Change for the Sake of Change Only Changes One Thing: Trust

Change gets talked about like it is always a good thing. New structures. New models. New ways of working. Movement becomes proof that progress is happening.

But most people who have lived through a few major shifts know that is not how it usually feels on the ground.

The real question is rarely whether change is needed. It is why this change, why now and what problem it is actually meant to solve. When leaders cannot answer those questions clearly, change stops feeling intentional and starts feeling disruptive. That is usually when trust starts to slip.

When Change Gets in the Way of the Work

I have seen organizations change how work gets done in ways that made it harder for people to do their jobs well. It was not a talent problem. It was a decision-making problem. Choices were made without talking to the people doing the work.

The intent was usually good. The impact was not.

I have also seen questionable change lead to people leaving, or losing, jobs. Not because people could not adapt, but because the ground shifted underneath them without explanation or preparation. Performance slipped long before leadership realized what had actually been lost.

You do not need a study to recognize this pattern. Once trust takes a hit, even good ideas struggle to land the way leaders expect. People may comply, but they stop investing.

Change, when it is grounded in real problems and real input, can unlock progress quickly. When it is driven by visibility or imitation, it usually does the opposite.

Leaving a Mark Is Not the Same as Leading

Some change is driven less by need and more by the desire to leave a mark. A new structure. A new process. A visible shift that signals action, even if the underlying problem is still there.

That kind of change rarely improves the work. What it usually does is reset trust and slow execution. People spend more time trying to make sense of the change than doing the work the change was supposed to improve.

I am also wary of change that comes straight out of an article, a framework or the latest trend. Reading broadly matters. Judgment matters more. When an idea jumps from interesting to mandatory without context or discussion, it stops feeling like leadership and starts feeling like copy and paste.

Discomfort Has a Point. Friction Does Not.

I once had a management professor say that meaningful change and discomfort go hand in hand. He was not arguing for disruption for its own sake. He was making a simpler point. People do not change how they work unless something actually moves them.

That distinction matters. Real change creates tension because it forces trade-offs and challenges habits people are comfortable with. Manufactured change creates friction because it disrupts work without a clear reason.

There is a name for what happens next. Change fatigue. When people are asked to absorb constant or poorly explained change, they stop pushing back and start waiting it out. Compliance replaces commitment. Energy drops even if activity continues.

Final Thought

Change always costs something. Time. Attention. Credibility. The mistake leaders make is assuming those costs automatically buy progress. Sometimes they do. Other times, they quietly drain trust. By the time that becomes obvious, fixing it is much harder than slowing down would have been in the first place.

How We Can Help

Eventcraft Studios works with leaders and teams navigating periods of change where trust, performance or alignment have started to slip. We help organizations slow things down enough to see what is actually breaking, what is still working and what needs to change for the right reasons.

If change is happening around you but results are not keeping up, we can help you step back, ask better questions and move forward in a way that restores confidence instead of eroding it.

Contact us at todd@eventcraftstudios.com or www.eventcraftstudios.com/contact.

© Eventcraft Studios. Originally published 2026. All rights reserved.