Overview

This roundtable explored why transformation execution stays slow and unpredictable even when strategy is clear and how leaders can diagnose & remove operational roadblocks. The discussion used the Change Activation Maturity Model (CAMM) to frame a practical truth: change management can produce a plan, but change activation is what makes the plan real by aligning communication, capability building, feedback loops, measurement, and sustainment so transformations are understood, adopted, and maintained.

Roundtable participants pressure-tested the model against real operating conditions: constant transformation demand, limited attention, competing priorities, and the reality that sustainment often collapses after go-live. The group emphasized that maturity is less about ambition and more about consistency, especially when strengthening the weakest link because it sets the true pace of adoption.

This roundtable was held on January 22nd, 2026.

Roundtable Participants

• Led by Kelly Gaess, ECLC Chapter Lead and Director of Customer Success at Tigerhall 

• Adriana Garay, IBM - Executive Director

• Akita Somani, U.S. Bank - SVP, Director – Inclusive Growth Strategy

• Allen Huffman, Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies - Senior Global Leader, Organizational Development & Change

• Amisha Kapoor, Biogen - Global Finance Transformation Leader - Payroll Strategy

• Andrew Spector, Paramount - Former Senior Director, Change Management

• Carol Shields, Community Health Network - Former Director of Performance Excellence

• Christie Subirats, BP - Business Agility and Strategic Change Lead

• Christy Didion, Crawford & Co - Organization Change Management and Transformation Lead

• Chuck Podgurski, Hertz - Global Implementation Change Management Lead

• Curtis Hall, US Department of State - COO, Change Management Team, Passport Services

• Dan Jandura, Avantor - Senior Director, Transformation

• David Stein, VML - SVP, Performance Marketing Operations

• David Alhadeff, McDonald's - Global Change Partner - Transformation Office

• Emily Allinder, BayCare Health System - SVP, Transformation

• Eric Schantzenbach, ChristianaCare - Former Vice President Change Leadership

• Evie Mroczek, Lincoln Financial  - VP, Product Transformation

• Gabriela Lavezzari, GSK - Digital Transformation and Innovation Leader 

• Heather Anthony, IMAX - SVP, Head of Enterprise Transformation

• Holly Hon, Entertainment Partners -  Former Senior Vice President, Enterprise Operations

• Jackie Cazar, Moody's  - SVP Process Excellence

• Javier Berrellez, EP - Senior Director, Enterprise Excellence

• Jesse Taylor, Border States - Director of Transformation

• Neeraja Ramjee, Cision - Former Global People Leader

• Nicolas Becquet, Pernod Ricard - Transformation Senior Director

• Norma Mendez, Enbridge - Former Change Management Lead

• Roycie Eppler, American Public Media Group - Senior Vice President and Chief People & Culture Officer

• Scott Sheinbaum, Wipro Limited - Partner and Practice Leader - Talent & Change

• Sharon Daniels, BT Group - Transformation Change Management & Internal Communications

• Tom Krutsch, AT&T - VP, Transformation

• Tom Langemo, United Health Group - Senior Director, People M&A | Culture, Experience, & Change Management

• Wendy Wheeler, Koch Industries - Sr. Director, Strategy & Legal Services Innovation

• Eleazar Orellana, Northwestern Mutual - Former Head of Field Planning, Strategy & Business Operations | Chief of Staff, Engineering

What “Change Activation” Means (A Brief Definition)

Change activation is the organization’s ability to turn strategy into action at scale so execution becomes predictable, scalable, and measurable. It requires five dimensions (communication, capability building, feedback loops, measurement, and sustainment) to work together, not as separate, disconnected workstreams. When overall maturity is low, organizations often compensate with manual effort, inconsistent adoption, and heavy reliance on consultants; the ultimate goal of a mature transformation office is to reduce complexity, dependencies, and organizational change fatigue. 

For added context, please refer to the CAMM guide.

What Leaders in the Room Saw in Practice (Patterns + Friction Points)

“Chicken-and-egg” interdependencies are real

The group repeatedly linked communication and feedback loops as inseparable. Communication is not a top-down, broadcast mechanism; it only becomes credible when feedback is captured, acknowledged, and acted on. When the loop isn’t closed, frustration builds and can stall positive progress, creating long-term adoption drag.

Measurement is a credibility lever when tied to outcomes

Participants noted that measurement is often easier in functions with clear quantitative metrics, but harder in areas dominated by qualitative signals. The maturity leap happens when leaders define success clearly, link activation work to adoption and business outcomes, and then communicate progress in a way executives recognize.

Leadership role-modeling cuts across every dimension

A recurring theme was that leadership role-modeling doesn’t fit neatly into one box; it actually amplifies every dimension. The group also highlighted timing: senior sponsors can help to unlock legitimacy and priority early on, acting as an accelerator for change. 

Sustainment: Why It Breaks (Even After a Strong Launch)

Sustainment emerged as the hardest dimension to execute consistently. The discussion surfaced several common weak points:

• Momentum fades after rollout as attention shifts to the next priority (the “shiny object” effect).

• Ownership fades away after roll-off. If no one is explicitly accountable post-go-live (and long-term), sustainment becomes nobody’s job.

• Metric gaming happens when maturity assessments or scorecards become competitive (optimizing for “green” rather than the truth). The group emphasized focusing on trend and improvement, not optics.

• No explicit “letting go”: teams are asked to adopt new ways of working without clarity on what to stop doing which increases overload and burnout.

Common Pitfalls (What Falls Flat)

The roundtable highlighted common failure patterns that are easy to recognize but often harder to fix:

• Treating change as communications + training only, instead of a leadership capability embedded from the start

• Bringing change leaders in too late (near launch), when the real work should have started months earlier (case for change, impact, readiness)

• Over-engineering change in already complex initiatives by trying to fix everything at once instead of prioritizing what truly needs structured activation

• Repeatedly tapping the same “go-to” people as champions, creating change champion fatigue and fragility when those individuals move on

• Deferring the “people side” to the end of governance meetings, which signals it’s optional and increases execution risk

  
  

“If it’s a Thursday morning status report to a sponsor and change management is only given the last two minutes at the end, that’s a clear sign the transformation will be a disaster. A transformation is not all about the technology. It’s about the implementation of the technology. A quick fix is to say: ‘look, this time we went last but, next week, let’s flip it around.’ Let’s talk about the people side first.”

Scott Sheinbaum, Wipro Limited - Partner and Practice Leader - Talent & Change

Practical Best Practices (What to Do Next)

1. Assess maturity by dimension and fix the weakest link first

Use the model to score your organization through each dimension (1–5), total the score for an overall stage, but prioritize action based on the lowest-scoring dimensions. Those are the real execution bottlenecks.

2. Upgrade communication by moving from broadcast to journeys

Even basic segmentation (role/region/stage) can improve relevance and trust quickly. More mature approaches automate delivery and continuously adapt based on engagement and adoption signals.

3. Build capability in the flow of work

Shift from one-time training to embedded guidance (prompts, walkthroughs, quick references) where work happens. This reduces dependency on classroom sessions and improves sustainment.

4. Make feedback continuous and visibly close the loop 

Move from periodic surveys to always-available channels, faster synthesis, and quicker responses. The goal is to identify blockers early and adjust before resistance spreads. Quarterly employee surveys just don’t cut it.

5. Lead with business outcomes, not deployment activity

When change updates are framed around adoption and business results, they earn executive attention and agenda time. This also helps reposition change as value creation and risk mitigation rather than overhead.

6. Operationalize sustainment with explicit post-rollout ownership

Whether internal or external teams deliver the change, define who owns reinforcement after go-live and what “good” sustainment looks like. Without this, even strong implementations decay.

“Change is always-on now, not a once-in-a-while event. Our team delivers, goes live, and rolls off. But then the question becomes: who in the function actually has the capability, accountability, and bandwidth to sustain what we implemented?”

Sharon Daniels, BT Group - Transformation Change Management & Internal Communications

Key Takeaways

• Change activation is what turns strategy into sustained action. Plans aren’t the real bottleneck; consistent activation across the five dimensions is.

• Your weakest dimension sets the pace of adoption. Fix bottlenecks first instead of trying to “level up” everything at once.

• Communication and feedback are a package deal. If feedback isn’t acknowledged and acted on, trust erodes and adoption slows.

• Sustainment fails when ownership is unclear and teams aren’t told what to stop doing. Reinforcement must be built into daily work, not left to vague reminders.

• Measurement earns credibility when it links activation to outcomes. Activity metrics alone keep transformation work stuck at the end of the agenda.

• Leadership role-modeling is an accelerator. Senior sponsorship creates priority; middle management drives day-to-day adoption.

The Executive Council for Leading Change

The Executive Council for Leading Change (ECLC) is a global organization that brings executives together to redefine the landscape of organizational change and transformation. Our council aims to advance strategic leadership expertise in the realm of corporate change by connecting visionary leaders. It's a place where leaders responsible for significant change initiatives can collaborate, plan, and create practical solutions for intricate challenges in leading large organizations through major shifts.

In a world where change is constant, we recognize its crucial role in driving business success. ECLC’s mission is to create a community where leaders can excel in guiding their organizations through these dynamic times.