Change doesn’t come for free!
The Sacred Cows Blocking Your Transformation, a CEO’s Strategic Sacrifice
co-authored with cain duell from double o consulting
Originally posted on LinkedIn on June 17, 2025
A large amount of corporate transformations fail to hit their intended objectives at an alarming rate. Despite billions invested annually and decades of refined methodologies, most organisations struggle to deliver meaningful change.
We know the playbook. Kotter's 8-Step Process. McKinsey's 7S model. Change management frameworks fill libraries and consulting presentations. We study failure stories, celebrate success cases, and meticulously avoid common pitfalls.
Yet one critical question rarely gets the attention it deserves:
Which sacred cows are you willing to sacrifice?
Every organisation harbours untouchable elements: specific leaders who "built this place," entire departments justified by tradition, outdated processes, compensation structures defended as "industry standard," and cultural norms considered core identity.
These sacred cows seem harmless. They're familiar. Comfortable. Part of who you are.
They're also killing your transformation.
Your willingness to identify and eliminate your most sacred cow often determines whether your change initiative succeeds or joins the graveyard of expensive failures.
The frameworks and methodologies are just tools. The real differentiator? The courage to sacrifice what got you here for what will take you forward.
This piece explores five sacred cows that consistently derail transformations—and why letting go of them might be your organisation's most important strategic decision.
The Five Sacred Cows Killing Your Transformation
Here are the five sacred cows that consistently derail transformations—and why eliminating them might be your most critical strategic decision.
No. 1 - Leadership
Is everyone on the bus?
Not everyone embraces proposed changes, even leaders. Leaders who understand business cycles will recognise the need for change and either adapt or move on to add value elsewhere. Yet sometimes, one or two leadership team members resist letting go, or the board protects them—perhaps for appearances, relationships, tenure, or other reasons.
Like one bad apple spoils the bunch, this becomes a death by a thousand cuts. Despite progress elsewhere in the organisation, the actions of one highly visible leader can become an excuse for resistance and erode trust in leadership. Employees think: 'If they're still here, the CEO can't be serious about this change.'
Key Takeaway
There are a couple of things to consider to navigate this sacred cow:
Educate. Ensure your leadership team has the proper support to understand the impacts of how they need to adapt, helping them embed the change alongside you.
Listen. As a CEO, penetrating the organisational layers to discover ground-level reality is challenging—there's significant noise obscuring the true signals. To gauge how effectively said leaders are embracing change, establish reliable signal detection mechanisms throughout your organisation. Consider engaging external partners for this assessment, as they can provide unbiased perspectives free from the congeniality bias that often colours feedback given directly to leadership.
Let go. Lastly, be prepared to let the leader go and replace them more aligned with the new culture.
No. 2 - Addressing the Frozen Middle
This sacred cow is more prevalent in Enterprise Agility transformations that fundamentally challenge the middle management layer by dissolving traditional hierarchies and dismantling siloed departmental structures.
Like executives, middle managers who recognise this shift either adapt to new collaborative or specialist roles or find opportunities elsewhere where their skills add different value. Those who resist and attempt to preserve the status quo typically catalyse organisational friction and impede progress.
Key takeaway:
Building on the earlier takeaways for key leadership, begin with education, then practice deep listening, and finally, be prepared to release managers who aren't prepared to change. Successfully navigating this transition can yield remarkable rewards: a more engaged and passionate workforce and one where employees feel truly heard and empowered to contribute beyond their formal roles. This cultural transformation drives innovation and resilience that far exceeds traditional command-and-control structures—making it essential to eliminate any remnants of that outdated model, including the frozen middle that fails to adapt.
“We run Apple like a startup. We always let ideas win arguments, not hierarchies. Otherwise, your best employees won’t stay. Collaboration, discipline and trust are critical.”
Hold up a second!
No. 3 - But That’s Not How We Do It Around Here
People cling to processes during change because they provide certainty, familiarity, and stability. Changing or removing processes creates uncertainty and amplifies resistance. Teams often cite legislation or regulations to justify keeping outdated processes that no longer serve their purpose.
Consider the finance team that still requires three signatures for expenses over $500—a process designed when the company had 50 employees, not 5,000. Or the IT department insisting on six-week approval cycles for software purchases because 'security protocols demand it,' while competitors deploy solutions in days. These processes, once serving a purpose, now actively hinder the agility your transformation requires.
John Kotter observed that success comes less from inventing new ideas than from "finding ones already unseen by others" or "taking ideas that are struggling to be implemented and knocking down barriers to actually achieving them."
The key is identifying which processes truly add value versus those that provide false comfort.
Key takeaway:
This sacred cow can be addressed by:
Being clear on mindsets and behaviours that support your change. If you're challenging existing ways of working, create expected behaviours that allow people to challenge processes safely.
Instead of removing processes, identify bottlenecks, silos, or challenges that prevent achieving desired outcomes.
Understanding why each process was created and what outcome it aimed to achieve. Can this outcome be achieved differently?
No. 4 - The Certainty Fallacy
Humans crave certainty because uncertainty feels risky. The certainty fallacy drives flawed thinking. It says: we assume something must be either absolutely certain or completely false.
Large transformations require principle-driven decisions. They require you to establish core principles, apply experience, and support conclusions with evidence-based reasoning. Some personality types embrace this approach. Others need more time to process uncertainty. When people demand absolute certainty, they fall into analysis paralysis and lose trust in change makers, often creating a dangerous cycle that stalls transformation efforts.
Key takeaway:
You may struggle to move forward without complete certainty. Here's how to let go:
Embrace probabilistic thinking. How confident are you that this change will work based on similar cases? Replace "always" and "never" with "very likely" and "evidence suggests."
Accept that uncertainty doesn't invalidate action. Uncertainty should drive action. Science and medicine teach us that when facing uncertainty, the best approach is to try something and learn from it.
Make contingency plans. Use adaptive planning to make decisions based on current evidence, then adjust when new information emerges.
No. 5 - Right-sizing Support Throughout Your Transformation
Top-tier consultancies typically drive the first 6-9 months. Then, two factors force a transition: unsustainable fees and evolving skill requirements as implementation progresses.
Organisations then pivot to internal resources, assuming they have sufficient capability. This handover often fails because internal support ratios can't handle ongoing transformation demands.
Without adequate support, organisations face the "immune system effect" from Exponential Organizations. Like a virus, the organisational immune system attacks anything new, regardless of its benefits, and is strongest in established organisations with low turnover. The counter? Deploy the right mix of new hires with targeted capabilities and existing lateral thinkers elevated to influential positions.
GE's FastWorks program from 2012-13 illustrates this approach. Rather than relying solely on external consultants, they invested in training 80 internal coaches who then exposed 40,000 employees to Lean Startup principles. With CEO Jeffrey Immelt's backing, this sustained internal capability launched over 300 projects globally—proving that the right mix of leadership support and internal capability can drive transformation at scale. However, for organisations with significant resistance to change or deeply entrenched sacred cows, even GE's 1:500 coach-to-employee ratio may prove insufficient.
Key takeaway:
Change takes time, regardless of company size. Invest strategically in building internal capability during implementation, then test what ratios works for your organisation once your operating model matures. What works for one company may not work for another—your approach must align with your market, industry, and culture.
Large enterprises need years, not months. Most successful transformations require sustained effort over 1–5 years, with full benefits realised over the longer term. Plan accordingly.
Confronting Your Sacred Cows
Transformation isn't about managing change—it's about letting go.
The five sacred cows we've explored represent the old that must be removed to make way for the new. Each represents attachment to what was, not what needs to be.
Resistant leaders set the tone. One resistant leader can undermine entire initiatives.
Frozen middle managers cling to hierarchical power. They need to evolve or exit.
Process attachment creates false security. We must challenge this thoughtfully, focusing on outcomes rather than outdated methods.
The certainty fallacy paralyses decision-making. Leaders demand impossible guarantees instead of embracing evidence-based probabilistic thinking.
Inadequate support throughout the journey leads to organisational immune system rejection of new ways of working.
But these aren't the only sacred cows you'll encounter. Other barriers deserve recognition:
Downtime avoidance. Doing something new takes practice and often leads to performance dips while it embeds. This risk is frequently omitted from transformation business cases.
Psychological safety deficit. Fear suppresses crucial feedback and innovative thinking. Google's Project Aristotle revealed psychological safety as the top factor in team effectiveness.
Contract constraints. Third-party agreements and pay disparities may require renegotiation to improve organisational flexibility within your desired timeframe.
True transformation requires courage to release what no longer serves your organisation's future. You can't build the new on foundations of the old.
Sacred cows aren't obstacles to manage around—they're barriers to remove completely.
Your transformation's success depends not on what you preserve but on what you're brave enough to release.
Meet Rose, Strategy Consultant
Ready to tackle your organisation's sacred cows? We've guided numerous leaders through these challenging transformations and can help you identify and address the specific barriers in your organisation. Reach out to us for a practical chat about your transformation journey. We're here to help you turn resistance into momentum.
