Talk to any brand or company leader this year, and there is a good chance that you will find them in the thick of a change initiative, navigating the challenging headwinds of ongoing market and economic turbulence.
As we ended 2024, these same leaders are shaping up their plans for 2025 and may be facing the reality that many of the transformation goals and initiatives they bullishly laid out 12 months ago have not been fully, or even partly delivered. We call this the messy middle of a transformation—a period when time, resources, and energy have been committed, but are now dwindling.
The ultimate question for leaders in the messy middle is how to maintain confidence and momentum when the work is only partially done?
Repeat the “why,” but connect it to the now
People can deal with almost any “how” if they know the “why,” Friedrich Nietzsche famously said. While the concept of purpose has become tarnished lately in many boardrooms, its power—when wielded effectively—remains transformative. For leaders navigating the messy middle of transformation, reconnecting their teams to a clear, compelling “why” isn’t optional—it’s critical.
The mistake many executives make is confusing agility with the need to constantly reinvent their vision. As conditions shift, they pivot their messaging, assuming changing conditions need a refreshed message. But a fast-changing environment doesn’t demand a flip-flopping vision—it demands a steadfast one, anchoring the teams during periods of turbulence and unlocking their discretionary energy.
Take Alan Mulally, who led Ford Motor Company through one of its most turbulent periods (2006–2014). His singular vision, “One Team,” was so consistent and repetitive that journalists mocked it as a broken record. Mulally’s response? I’ll stop talking about the plan when it’s delivered. That relentless focus gave his team the energy and clarity they needed to steer through chaos and succeed.
The lesson today isn’t just to repeat your “why,” it’s to connect it to the now. Spotify exemplifies this. CEO Daniel Ek’s vision—to unlock the potential of human creativity through music—hasn’t changed, but they’ve skillfully adapted its supporting strategy to meet today’s challenges. When Ek’s $1 billion bet on podcasting failed to deliver and was scaled back amidst investor concerns, it was still firmly connected to his vision. This allowed the pivot to be seen as an evolution, not a detour, and has even allowed Ek to begin reinvesting in the video podcasting landscape with little push-back.
How you can apply this
As you plan for 2025, anchor your strategy in a single, clear “why” and resist the urge to pivot unnecessarily. Reiterate your “why” consistently and connect it to current realities. Highlight how it applies to your team’s immediate challenges and opportunities. Ask yourself: How does our purpose align with what matters most to our people today? Then, communicate that alignment relentlessly. Transformation thrives on clarity, not complexity.
Win with what’s working
Traditional strategy obsesses over gap analysis—what’s broken, what’s missing, where the risks lie. But in 2025, what if the energy spent diagnosing problems was redirected to amplifying strengths? This might sound like Pollyanna syndrome—a mindset characterized by excessive optimism—but evidence shows this approach is a powerful driver of change.
Today’s challenges are fast-evolving, complex, and systemic. Leaders will never fully get to the bottom of them. SWOT analyses are outdated the moment the ink dries, and pouring resources into endlessly untangling challenges is a time sink.
Instead, focus on solutions. Ask: What went well in 2024? What created value? How can we do more of the same? Then pour fuel on those successes. This forward motion energizes teams, unlocks growth, and builds momentum. The messy middle of transformation demands a bias toward action, not analysis paralysis.
This approach, known as Appreciative Inquiry, drives transformative outcomes by steering away from wasting resources on minor problems or maintaining mediocrity. It turns existing successes into scalable strategies, creating impact without endless firefighting. By doubling down on strengths, you simplify strategy and identify what to stop doing, ensuring transformation delivers meaningful results.
Appreciative Inquiry also reenergizes teams with optimism, keeping them engaged and motivated. Framing your 2025 plans around success—not a laundry list of new problems to solve—will build momentum and commitment for the year ahead.
How you can apply this
Change the questions you ask as you build your 2025 plans:
- What has worked so well in the past year that we can amplify in the next?
- When have we felt most energized and aligned as an organization, and how can we create those conditions again?
Transformation begins with subtraction
From startups to multinationals, every business I walked into this year had the same complaints: We’re too busy; we don’t have enough resources. They couldn’t transform because business as usual consumed all their time and money.
It’s true organizations are leaner than ever, with talent stretched impossibly thin. But here’s the reality: If you wait for “enough” resources to enable transformation, you’ll be waiting forever. because as economists will explain, scarcity is at the heart of all businesses. The good news? More resources aren’t the solution. The solution is to stop doing things.
Stopping isn’t just an unfortunate byproduct of constrained resources—it’s the key to unlock transformation. Psychologist William Bridges, an expert in transitions, said it best: “always start with an ending…to start doing things a new way, you must end the way you are doing them now; and to develop a new attitude or outlook, you have to let go of the old.” Businesses won’t successfully reach the other shore of their business transformation until they take a good look at what they need to let go of.
In case this sounds easy, it isn’t. A study from the University of Virginia reveals that humans naturally default to improving situations by adding elements, often overlooking subtraction as a solution—even when removing something would deliver better results. This cognitive bias leads to bloated strategies, overwhelming workloads, and inefficiency, as subtractive solutions require more effort to consider and are rarely the first ideas to emerge.
How you can apply this
Make the space to transform. As you plan for 2025, resist the pull of “initiative-itis.” Start by doing less. Cut unnecessary initiatives, simplify operations, and focus your resources where they’ll drive the most meaningful progress.
Transformation is rarely a straight path—it’s a journey through uncharted waters. By focusing on what matters most, letting go of what doesn’t, and doubling down on what’s working, leaders can navigate through the messy middle and turn 2025 into a year of progress and potential.