Thriving in Times of Accelerating Transformation

On the train from Paris to Amsterdam, I found myself endlessly scrolling through my LinkedIn feed. I know, I know… I could have done something useful, read a book, or simply create some empty-time to recharge. But still… I scrolled.

Three posts caught my attention, one after the other. The first was about the pace of transformation and innovation, especially around AI. The second one was about how ‘more, better, faster’ has become the norm in many organisations. The last one was about the burnout factories that some organisations have become.

The common thread? Urgency.

The narrative of the first two posts: the constant transition, the relentless speed of disruption and innovation , it’s unlike anything we’ve seen before. It’s not a passing storm between yesterday and tomorrow, it has become the new constant. Today is already outdated, tomorrow is uncertain, and if you want to stay ahead, you’re forced to anticipate the day after tomorrow. And, in many organisations everything is focused on more and more! Performance. Faster, bigger, better. Success is the only thing we celebrate (not effort or learning) and we focus immediately on achieving even more tomorrow.

Adaptability and resilience have become survival skills. We need to Synchronize with the Speed of Change.

But let’s be honest: while we push for faster, bigger, better – and dealing with the speed and amount of change, we’re also pushing the limits of what people can handle. AI may accelerate transformation beyond anything we’ve seen before, but people are still people. Our brains and bodies haven’t evolved at the same pace. Is it realistic to think we can keep up without consequences?

We already see the impact: in stress, illness, and burnout rates.

That brings me to the second post, about organisations that have turned into burnout factories (or at least show an increase in illness rates). Not only in big tech, but across sectors. The focus on winning, achieving, growing, celebrating success… and immediately moving on to the next target. Growth in itself isn’t bad, but growth without pause, without recovery, is unsustainable.

People can handle change. What they can’t handle is constant change without time to consolidate, reflect, or breathe.

And let me be clear, I don’t have all the answers. What I support organisations with is building leadership skills, addressing people’s basic needs at work, guiding change more intelligently, and strengthening organisational change capability. And hopefully, that makes a difference.

But let’s not pretend there’s a magic formula. There’s no single “right” approach to change that always works. Structured change management (for the initiative today) and systemic approaches (for a more change resilient organisation) are not opposites, they complement each other. A structured approach brings intentionality: it helps us talk about what’s needed, create focus, and act with purpose. The art lies in adapting structure to context. That’s what separates a great change leader from a mediocre one.

The real challenge, however, is how to build a more change-responsive culture and more effective (change) leadership. Because change doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It happens in context, and it’s iterative by nature, full of progress and setbacks. Success isn’t about perfection, it’s about being a little better tomorrow than today.

In all our efforts as mentioned above, both to support people better during change initiatives and building a change responsive culture, what keeps intriguing me is this:

How does the speed of innovation and transformation relate to the simple fact that people are still human?

Maybe what we need more of is:

• Unstructured or Empty time

• Slowing down

• Reflection

• Connection

• Autonomy

These are, in a way, the opposites (or perhaps the antidotes) to:

• On the one hand, what we’ve come to believe in: acceleration, performance, pressure to achieve faster, better, more.

• And on the other hand, the fact that (digital) transformation is accelerating, and the new norm of the world we live in is uncertainty: geopolitical, digital transformation, climate, and beyond.

But, this isn’t about replacing one norm with another. It’s about making space for both. We need to anticipate what’s happening and develop our adaptability and resilience. At the same time, it’s about creating organisations where reflection, pause, and mental balance coexist with ambition, performance, innovation, and adaptability.

Because maybe true resilience isn’t just about building more skills to handle change. Maybe it’s about allowing empty time, reflection, and human connection to be a natural part of how we work, or manage and lead change.

What do you think?