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Visionary Voices

Human Side of
Transformation

The Human Side of Transformation 

Patricia Reyes
Vice President
Change Management Practice

In our latest Visionary Voices conversation, we sat down with Patricia to explore why transformation fails without cultural understanding, employee enablement, and authentic leadership.

The Real Risk: People, Not Technology

“Most transformation projects don’t fail because the technology doesn’t work,” Pat says. “They fail because people can’t—or won’t—adopt the change.”

More organizations are recognizing this earlier in the process and are beginning to know they need to build formalized change plans, stakeholder engagement, training strategies, and cultural alignment.

“Change is no longer something you wing,” she adds.

Culture: The Accelerator—or the Roadblock

Pat is clear: culture can drive transformation forward or stop it cold.

“You can roll out the best tech in the world, but if your people aren’t ready, it won’t land,” she says. “You have to understand what really drives the organization—what people care about, what they fear, and how they communicate.”

A leader needs to gather insights from interviews with employees across levels and functions to map out the unspoken rules, decision-making dynamics, and cultural tensions. These insights can then shape tailored strategies that go far beyond process—they address mindset and behavior.

You need to understand how the organization really works—what motivates people, what they’re afraid of, how they communicate.

From Implementation to True Integration

Pat distinguishes between launching change and making it real.

“There’s installation—where something new goes live. Then there’s adoption—where people begin using it. But true transformation happens in sustainment, when the change becomes the way work gets done.”

That journey takes ongoing investment in training, feedback loops, leadership modeling, and evolving communication. “It’s not one and done. Real change is iterative.”

Resilience Means Purposeful Adaptation

Pat defines resilience as “the muscle to adapt with purpose.” In times of complexity, resilience is about staying grounded, relying on your team, and solving problems together.

That mindset is becoming even more critical as AI reshapes the workplace.

“Some leaders are energized by AI. Others are overwhelmed. Either way, the nature of work is shifting—and that means change management is more important than ever. It’s not just about rolling out the tech,” she says. “It’s about helping people build new skills, understand new workflows, and shift how they think about work itself.”

It’s about helping people build new skills, understand new processes, and shift how they think about work. That’s the future.

Advice to Leaders: Lead from the Front

What’s the one thing Pat wants every leader to do?

“Get out of your office and talk to people,” she says. “Be honest. Be empathetic. People want to know where they fit and how they can succeed. That’s your job—to make that clear and lead from the front.”

The Bottom Line

Change management isn’t a soft skill—it’s a strategic capability. When done well, it accelerates value, minimizes risk, and builds resilient, future-ready organizations.

As Pat puts it:
“Technology gets the headlines. But people determine the outcome.”

Visionary Voices is a segment of RGP’s LinkedIn newsletter, Mindshift. Each month we highlight a unique futurist who challenges us to think differently and to drive innovation. Mindshift also contains valuable research and curated content.

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