The Cost of Perpetual Motion
Key takeaways
Implementation and adoption are very different things.
Organizations have a finite capacity to absorb change.
Leaders create value through adoption, not activity.
Sometimes the fastest path forward is to pause and let change take root.
Today's leaders face near-constant disruption.
AI, geopolitics, supply chain shifts, and changing business models are causing markets to evolve, technologies to emerge, and customer expectations to shift. Standing still is simply not an option.
For this reason, a recent Financial Times article dubbed it the era of "perpetual motion."[1]
The article resonated with me because it captured a reality I've observed repeatedly: organizations have become very good at launching change, but few have become effective at absorbing it.
Leaders and employees experience change very differently. A transformation initiative may be one of many priorities on an executive's agenda; for the employee expected to use a new process or system every day, it is their top priority.
How employees experience change
Employees don't experience change as a strategic initiative; they experience it as additional work layered on top of their existing responsibilities.
Learning a new system takes time. Learning a new process takes time. During most implementations, teams must support both the legacy and new environments while data is transferred, processes are refined, and inevitable issues are resolved.
That transition period often creates frustration, uncertainty, and a temporary decline in productivity. None of this necessarily means the change is failing; it means people are still learning.
Implementation is not adoption
One quote from the article captured this distinction particularly well. Sergei Biryukov of Accenture observes, "It's not about implementing another tool, but how we transform the work and the behaviour of our people."[1]
Too many organizations declare victory when the new system goes live and the old system is retired. The project closes, the implementation team moves on, and leadership checks the box.
In reality, implementation marks the beginning of adoption — not the end.
I saw this repeatedly during enterprise software implementations. Organizations would celebrate a successful go-live while employees were still struggling to perform routine tasks efficiently in the new environment.
A change isn't truly adopted until the vast majority of employees can perform routine work confidently without stopping to reference training materials or ask for help.
Until that point, organizations are still in the adoption phase.
How leaders respond during this adoption period matters enormously. It is often when data gaps, process issues, and training needs become visible.
Organizations that invest in support and reinforcement build confidence. Organizations that move on too quickly create frustration and resistance.
“Implementation marks the beginning of adoption — not the end.”
Slowing down to speed up
A few years ago, I worked with an engineering organization that was simultaneously implementing Agile practices, Jira, and a product data management (PDM) system.
As momentum built, leadership wanted to launch another major process change. My recommendation was simple: wait. Not because the new initiative lacked merit, but because the organization had yet to absorb the changes already underway.
Teams were still learning new ways of working, data was still being migrated, and processes were still evolving. Adding another initiative would have increased activity; it would not have added value.
Organizations have a finite capacity to absorb change. Sometimes the fastest path forward is giving people enough time to become proficient, confident, and successful before introducing the next transformation.
Keeping pace with perpetual motion
Near the end of the Financial Times article, Michael Watkins observes, "Modern managers might feel as though they are in perpetual motion."[1]
I suspect many leaders can relate.
The challenge is not simply keeping pace with change: it is helping organizations adapt in ways that create lasting value.
Launching the initiative is just the start. Organizations realize value through adoption, not activity.
In an era of perpetual motion, leaders may need to spend less time asking, "What's next?" and more time considering, "Have we fully adopted what's already changed?"
