What really triggers change?

I’ve been thinking about and discussing change management this past week. Most change efforts start with a plan. The better ones start with a reason. However, I’ve found that change that sticks usually begins with friction.

So, how do you change behavior?

Catalyst for change

I’ve found three general catalysts: the first is pain. Something breaks, a client complains, a deal takes twice as long as it should.

The second is vision. Someone sees a better way and can describe it so clearly that others start to believe it’s possible. [Many leaders want to be the visionaries, but the truth is that only a few step into the role because the risk:reward is not in their favor in most firms or corporate settings.]

The third is momentum. Once a few people adopt a new way of working, inertia begins to shift.

(There is also a fourth, disruptive change. Question the status quo, rip everything up, and start from scratch - I’ll save that for another time.)

The challenge for KM and innovation leaders is to create an environment where these catalysts can thrive.

Pain alone burns out teams. Vision without proof dies in meetings. Momentum never starts if the first step feels risky.

The hard work is in lowering friction, making the new behavior just a little easier, a little more rewarding than the old one. Improve the user experience by 1% every day.

That’s why adoption curves matter (the Everett Rogers image, which I suspect is the first one that might have come to mind imagining “adoption curve”). You don’t need everyone on board at once. You need the right few to start. The early adopters who already believe. Show their results, tell their story, and the rest follows (with sustained effort).

Finds

Andrej Karpathy on Dwarkesh Patel’s podcast

A sharp, no-nonsense discussion that cuts through the noise around AI. Karpathy talks reinforcement learning, AGI, and the real limits of today’s LLMs. It’s candid and grounded, free from both hype and doom.

Future of Professionals Report 2025

Thomson Reuters’ report explores several topics. One related to the main idea of this issue is how aligned adoption drives higher ROI. Success depends on connecting technology with organizational purpose. While it focuses on AI, the principle applies to any innovation initiative; clarity of intent and coordination across levels decide whether transformation endures or fades.

Neo Humanoid Robot

1X Technologies is taking orders for its Neo humanoid robot, shipping as early as next year. It’s aimed at early adopters, but the idea of a remotely assisted robot walking around homes (with a human remotely watching‼️) in the next 12 months is wild.

Until next time.