Wow. After a couple of weeks, DOGE has created fireworks across the DC metroplex. I'm not a politician, nor do I own a Tesla, but with a PhD in change management and years of experience guiding hundreds of organizations, I've led both disruptive and innovative change.
Few words strike as much fear or excitement into the hearts of executives as disruption. It's rapid and messy, but if harnessed correctly, it can be transformational.
When DOGE (the Department of Government Efficiency) recently undertook radical revisions in internal policy, their case illuminated one thing for sure—DOGE is running a textbook Disruptive model of change. I don't know all the details, but here is when disruption is needed and the most strategic way to achieve it.
Understanding the Difference Between Innovation and Disruption
The terms "innovation" and "disruption" are sometimes used interchangeably by executive teams. However, they are not synonymous. Understanding their differences can mean the difference between life and death for your organization.
Innovation is iterative. It refines and optimizes. It's the domain of organizations that are succeeding and building from strength. Think of it as evolutionary change.
Disruption, on the other hand, is revolutionary. It’s fast, radical, and necessary only when an organization finds itself in decline—what Les McKeown calls the "death rattle."
When organizations face stagnant growth, cultural inertia, operational inefficiencies, and declining relevance, disruption becomes a matter of survival.
Recognizing the Death Rattle
Disruption starts with recognizing that your organization has entered a critical phase of decline. Here are the six signs to watch for:
Stagnant Growth: Revenue, market share, or influence plateauing or declining.
Cultural Inertia: Resistance to new ideas, methods, or mindsets.
Operational Inefficiencies: Outdated processes and bureaucratic bottlenecks.
Loss of Agility: An inability to adapt to market shifts or external pressures.
Declining Innovation: Lack of new ideas driving success.
Customer Disengagement: Eroding loyalty and diminishing brand relevance.
If your team is encountering more than one of these signs, disruption is no longer an idea, it will be a necessity.
Preparing for Disruption
Disruption isn’t a decision to take lightly. Without preparation, it will veer into chaos. Here's how to approach it strategically:
Start with a Hypothesis. Identify the outdated processes, norms, or inefficiencies that are causing your challenges. Be precise and data-driven. What exactly needs to change?
Appoint a Disruptor. Bring in an interim disruptor leader, someone empowered to act decisively without the constraints that traditional roles and legacy structures impose. Their mandate is to validate the hypothesis, execute explosive change, and lay the groundwork for rebuilding.
Plan for Rebuilding. Before disruption begins, please craft a clear rebuilding plan. What strengths should be preserved? What fundamental shifts need to occur?
Knowing how to rebuild ensures the institution doesn’t stay in the rubble.
Communicate With Clarity and Compassion. Disruption is unsettling. While swift action is necessary, clear communication and empathetic support for impacted individuals reduce the fallout. Soft landings for those affected by the change should be part of your strategy.
The Explosive Nature of Disruptive Change
Disruption is about speed and decisiveness. The first 30–45 days are critical. It’s not a time for incremental adjustments. Instead, it’s a blitz of strategic action to:
Test and validate your disruptive hypothesis with firsthand data.
Overhaul systems, structures, and decision-making processes.
Eliminate roadblocks preventing progress.
Yet, explosive change does not mean being careless with your people. While you can’t avoid collateral damage entirely, you can:
Clearly explain the rationale behind decisions.
Communicate with empathy but understand everyone is going to be impacted by disruption and grieve change.
Offer resources like counseling, retraining, generous offramps, and career transitions to affected employees.
Balance urgency with humanity. Radical change doesn’t have to be cruel.
Rebuilding for the Future (3–9 Months)
Once the dust settles, disruption gives way to thoughtful rebuilding. The goal is not to recreate what existed but to reimagine your organization, combining the best elements of the past with fresh foundations for resilience and growth.
Key steps in this phase include:
Recover and Reinforce: Salvage what’s valuable and reintegrate it into the new framework.
Focus on Purpose and Principles: Align processes, culture, and structure with a bold vision for the future.
Guide the Team: The interim disruptor should oversee this phase, ensuring continuity between rapid change and thoughtful reconstruction.
Optimization for Sustainable Success (6-12 Months)
The rebuilding phase sets the stage for long-term efficiency and agility, but the final step is optimization. This ongoing process ensures that your institution remains adaptable to future challenges. Focus on:
Fine-Tuning Processes: Improve workflows based on real-time feedback.
Encouraging Agility: Equip leaders and teams to respond quickly to new opportunities.
Sustaining Growth: Create systems that drive both short-term wins and long-term resilience.
Through optimization, the organization can achieve its full potential, ensuring a future of sustained growth and relevance.
Lessons for Executive Leaders
Disruption is not a convenient choice—it’s a necessary remedy when decline is imminent. Recognizing when to disrupt and navigating it effectively requires clarity, decisiveness, and compassion. Here’s a summary roadmap:
Recognize the Death Rattle. Identify the patterns signaling the need for radical change.
Execute Explosive Change. Act fast to disrupt inefficiencies and validate your hypothesis, but strive to create soft landings for those impacted.
Rebuild for the Future. Thoughtfully reimagine your organization, integrating the strengths of the past into a bold, future-ready framework.
Optimize Continuously. Make agile adjustments to refine operations and ensure long-term success.
Disruption isn't just about change, it’s about survival and reinvention. Done right, it can transform an organization into its most potent, impactful form.
Final Thoughts
Disruption will be painful, but it’s also an opportunity for unimaginable renewal and growth. If you hear the death rattle in your organization, don’t wait. Act boldly, build compassionately, and optimize relentlessly.
If you feel you might be in a death rattle, let us know. You won't find a more strategic, compassionate team ready to help you navigate the future.