Beyond ‘From-To’: Why the C-Suite Must Rethink Change for Real Human Outcomes

In today’s volatile business landscape, the C-Suite is under relentless pressure to drive transformation—whether it’s digital, cultural or operational. Yet, despite the billions spent on change initiatives each year, the sobering reality is that approximately 70% of these efforts fail to achieve their intended outcomes—a six-year-old statistic that is as true today as it was then.  

The reasons are many, but a critical and often overlooked factor is the C-Suite’s persistent focus on “from-to” states—defining where the organization is now and where it needs to be—while neglecting the actual outcomes that change will deliver for people at every level of the business. These “from-to” states are often so sterile these lose any semblance of humanity and can be relegated to the likes of the most basic computer programing, namely just ones and zeros. 

The “From-To” Trap: Why Outcomes Matter More

It’s easy to see why leaders gravitate toward “from-to” thinking. It offers a sense of clarity and control: We’re moving from legacy systems to cloud platforms, from siloed teams to cross-functional collaboration and from product-centric to customer-centric models. But this binary framing can obscure the real work of change—how it will materialize for employees, what success looks like at each stage and how the organization will know if it’s truly moving forward.  

The consequences of this oversight are profound. When leaders fail to articulate and cascade the tangible outcomes of change, employees are left in the dark, resistance grows and the initiative stalls. In fact, employee resistance and poor communication are consistently cited as leading causes of change failure. The result? Not only do projects falter, but the fallout can be severe—31% of CEOs have reportedly been fired due to failed change management. 

Cascading Change: The Missing Link

One of the most common pitfalls in C-Suite-led change is the failure to cascade the vision and practical implications of change throughout the organization. Too often, the rationale and roadmap for change are discussed in the boardroom but never translated into terms that resonate with employees on the front lines. Everyone can agree that successful change must begin with leadership alignment, accountability and clear, consistent communication. But it doesn’t end there. The message must be tailored and delivered at every level, empowering middle managers and employees to understand not just what is changing, but why it matters to them and how it will affect their daily work. Gone are the days when top executives could rely solely on top-down communications or a “build it and they will come” approach. 

Workshops, feedback loops and structured communication channels are essential tools for this process. These tools should be considered holistically, employing them in a targeted, coordinated effort to minimize the noise competing for an employee’s attention.  By engaging employees in the conversation, organizations foster a sense of ownership and reduce the communication vacuums that breed apathy and worse, resistance.  

Redefining Success: Beyond Project Completion

Perhaps the most glaring gap in traditional change management is the lack of clear, human-centered success metrics. Too often, success is defined by project completion—“the new system is live,” “the reorg is done”—rather than by the outcomes that matter most: employee understanding, employee upskilling and readiness and adoption. Best-in-class organizations set explicit, measurable milestones that track technical progress, as well as human engagement and capability.  

Examples of these measurements could look like the following: 

• Milestone 1: 100% of employees understand what the change is and why it’s happening. 
• Milestone 2: 85% are aware of how the change will impact their roles. 
• Milestone 3: 80% have achieved at least a 70% mastery of the skills needed for the new processes or tools. 

These metrics are not just theoretical. They are grounded in proven frameworks like Prosci’s ADKAR® model, which measures awareness, desire, knowledge, ability and reinforcement—key indicators of individual and organizational readiness for change. Anecdotal spot-checks, readiness surveys, training completion rates, employee sentiment surveys and other adoption analytics provide necessary feedback on whether the change is taking root or needs course correction. 

Equally important to capturing these human-centric metrics is the “why” behind each KPI. If it is measured, it has to matter. Success metrics shouldn’t arbitrarily be chosen. Using the example above, careful consideration should be given to why it is necessary that 100% of employees understand the “what” and “why” of change. Those considerations should include the ramifications of what happens if the KPI is missed, what mitigation strategies can be deployed to offset any risk and what the organization should continue doing or change to achieve the desired target. When establishing success metrics, organizations are identifying their threshold for acceptable risk to a successful change.     

Human-Centered Change in Action

Many of the world’s most successful transformations have prioritized employee experience and outcome-based metrics. Microsoft’s shift to a cloud-first strategy under Satya Nadella, for example, was not just about new technology—it was about fostering a “learn-it-all” culture, investing in employee development and measuring progress through both business results and employee engagement. Adobe’s move to a subscription model succeeded because the company communicated openly, trained employees and tracked adoption at every stage. These organizations didn’t just define where they wanted to go; they mapped out how employees would get there, what support would be needed and how success would be measured in human terms. 

Best Practices for the C-Suite

So, what should the C-Suite do differently to drive human-centered change that sticks? 

• Start with Empathy and Engagement: Listen to employees, involve them early and invest in their development. Empathetic leadership builds trust and reduces resistance, and early employee involvement creates a sense of ownership and accountability. 
• Create an Employee Experience Journey: Use human-centered design principles to understand employee experiences throughout the change process. This isn’t a journey map of when things will happen, but rather, one that shows what employees will experience along the way. In this way, leaders can anticipate resistance points and employees can ease their fear of the unknown. 
• Cascade the Vision, Not Just the Plan: Communicate the “why” and “how” of change at every level. Understanding leads to acceptance. If individuals know why things are changing and how those changes will impact them and manifest positive results for the company, then they are more likely to support change efforts. 
• Measure What Matters (Outcomes Not Outputs): Go beyond technical KPIs. Track readiness, adoption and proficiency. For example, measure the percentage of employees who have completed training, are using new systems or have reached competency in new processes. Use data-driven metrics to track progress and adjust as needed. Remember, each metric should have a purpose and guide organizations to overall success. 
• Be Flexible and Iterative: Change is rarely linear. Be prepared to adapt strategies based on feedback and evolving circumstances.  

The Bottom Line

The C-Suite’s job is not just to chart a course from “here” to “there” or “this” to “that,” but to ensure that every employee understands, embraces and is equipped for the journey. By focusing on the “what” and the “why” of change, combined with human-centered outcomes, leaders can dramatically increase the odds of successful, sustainable transformation. In the end, the most important question is not “Did we get there?” but “Did our people come with us—and are they ready for what’s next?” That’s the real measure of change that works.