New Year’s Day is a common time to think about change: our aspirations for ourselves, our families, our organizations, and the world around us. What can we influence or control, and how?
One of the best books I read in 2025 was Change, by HBS faculty member John P. Kotter and two colleagues from Kotter International, his research and consulting firm. The book cites neurological studies showing that we humans are hard-wired for simpler challenges and a much slower pace of change than we are experiencing today. For many thousands of years, most people have been wired for a reactive “survive” mode rather than a “thrive” mode focused on opportunities and disruptive change.
Similarly, the authors point out that most modern organizations have developed with hierarchical structures and an emphasis on stability, efficiency, reliability, risk aversion, rules, policies, procedures, and short-term survival. These traits can be barriers for evolution to more adaptive and nimble organizations, with broadly distributed leadership, responsive to internal and external (market) change.
In advising leading design firms on strategy, leadership, organization, and governance, I am often reminded that change can be hard. Old habits are hard to break, and longstanding cultures can only evolve slowly based on changed leadership behavior. Traditional firm structures and reward systems can inhibit the collaboration that is necessary to thrive. It’s tempting for firms to propose too many ambitious strategies without the capacity to execute them.
Whatever our aspirations for change, individually and collectively, our success will ultimately depend on very personal choices: where will we focus our time and energy? Our capacity is limited, so what will our personal priorities for driving change be? In our organizations, leaders must provide that focus and commitment as well as accountability to colleagues. That’s why we always emphasize insight and action in our work.
So here we are at the beginning of a new year. What are your personal choices for change? Best wishes for health and success in 2026.