Why Organizational Change is so Difficult

Organizations protect the status quo.  They want to improve without changing anything, which is logically inconsistent.

People exhibit this behavior as well.  I want to lose weight without changing who I am.  Can't I just take a pill?

If you want to lose weight, you have to become a skinnier person.  If you want to run faster, you have to become a faster runner.  You have to change to become who you want to be.

This is true for organizations as well.  If you want to improve, what are you willing to change? What is off the table? A new CEO?  A reorganization? A change in culture?

The usual approach is to not change anything, and if you have to change something, make sure it doesn't affect the decision maker.  The problem is that the decision maker is more concerned about themselves than about the organization--a classic problem of agency.