Why Is it Easier to Scale Everest Than Scale Change?
Two out of three climbers who attempt Mount Everest make it to the summit. 7 out of 10 change initiatives fail. That's a joke (not a very funny one, but it is ridiculous).
You have better odds of surviving at 29,000 feet (where the air is so thin your brain begins to die, no big deal) than successfully implementing a new strategy in your organisation.
1. Ignoring the Mindset Problem
Companies that identify and shift deep-seated mindsets are 4x more likely to succeed, according to McKinsey research. Yet most executives focus on structure whilst ignoring the beliefs and behaviours that actually determine whether people change.
It's like planning an Everest expedition by studying only the route map whilst ignoring the fact that humans need oxygen at altitude.
2. Skipping the Capability Building
McKinsey research shows only 3% of initiatives succeed when front-line employees aren't engaged, compared to 26-28% when they are. But engagement requires capability, not just communication.
Most organisations announce the change, assume people will figure it out, then blame "resistance" when employees struggle with work they weren't equipped to do. On Everest, increased experience of expedition leaders and porters helped boost success rates. In organisations, we skip the training and wonder why people fail.
3. Having No Measure of Success
More than half of workplace leaders struggle to set well-defined measures of success. Fifty percent admit they're unsure whether recent changes even worked.
On Everest, you either reach the summit or you don't. In organisations, we launch transformation programmes without defining what transformation looks like at every stage, then wonder why the initiative quietly runs out of oxygen.
What’s the organizational version of frostbite?
Costbite. When budget for the change freezes up - and the change gets the chop.
What Actually Works
The good news? We know exactly what works when it comes to change - and luckily, you don’t need to sleep on the side of a mountain in -29c temperatures to make it happen.
Prosci's research shows 88% of projects with excellent change management met objectives, compared to only 13% with poor change management. Projects with excellent change management are up to 7x more likely to succeed.
The practices aren't mysterious:
Active, visible leadership sponsorship (explaining why the change is happening)
Clear definition of success with measurable outcomes (what's the summit?)
Structured capability building (not just communication)
Genuine engagement of people doing the work (more talking, yes - and listening)
Systems that encourage dissent and dialogue (feedback baby!)
<——- how it feels to get thousands of people to use a new CRM.
On Motivation
It's perhaps an obvious point but most of us don't want to risk life and limb to climb Everest. Those who do attempt it aren't doing it for the Tinder pics: they have deep motivation. They train for years, they invest around £70,000 to make the attempt. They have quite literal skin in the game.
When you roll out a transformation programme, consider what will make it matter to people. It will never matter as much as making it to the top matters to an Everest mountaineer, but it needs to matter at least a little. If you can’t honestly articulate a ‘why’ for the change that gets people at least a little excited - you’re not ready to climb Mount Change, my friend.
Sources:
McKinsey & Company Global Surveys on organizational transformations (2014-2021)
Prosci Best Practices in Change Management Research (11th & 12th Editions)
Huey, R.B., et al. (2020). "Mountaineers on Mount Everest: Effects of age, sex, experience, and crowding on rates of success and death." PLOS ONE
Harvard Business Review articles on change management
The Himalayan Database (2024)