Organizational Change Management
Digital Transformation – If 90% Believe in It, Why Do 70% Fail?
We’ve all seen projects fail which, in a strange way, is good. Failure gives us a chance to talk about something that often gets overlooked: change management.
Here’s what the data tells us:
- 90% of executives believe digital transformation is critical to success. That’s not shocking, most organizations already know they need to work digitally to stay competitive.
- Yet only 21% actually have a plan to integrate technology. That means four out of five companies are trying to “transform” without a roadmap.
- And the kicker? 70% of transformations fail.
But “failure” doesn’t usually mean the project didn’t go live. Most projects hit deadlines, pass testing, and perform technically as expected. What’s really missing is adoption. People simply aren’t using the new systems or using them correctly to create measurable value.
In short, technology works but if people don’t use it’s useless. And that’s where change management comes in.
The People Problem Behind Every Failed Project
Let’s look at a real example. A food and beverage manufacturer rolled out a new Manufacturing Execution System (MES). They designed it meticulously, trained operators, and launched successfully. Then… nothing. Performance didn’t improve. Waste didn’t decrease.
Why? Because operators didn’t know why they were using the system. They were trained once, forgotten much of it, and disliked how the screens were designed. The problem wasn’t the software, it was the disconnect between design intent and day-to-day use.
It’s Not the System, It’s the System for People
This is what we call an operational barrier which is the gap between what leadership expects and what people actually do. Common barriers include:
- Employees don’t know what’s changing or why.
- Communication stops after launch.
- Training is too generic or one-time.
- Supervisors are expected to coach before they’ve mastered the system.
- There’s no structure for continuous reinforcement.
These aren’t technical issues; they’re human ones. The solution starts with designing change with the end-user in mind. Communicating, involving, and supporting them every step of the way.
Turning Technology Into Transformation
At InSource, we see change management as the bridge between project completion and performance improvement. It’s not a checklist it’s an ongoing system that connects people, process, and technology.
A successful change management plan includes:
- Awareness & Communication: Explain the “why” early and often.
- User Experience Design: Involve operators and supervisors in design decisions.
- Accessible Training: Build documentation and content that live on after go-live.
- Coaching & Reinforcement: Continue one-on-one and team support after rollout.
- Governance & Cadence: Integrate progress checks into daily and weekly reviews.
When these elements work together, technology turns into information, and information turns into better decisions. Made by people who are engaged and capable.
We’ve seen this firsthand. One manufacturer went from struggling with downtime to full adoption across 20 sites, simply by embedding change management into every step of the rollout.
Technology doesn’t transform organizations. People do but only when they’re set up to succeed.