The surefire way to make change – and life – miserable

​Hey Reader,​

One thing I encourage leaders to do independently of developing and implementing change strategies is to understand the capacity of their organizations to change – or really, just the capacity of their organizations.

Because individuals and teams don’t just need capacity for major transformation. They need capacity for any change, any additional work, any new project, any shiny new initiative (to me, anything above and beyond the status quo, if there even is a status quo anymore, is change).

If you’ve never really assessed your capacity before, here are a few questions to get you started:

• Does your organization have the processes and procedures (as unsexy as that sounds) in place to change (or even function)?
• Do your teams have the time to do the work they already have on their plates? Are their calendars already packed? Do they have time for thought and asynchronous work so that meetings are used for strategy development and decision-making rather than updates?
• Is resourcing fragile, or robust enough to absorb additional volume?
• Can your teams communicate and collaborate effectively, give leaders feedback, and highlight risks and barriers to success proactively in their daily work?
• Are your systems and strategies connected? And not just your tech systems, but the way in which your organization operates in order to reach its milestones?

The truth is, you don’t need a fancy assessment or in-depth diagnostic to tell you if your organization has the capacity to navigate change (well)

I can tell you right now: it doesn’t.

I’m not even talking about whether or not your organization is or would be good at navigating change; I’m talking about whether you can do it at all, given your current state.

At the risk of being one of those sports-example people, here’s a sports example:

Courtney Dauwalter is an ultramarathon runner and one of the world’s best ultra trail runners. But if she finished the Western States 100 and you invited her to hike the Pacific Crest Trail starting the next day, she’d probably turn you down. Is it because she’s lazy or bad at hiking? No. It’s because she’s at capacity. Capacity isn’t infinite; everybody has a maximum. But in 2023, Dauwalter was the first person to win the Western States 100, Hardrock 100, and the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc in the same year. Not in the same month (even ultramarathoners have a maximum). But she knows how to build her capacity, how to strategize and plan, how to cycle through periods of exertion and restoration, and more.

No organization I’ve ever encountered has had the capacity to change well. The leaders either optimistically overestimate capacity, are in denial about the resourcing and bandwidth of their teams, or simply don’t care that they burn through people like tissues in flu season. I don’t work with leaders who don’t care, so setting that category aside, we have the overestimaters and the deniers.

But what I hear, all the time and from every type of stakeholder (including the leaders themselves), is that they’re burned out, unclear, siloed, overwhelmed, confused, working late, mistrustful, disempowered, and yes, even miserable, in their day-to-day work, before change even comes into the picture.

This doesn't mean you're not doing good work. It doesn't mean you have a bad mission. It means that doing the work to achieve the mission is a grind.

Everyone is under-resourced – but what if we weren't?

When you’re expected to deliver change results on top of your already under-resourced work…guess what happens. Change fails. So the time for overestimating and denying has to end.

But I can’t just add more resources! leaders say.

To which I say: that is fine (because often, more resources = more change).

And it’s why, when leaders bring me in to help them design strategies and navigate change, capacity-building, resource optimization, and overall organizational effectiveness is all part of the work.

So we’ll talk more about capacity in the coming months, because in this day and age, leaders and their teams need every ounce they can get.

Know someone who needs to read this and future newsletters? Forward them this issue or share this page on your socials – there folks can check out past issues and subscribe so that they never miss a new one. Thanks, as always, for reading <3

Talk soon,

Caitlin Harper
​Founder, Commcoterie

P.S. – I’m heading to Norway this weekend with my family for two full weeks of train travel, fjord tours, and “looking for Elsa” with my daughter, so I’ll be back in your inbox in June with more insights about how to build and lead organizations that can navigate change well. Ha det bra!

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