Propeller

There’s a pattern we see year after year in how organizations plan for change. We call it the Change Saturation Trap. In our latest research led by Riley Smith and Keely Middleton, we found that organizations underestimated the scale of change across: → Technology implementations by 17 points → L&D initiatives by 19 points → Organizational restructuring by 20 points On average, change was underestimated by 11 percentage points across all categories. Not because the initiatives were wrong, but because they weren’t viewed together as a system. It’s a pattern that shows up repeatedly in our research. See what the data reveals. ↓ Download the full 2026 People & Change Insights Report here: https://lnkd.in/gmJmx4X8

Applications for Propeller’s Uplift program open today, March 30, 2026! Through Uplift, our consultants partner with nonprofits to tackle all kinds of challenges. From multi-week strategic projects to focused workshops, we bring fresh thinking, practical tools, and hands-on support to help you advance your mission. Whether you’re navigating growth, refining operations, or exploring new opportunities, we’re here to help you make meaningful progress. Applications typically take about 30 minutes. We look forward to seeing yours! The application window will run from March 30 to April 10, 2026. https://lnkd.in/gQEEDuuG

Fourteen workstreams. Thousands of global users. Finance, HR, and enterprise systems — converging into one unified staffing model. A Fortune 100 technology company was trying to unify workforce planning, position administration, and reporting under a digital-first future-of-work model. The ambition was better planning, cleaner reporting, and tighter alignment across functions. The challenge is clear: only 48% of digital initiatives meet or exceed their intended business outcomes, and performance gaps often emerge during adoption, not design. To ensure success, we embedded change strategy directly into the delivery model: ✔️ Executive sponsorship alignment across workstreams ✔️ Continuous stakeholder and impact assessments ✔️ Persona-based training for distinct user groups ✔️ Digital, on-demand learning for scale ✔️ Live sessions for 350+ impacted team members ✔️ Hyper-care support to stabilize early adoption The result was a coordinated behavioral shift across the enterprise. Digital transformation succeeds when change is architected with the same rigor as the technology itself. Where does your organization tend to invest more — building the solution or enabling people to use it?

AI isn’t just changing work, it’s outpacing how organizations are redesigning for it. Roles are shifting, workflows are evolving, and decision-making is accelerating. But the way organizations support people isn’t always keeping up. Organizations are already restructuring around AI: • 78% say AI is changing how work is defined and organized • 80% report early integration of AI into core workflows • 51% have created new AI-related roles • 46% are redefining who does the work—human vs. AI And it goes deeper than tasks, AI is starting to reshape the architecture of organizations, from operating models to skill expectations. This is an organizational shift as much as it is a technological one. The leaders who get ahead won’t treat AI as an add-on. They’ll redesign work, roles, and systems together, with people at the center. Explore Insights from our latest research, and see what it means for your organization. Download the report here: https://lnkd.in/gmJmx4X8

Check out the 2026 People & Change Insights Report!

Many organizations are issuing broad directives to “use AI.” At the same time, employees are experimenting with tools like ChatGPT and AI features embedded across the software they already use. Both dynamics are understandable. Neither reliably produces results. In an article published in Corporate Compliance Insights, Propeller’s Molly Lebowitz and TerraTrue's Anthony Prestia explain why enterprise AI adoption often stalls, and why the challenge is less about the technology and more about intentional design. When organizations lack clear use cases and guardrails, adoption tends to split in two directions: mandates that are too broad to act on, and employee experimentation that can introduce security and compliance risks. The organizations making real progress are doing something different: identifying where AI creates meaningful value today, defining where human judgment remains essential, and making it easier for employees to experiment safely. In the article, Molly and Anthony explore: • Why “use AI everywhere” mandates rarely produce real outcomes • How to identify credible AI use cases • Ways to manage shadow AI and data risks • Why human checkpoints remain essential Read the full article in Corporate Compliance Insights: https://lnkd.in/g3f5nV2R How is your organization balancing experimentation with guardrails as AI adoption expands?

Most change efforts don’t fail because the strategy is wrong. They fail because leaders underestimate how change shows up day-to-day: for teams and customers. We worked with Nextech Systems' leadership team to deliver a change workshop built on a shared approach to managing change. Here are three lessons that stuck, and what shifted afterward, in the words of Robin Ntoh, VP, Aesthetics at Nextech. Read the full story here: https://lnkd.in/gUdHCpdd

Is this the end of “change as usual”? Many organizations are still planning transformation one initiative at a time. But the reality looks different. AI adoption, operating model shifts, restructuring, and new ways of working are all happening at once — and the effects are compounding across teams. In this month’s edition of Making Momentum, we sat down with Riley Smith to talk about the patterns emerging from Propeller’s latest People & Change Insights research and what leaders should be paying attention to right now. Plus in this issue: • New thinking on secure AI adoption • A customer study on building stronger change leadership • Why strategic planning is evolving in today’s environment Read the latest edition:

One of the most overlooked dynamics in organizational change isn’t resistance — it’s ambivalence. People often hold two truths at the same time: “I understand why this change makes sense.” …and “I’m not sure how this actually benefits me.” That tension is where adoption stalls. Not because people lack capability, but because they’re still reconciling what the change means for them. In this thoughtful piece, Propeller’s Janel Wellborn explores why communication alone can’t resolve that tension, and how approaches like motivational interviewing can help leaders guide real behavior change. A great perspective for anyone leading transformation or navigating AI adoption. https://lnkd.in/ghdUGueH