partnership, and perspective. Your engagement in this work, and your willingness to rethink, reimagine, and evolve, continues to inspire us each and every day. As the year comes to a close, I’m filled with both gratitude and anticipation. We have an extraordinary opportunity ahead of us, and I look forward to what we’ll build in the years to come.

With the warmest regards and best wishes for the holidays,

THE LATEST

MustardHub Podcast: Navigating Change with Courage
December 5, 2025
with Mark Stelzner
Watch here>

5 Ways to Build Transformations that Really Matter
December 5, 2025
by Kimberly Carroll
Read more>

Leading After Massive Change
November 11, 2025
by Mary Faulkner
Read more>

PM Corner

The close of the year offers a natural moment to reflect on progress, performance, and priorities.

In this month’s featured PM Corner post, Sammye Walton presents a high-impact retrospective framework for project leaders. She explores how project leaders can translate lessons learned into sharper priorities, better governance, and more intentional planning for the year ahead.

Reflection with Purpose: The Year-End Retrospective
December 12, 2025
by Sammye Walton
Read more>

OF INTEREST

Leadership capacity cannot keep up with the pace of change.
Read More >

With 1.1M+ layoffs in 2025, organizational trust is nearly non-existent.
Read More >

Persistence + Resilience = Success
Read More >

The UK’s plan to help Gen Z find work.
Read More >

reality, not assumptions.

We believe that solutions need to be built around your unique business, not some trendy framework. So we don’t pre-package services for you before we’ve gotten to know you – but we can show you the possibilities.

The post The Transformation Story We’re Still Writing…Together appeared first on IA Transforms.

Will you take advantage of the quiet to clear your backlog? Unplug entirely and surrender to the holiday calm? Or take the hybrid approach of protecting your PTO while giving yourself permission to dial it back?

Whichever version of the season you choose, the end of the year reliably sparks reflection. We revisit familiar questions:

• What did I accomplish?
• What did I learn or gain?
• Where did I help others succeed?

And then, naturally, we turn those questions toward the future:

• What do I want or need to accomplish next year?
• What skills or knowledge do I need to close gaps or create new opportunities?
• What systems will help hold me accountable?

The Year-End Retrospective

For project, program, and portfolio managers, this reflection is especially valuable. It allows us to celebrate what went well, acknowledge our lessons learned, and identify areas for improvement. A clear-eyed look back positions us to make smarter decisions going forward about which projects to prioritize, which ways of working to strengthen, and which processes or tools deserve an upgrade.

If you’re new to this practice, or simply want to recalibrate, the framework below reflects what IA uses when conducting lessons-learned reviews. We analyze each project at closure, then build a year-end summary that provides a holistic view. Whether your team uses a spreadsheet, Smartsheet, Word doc, or slide deck, the medium matters far less than the quality of the discussion.

1. Context

• Project or program name
• Timeline
• Objectives and expected outcomes

2. What Worked Well

• Delivery strengths
• Team collaboration patterns
• Stakeholder engagement wins

3. What Didn’t Work

• Issues, blockers, and root causes
• Missed expectations
• Process or governance failures

4. Metrics Review

• Schedule variance
• Cost variance
• Quality defects or rework
• Risks and issues realized
• Benefits achieved

5. Opportunities for Improvement

• Process changes
• Team capability needs
• Tooling or automation opportunities

6. Forward Actions

• Priority fixes for the new year
• Ownership and timelines

Planning for the Year Ahead

If you had a standout year, congratulations. If you encountered a few disappointments, you’re in good company. Many organizations respond to underperformance with new frameworks, metrics, or tools. These can be valuable, but structure alone rarely solves structural problems.

As you plan for 2026, consider three principles that consistently distinguish teams that evolve from those that simply repeat the same cycle with more enthusiasm.

Prioritize with intent, not optimism.

A smaller, sharper portfolio outperforms a sprawling one every time. Leaders must be willing to say no—or at least, “not now”—to initiatives that absorb capacity without advancing strategic goals. Prioritization is not a spreadsheet exercise; it is an act of strategic discipline.

Redesign governance for speed and transparency.

High-performing organizations treat governance as a mechanism for reducing friction, not enforcing compliance. They establish shorter decision cycles, clarify decision rights, and elevate real-time data over static reporting. The goal isn’t oversight; it’s momentum.

Treat benefits as a continuous commitment.

Value realization shouldn’t be measured only after a project concludes. It must be monitored, refined, and reinforced throughout execution. If an initiative no longer advances strategic goals, it should be examined, not protected out of habit or sunk-cost sentiment.

Happy New Year

Auld Lang Syne asks, “Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?” In the project management world, the answer is a polite but firm no. The past is only worth forgetting if you have no interest in improving the future.

Our job as leaders, teams, and stewards of organizational change is to remember just enough to make what comes next easier, smarter, and more effective.

As you close out the year, give yourself the space to look back with honesty and forward with purpose. The work ahead is always clearer when we understand the year behind us. And if we approach 2026 with more intention, more alignment, and a bit more courage in our prioritization, we may find that real progress feels far less elusive.

The post Reflection with Purpose: The Year-End Retrospective appeared first on IA Transforms.

Most transformation guidance still focuses on alignment, culture, communication and leadership behavior. Useful, yes—but increasingly insufficient. The pace of disruption, the rise of AI and the complexity of modern work demand a new set of muscles inside organizations.

So, instead of rehashing what didn’t go according to plan in 2025, let’s focus on what transformation leaders can do differently and more effectively in 2026.

What will transformation in 2026 look like?

These five priorities for transformation in 2026 aren’t the usual suspects. They reflect where we see transformation moving to, and what forward-looking organizations will need to build next.

1. Shift from change management change capacity engineering

For years, organizations treated change as a communication challenge: Send more messages, hold more town halls, increase transparency. All of this activity missed the fact that the real constraint in 2025 wasn’t messaging, it was capacity. Employees weren’t resisting change; they were overloaded by it.

In 2026, transformation leaders must treat change the way engineers treat load-bearing systems—as a capacity issue to be measured, monitored and deliberately designed.

 How leaders build change capacity next year:

• Measure organizational “load” to identify saturation points
• Sequence initiatives so that large changes don’t collide
• Build buffers into team workloads to absorb new processes
• Replace “change readiness” surveys with capacity dashboards

Why it matters:
Organizations don’t need better messaging. There are enough slide decks and kickoff videos in the world. What the need is to stop exceeding their structural limits. Engineering capacity is the only sustainable path forward.

2. Map and leverage the shadow operating model

Anyone who has spent time in the business world knows that every organization has two operating models:

1. the official one in org charts and SOPs, and
2. the shadow one people actually use to get work done

Most transformation efforts ignore the second, and that’s where they fall apart. The shadow operating model explains why some processes flow and others bottleneck, why certain decisions move lightning-fast while others crawl and why influence often bypasses hierarchy entirely.

In 2026, transformation leaders should:

• map informal networks, decision shortcuts and workarounds
• identify who people actually go to for answers (hint: it’s not always in the org chart)
• integrate informal pathways into redesign efforts rather than trying to eliminate them
• reward adaptive practices instead of forcing rigid compliance

Why it matters:
You can’t transform an organization you don’t truly understand. The shadow operating model is the blueprint for how change really moves.

3. Build cross-functional translation muscles

Most transformations don’t fail because people disagree. They fail because people interpret strategy differently. Finance, HR, IT, operations, legal and product can hear the same directive and translate it six different ways.

Alignment only gets you part of the way. To make it all the way through execution, you need to focus on translation. Next year, leaders will need to bridge languages, metrics and mental models across the enterprise.

What this looks like:

• standing up “translation teams” that ensure consistent interpretation
• redesigning leadership development around cross-functional literacy
• requiring teams to articulate not just what the strategy says, but what it means for their function
• using translation milestones as part of transformation governance

Why it matters:
Misalignment is visible and often noisy. Misinterpretation, on the other hand, is silent and far more damaging. Translation minimizes confusion around intent and meaning and is the next frontier of transformation leadership.

4. Treat AI as a workforce partner, not a technology stream

In 2025, AI was framed as automation, efficiency or tooling. But in 2026, AI will emerge as something more meaningful: a collaborative partner in workflows.

This shift demands new thinking about organizational design, role architecture, performance and trust. The winners will be leaders who redesign work for human + AI pairings, not human labor replaced by AI output.

Organizations can move forward next year by:

• redefining roles around which tasks are best done by humans, by AI and by the two together
• “onboarding” AI tools the same way we onboard people with expectations, norms, guardrails and KPIs
• teaching employees how to collaborate with AI, not just operate it
• measuring the impact of human-AI partnership, not just usage rates

Why it matters:
AI isn’t a system upgrade. It’s a workforce shift. Leaders who manage AI as a teammate, not a toolset, will move faster and with more trust.

5. Replace transformation roadmaps with transformation ecosystems

Most transformation plans still rely on multiyear roadmaps. While these help paint a picture of where you’re trying to go, they are often too linear, too predictable and too rigid for the world they’re meant to navigate. As soon as priorities shift—and they always do—the roadmap needs to shift as well but this is historically a challenge for organizations.

Next year requires a shift from transformation as a project to transformation as an ecosystem—one that is adaptive, modular and continuously evolving.

This means:

• replacing three-year plans with rolling, modular portfolios
• allowing teams to pitch, join and exit transformation initiatives dynamically
• prioritizing micro-transformations that build momentum
• embedding recovery cycles so the organization doesn’t burn out
• treating transformation like an ecosystem that changes with its environment

Why it matters:
Organizations that adopt ecosystem thinking will become more adaptable, more resilient and far less prone to transformation fatigue—they will embrace transformation and not reject it.

Make 2026 the year change holds

The real work of transformation has never been in the kickoff meetings or vision decks. It lives in the systems we design, the decisions we reinforce and the capacity we protect. This year helped us see the fault lines, the moments where our structures strained under the weight of what we were asking them to carry.

Those fault lines aren’t failures. They’re signals. They show us exactly where to build differently in 2026 and beyond.

Transformation doesn’t fall apart due to lack of effort or intent. It falters when the organization underneath it can’t hold the load. The good news? Systems can be rebuilt. Capacity can be engineered. Work can be redesigned. AI can be integrated as a partner rather than an add-on. And transformation can evolve from a one-time push into a living ecosystem that adapts as quickly as the world around it.

Next year is our chance to shift from simply managing change to enabling it. It’s our opportunity to construct organizations with the backbone, clarity and flexibility to change without breaking. If we take that opportunity, transformation won’t just stay in our presentations. It will finally take hold in the way we work, lead and move forward, together.

The post 5 ways to build transformations that really matter in 2026 appeared first on IA Transforms.