We’re living in times of an unprecedented rate of change. Every day we wake up to new tools, new expectations, new competitors, new social currents, new anxieties.
The familiar rhythm of “strategy → execution → stability” has been replaced by “disruption → adaptation → disruption again.” It’s not that leaders are facing more change than before; it’s that change has become continuous, like the weather that never quite clears.
And that raises a different kind of leadership question.
Not: “How do I manage this change?”
But: “How do I lead in a world where change is the default state?”
Learning Agility
In disruption, the most reliable signal is not mastery. It’s learning agility — the ability to stay fluid without becoming frantic.
What Learning Agility looks like:
- Holding your expertise lightly
- Updating faster than your ego prefers
- Being willing to be a beginner in public
- Experimenting without calling every experiment a “transformation program.”
The leaders who thrive are not the ones who never get tired, never feel fear, or never doubt. They’re the ones who can say, quietly and honestly:
Here’s what I’m seeing in organisations and teams right now:
1) Change fatigue is real — and it’s not laziness
Change fatigue is an unprocessed loss. Every wave of change quietly asks people to let go of something they built an identity around: skills, routines, status, certainty, belonging.
So the recovery isn’t motivational posters. It’s leadership hygiene.
A. Name what’s being lost.
“This change isn’t small. I see what it costs you.”
Instead of rushing into the future, pause and say: “I know this change means letting go of habits and expertise you’ve built over the years. That is not small.”
B. Create a “meaning bridge.”
People can tolerate almost any disruption if they see why it matters.
The “why” can’t be corporate wallpaper; it has to be real.
Not “We need to stay competitive.”
But “We need to stay competitive so that we can protect jobs, create new ones, and keep serving customers well.”
2) Resilient teams survive. Antifragile teams grow.
Resilience is the ability to bounce back to what you were.
Antifragility is the ability to gain strength from stress.
In unstable environments, resilience is survival.
Antifragility is thriving.
What makes a team antifragile?
A. Small experiments instead of big bets
Antifragile teams don’t wait for perfect clarity.
They run safe-to-fail pilots.
They learn in public.
They adjust, not out of panic, but out of rhythm.
A simple principle: In uncertainty, enlarge learning, not planning.
B. Distributed decision-making
When change is constant, bottlenecks are deadly.
If every decision must climb a hierarchy, the organization will move like a tired elephant trying to dance.
Antifragile teams have:
- Clear decision rights.
- High trust.
- Fast feedback loops.
- Leaders who coach rather than control.
Resilience = bouncing back.
Antifragility = getting stronger because of stress.
3. Learning as a daily habit, not a training program
Antifragile teams don’t rely on annual training. They build “learning muscle” into the week:
- Retrospectives
- Peer coaching
- 15-minute skill shares
- Quick debriefs after client calls
- “What are we noticing?” check-ins
They don’t just do work. They do work and learn from work.
SPARK Leadership Lens: Disruption as a Human Project
Let me frame this through SPARK, because disruption isn’t just operational. It’s existential.
Service
Disruption asks: “Who are we serving now?”
Old customers evolve. New needs emerge. Service pulls leadership out of ego and into relevance.
Purpose
Purpose isn’t a slogan; it’s a compass. In uncertainty, a compass matters more than a map.
Attraction
When you align service and purpose with real wins, you attract momentum. People follow leaders who make change feel meaningful, not random.
Resilience
Resilience here isn’t toughness. It is the ability to recover, re-center, and re-engage without bitterness.
Knowing
Knowing is the leader’s core contemporary skill: to see reality clearly, suspend ego, and learn fast.
SPARK doesn’t remove disruption. It gives you a way to walk through it without losing your humanity.
Where is change fatigue showing up for your team—and what ritual could you SPARK this week to help them thrive again? Share your ideas, experiences and questions in the comments section below.