The organisation’s immune system: when change is meant to start, but the system rejects it

13/12/2025

In many organisations, a new leader, expert or external support is brought in to initiate change. Fresh perspectives, new ways of working, challenging questions and solutions are expected. Very often, however, the newly brought-in leader or expert ends up fighting alone. Although they arrive at the request of the CEO or top leadership, they do not receive the level of support or real freedom of movement required to carry through system-level change.

The problem often lies in the fact that leadership wants a specific result, impact, but does not fully understand or own the path leading there.

❓What operating conditions, values and norms are required for that outcome?

❓What does it actually mean in practice?

❓What from the organisation's legacy must be kept, what could be let go, and what must not be compromised?

❓ What decisions are unavoidable? And where are the real tolerance limits of the leadership? 

As a result, many change efforts fail. The people who bring new thinking and perspectives eventually leave, and the organisation slowly returns to its old status quo. Sometimes this happens quickly; other times it takes years. But without real, sustained commitment from top leadership, it will almost certainly happen.

The question is not whether there will be resistance to change. There will be. The real question is how we work with it.

🎁 Solution-focused questions for CEOs and organizations

❓ How can we introduce change and new roles in a way that the organisation's immune system does not reject them, but gradually learns to cooperate with them?

❓ In what do I, as the CEO, need to be clearly and consistently present, what do I have to stand up for so that real change can actually begin and the intended goals can be realised?

💡 Suggestions for CEOs and organizations

1. Ensure support and do not leave the person representing change alone

2. Be open to new ideas and actively share organisational knowledge and legacy.

3. Work together with those bringing change, instead of positioning them as outsiders.

4. Collaboration and co-creation: do not place the entire burden of change on one person. Do not expect a new leader to break through the system alone.

5. Involve the management team, middle managers and key people from the very beginning.

6. Bring in multiple change agents across different areas who can reinforce each other and initiate movement from several points in the system.

7. Define together with the management team: 

  • What must be represented consistently in the new direction?
  • What absolutely needs to be started, stopped or continued? 
  • Who can do what in their own area to support the change? 
  • Who takes personal responsibility for what?
8. It is especially critical for the CEO to clarify internally: 
  • Where are my personal boundaries? 
  • How far am I willing and able to go? 
  • What am I willing to let go of, and what am I not and why?
  • What concrete support is required from me, through communication and actions, to make this change succeed?
  • Who and what will I actively protect, and how, when resistance appears? 
  • How will I take a consistent approach towards those who actively work against the jointly defined goals, do not fulfil their responsibilities or refuse to take ownership.

9. Communicate clearly to the organisation. 

  • Why change is needed, and why now. 
  • Clarify the reasons and goals behind the change.
  • Make visible what remains stable while other things change.
  • Discuss not only the WHAT, but also the WHY and HOW openly.
  • Clarify the rules of the game: what the change means in practice for the organisation, for teams and for individuals.

10. Give it time. This is often not a matter of months, but of years. Do not push for superficial quick                       wins at the expense of real embedding. 

🎁 Solution-focused question for the leader or expert bringing and leading change

❓ How can I represent❓ How can I represent change in a way that I do not end up standing alone against the system?

❓Where is the point at which my energy investment still creates value, and beyond which it no longer pays off?

💡 Practical Tips

From the very beginning,

1. Make it a condition that you must work closely with the management team and the CEO to define the smallest step they are realistically willing to take now toward the goal and which they will genuinely stand behind.

Clarify with the CEO and management team:

  • they must allocate time and energy  to the process. Agree together on how much and when. Do not work in silos. Be explicit about what must happen and what cannot be postponed.
  • clarify and define jointly the new direction, key outcomes, 

    expectations, boundaries, time horizon, individual and team responsibilities, and the very next small step the organisation is willing to take.


2. Do not fight alone. Actively seek allies at every level. Recognise that resistance is often fear, not bad intent.

3. Communicate the WHYs, HOWs AND WHATs repeatedly and consistently.

❗Make visible what each group stands to gain from the change. What will be better for them? What will they notice in everyday work? Map and work with key influencers and opinion leaders inside the organisation.
4. Know when to slow down and when to persist. Regularly ask yourself: where is the organisation's current capacity to absorb change?

5. Be honest with yourself: if you see that those who undermine the agreed goals are consistently protected by leadership, you have a decision to make. You can consciously take this risk on and factor it into the equation or you can decide not to continue.

6. Pay attention to the signals from your body and mind, and take care of yourself. Do not sacrifice your mental or physical health.

The organisation's immune system is not an enemy to be defeated. But it cannot be left unchecked either.

Real change begins where it is not one person pushing, but where the system learns to move together toward a new direction. And that does not happen without the commitment, consistency and willingness to change of the organisation, the management team and especially the CEO. It cannot be done alone.