Adapting, Leading and Thriving in Uncertainty
& Change

Q: Why does the brain resist change, even change that’s good for us?

Uncertainty about the future activates threat-related brain circuitry regardless of whether the change itself is ultimately positive (Grupe & Nitschke, 2013). Change also frequently threatens one of five social domains; status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness or fairness (Rock, 2008).

Q: Is it true that 70% of change initiatives fail?

No. The figure originated as an ‘unscientific estimate’ about a specific type of 1990s process re-engineering, and a 2011 peer-reviewed review found no reliable evidence for it in any of its commonly cited sources (Hughes, 2011). Change is genuinely difficult, only 27% of organisations report managing it well (Deloitte, 2026).

Q: What’s the single most evidence-backed thing a leader can do to support a team through change?

Build psychological safety before the change is announced. It’s one of the most robustly supported findings in organisational psychology. Established academically by Edmondson (1999) and independently confirmed at scale by Google’s Project Aristotle.

Q: Does having a ‘growth mindset’ actually help people cope with change?

As a general orientation, plausibly, but the direct evidence for growth-mindset interventions producing large, reliable improvements in outcomes is weaker than commonly assumed. The better-supported, closely related skill is cognitively reappraising specific setbacks as they occur (Gross, 1998), rather than relying on a general mindset belief alone.

Q: How long does it actually take to adapt to a new way of working?

Longer than the popular ‘21 days’ claim, which traces to a 1960s observation about adjusting to plastic surgery, not habit formation. Controlled research tracking real habit formation found a median of 66 days, with a wide range of 18 to 254 days depending on the person and the complexity of the behaviour (Lally et al., 2010).

Q: What can I do personally if I’m feeling overwhelmed by change at work?

Three of the better-supported options: practise reappraising the specific situation rather than the whole change (Gross, 1998); use a brief mindfulness practice to notice a threat response as it forms rather than eliminate it (Grossman et al., 2004); and lean on colleagues or a manager rather than withdrawing, since social support has a genuine, measurable buffering effect on stress (Cohen & Wills, 1985).

An EQ Minds white paper to support leaders and organisations

Jay Pottenger running a focus and productivity workshop in a corporate office

What does change actually ask of the human behind the employee and what does the evidence say genuinely helps the person not only survive, but thrive?

The world has never stopped changing. What feels different now is the sheer pace it’s changing at. With false statistics flying through social media, like 70% of change initiatives fail, it’s hard to believe you can survive this level of change, let alone thrive in it.

You can. To thrive, you need to understand how to work with your brain and your environment.

To bridge the gap between the science and the practical steps individuals and organisations can take, Jay and Chelsea Pottenger have put together this actionable, evidence-based toolkit.