We have all been there. You identify high-potential employees, designate them as “Change Champions,” and wait for the new behavior to spread virally. And then… silence.
Why did a strategy that worked flawlessly for Spotify fail for you?
According to agent-based modeling simulations by BCG, the answer lies in the invisible “physics” of your organization. Success isn’t about the quality of the change; it is about matching your intervention to your Social Network and Organizational Structure.
The “Spotify” vs. “Microsoft” Paradox Spotify succeeded in its cloud transition by using champions because it had a flat structure and a highly integrated social network. In that environment, peer influence is currency.
However, if your organization is:
- Hierarchical: You don’t need champions; you need “Leadership Amplification.” In a hierarchy, change cascades most effectively from the leader down to direct reports.
- Loose/Autonomous: In environments like Valve or specialized R&D units, employees work independently. Here, “social contagion” is mathematically impossible because the connections are too sparse. In these cases, a “Change Champion” strategy is ineffective. Instead, you must rely on broad-based Education to prove personal utility to every single agent.
Diagnosing Your “Change Terrain” To move from management to strategy, you must map the terrain before marching:
- Analyze Influence: Use workplace analytics (email/Slack data) to see if your org chart matches your actualsocial network.
- Assess Certainty: Are employees “backsliding”? This often happens when the impact of change is uncertain (e.g., GenAI tools). In these cases, you must lean on vision and trust—similar to how Steve Jobs utilized Apple University to instill values.
- Measure Friction: For incremental changes with low personal payoff, stop relying on inspiration. Use Incentives to bridge the gap.
The Bottom Line Stop treating transformation as a soft skill. Treat it as an engineering problem. Analyze the network, calculate the friction, and apply the specific lever—be it incentives, education, or amplification—that your structure demands.
Ready to engineer your next pivot? Start by conducting a “Day-in-the-Life” simulation to benchmark the actual effort required for adoption in your teams.
#OperationalExcellence #ChangeManagement #NetworkAnalysis #BehavioralScience #DigitalTransformation
https://www.bcg.com/publications/2025/change-management-to-change-strategy
Elevarse Performance Consulting 
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