Creating a Culture of Adaptability: How to Combat Change Fatigue
In recent newsletters I’ve talked quite a bit about my work with organisations going through significant change. Restructures, shifting priorities, new operating models, AI - change has become part of the backdrop to work.
What I'm noticing, though, is what happens when that backdrop becomes permanent. People become slower to engage with the next initiative. Enthusiasm becomes scepticism. And people start saying things like: “Here we go again” or “What's the priority this week?”
It's very easy to label this as ‘resistance to change’ but I'm increasingly wondering whether we're getting that diagnosis wrong. What if people aren't resisting the destination, they’re simply exhausted by the journey?
The latest research suggests this isn't just something I'm seeing.
Deloitte's 2026 Human Capital Trends research found that 76% of UK workers say their wellbeing has suffered because they're tired from too many changes at work. 57% say organisational change has increased their workload.
Perhaps most strikingly, only 18% of UK respondents think their organisations manage change effectively.
PwC describes the shift as one from occasional transformation to sustained change - with more than half of workers saying there's simply too much change happening at once.
So perhaps the question we should really be asking is: “How do we make change easier for people to absorb?”
Change fatique - in a nutshell
People aren’t necessarily resistant to change; they may be overloaded by the volume and pace of it
Every new priority competes with work and change already underway
Managers often become the shock absorbers between organisational uncertainty and their teams
Asking people to be more resilient doesn't remove unnecessary complexity
The goal isn't less change. It's creating the conditions that help people adapt without becoming exhausted.
How leaders accidentally create change fatigue
We start the next change before the last one has landed
Organisations naturally want to focus on what's next. The problem is that employees may still be learning new roles, systems, structures or ways of working from the previous change when the next one arrives.
Deloitte found a third of workers globally experienced 15 major changes in a single year. From the leadership team's perspective, these may be separate initiatives. From an employee's perspective, they're all landing in the same working week.
2. We add without taking away
A new strategy, a new system, a new reporting requirement, a new AI tool, new behaviours, new priorities…it all adds up. But what are we asking people to stop doing so they have the capacity to take on something new?
Every change carries a workload - even when the change is ultimately intended to make work easier.
3. We communicate the change but don't create enough clarity
Leaders are usually pretty good at communicating what’s changing and when but employees often need much more:
Why is the change really happening?
What does this mean for me?
What matters most now?
What should I do differently?
What hasn't changed?
What decisions can I make myself?
Information isn't the same as clarity. People need to understand not only what's changing, but what the change asks of them.
The hidden pressure on managers
There's also another group I think we're asking an enormous amount from during change - managers.
Senior leaders communicate the direction. Employees understandably have questions. And somewhere in the middle sits the manager, expected to translate uncertainty into certainty - often before they fully understand the change themselves.
They are expected to reassure people, answer questions, maintain performance, manage emotion, implement the change, keep BAU moving and stay positive themselves. That’s an awful lot.
But who’s helping managers make sense of the change before we ask them to help everyone else make sense of it?
Resilience isn't the whole answer
I'm a big believer in helping people build resilience and adaptability. But I think we need to be careful when resilience becomes the answer to organisational overload.
If people are struggling because priorities constantly shift, workloads keep growing and nobody is clear what matters most, another resilience workshop isn't going to solve the underlying problem.
Sometimes the organisation needs to become easier to navigate, not the employee better able to tolerate it.
What leaders can do differently
Subtract as well as add - every new priority should trigger the question: What becomes less important now?
Translate change into everyday clarity - don’t stop at the strategy, help people understand what changes Monday morning
Give managers time to make sense of it first - don’t expect them to translate something they haven’t had time to understand themselves
Acknowledge cumulative change - ask: What else are people already adapting to?
Listen before labelling resistance - ask: What’s making this difficult to engage with?
Change isn't going to slow down. If anything, research suggests organisations will need to become even more adaptable. Deloitte found that 85% believe developing the ability of organisations and workforces to adapt at today's required speed is critical.
I don't think the answer is protecting people from change. It's getting much better at creating the conditions in which people can keep adapting.
Before asking: “How do we get people on board?” perhaps ask: “What are we asking them to carry already?”