Bain puts the share of transformations that fall short of their original ambitions at 88%. The methods aren't the problem.
The model is.
THE BUILDING
Foundation, walls, roof, all designed to stay where they are. Every change needs a budget, a crew and a start date. People live in the dust for months, and before one renovation is finished, the next one begins.
THE ECOSYSTEM
A living system that adjusts every day to what is happening around it and inside it, at a pace its people can sustain. A river doesn't close for refurbishment.
In this book you'll discover
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Why big-bang transformations drain your best people first
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The Exhaustion Loop, and how to spot it in your own organization
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Why continuous evolution is not the same as continuous change
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What adaptive leaders do differently when the answers aren't clear yet
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Where to start when your organization is already on fire
This book is for you if
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You've sat through three transformations in five years and suspect the organization itself is the problem
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You lead HR or people functions and can see the engagement numbers falling before the next restructure lands
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You work in change management and know the playbook works for projects but not for permanent turbulence
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You want your organization to keep adapting long after the consultants have left
READ IT, THEN CHECK IT
Where does your organization stand?
The book explains why organizations keep renovating instead of evolving. The free Organizational Adaptability Pulse Check shows you where yours sits today. Twelve questions, about ten minutes, results on screen the moment you finish.
One copy rarely changes an entire leadership team
Order 10 or more copies for your team and I'll run a 90-minute working session with you on where your organization is stuck in the Exhaustion Loop, and what you should stop doing first.
WHAT READERS ARE SAYING
What I liked most about this book is how real it feels. Kelly shares plenty of relevant, practical examples, including what went wrong and what it took to make things work...And I appreciated that Kelly makes it practical enough to act on.
Jorgen Hesselberg
Co-founder, Comparative Agility
Highly recommend this read! It faces an issue that I see far too often in business, where we bite off something bigger than we can chew...such a brilliant take on a space filled with dated approaches.
Beatrice Gutknecht
Founder, Badassery by B
...Executives who need a readable case for treating the human side of change as design work rather than communication will find it here, and the diagnostic questions alone are worth the read.
CRH
Organizational Change Lead
About the Author
Kelly Brogdon Geyer is a Chief Adaptability Officer who helps organizations stop jumping from one transformation to the next and learn to adapt continuously. For more than 20 years she has led change, AI rollouts, culture change, post-merger integration, and agile transformation work across Europe, the Americas and Asia. She is a Certified Change Management Professional (CCMP) and the creator of the Adaptive Capability Ecosystem (ACE) and the Momentum TransforMate Ecosystem (MTE). Originally from Southern California, she now lives in Austria's Weinviertel wine region with her family.
Top 10 Global Thought Leader in Transformation, Thinkers360. Also the author of Failing at Agile Transformation and A Year of Agile Quotes.
Where to buy
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Available from December 23, 2026
Kinetic Leader Press · Paperback ISBN 978-3-9506395-0-6 · Hardcover ISBN 978-3-9506395-1-3