Sep 24, 2026 · 34 min · 9 segments
Send us Fan Mail **Guest** **Kavi Arasu** founded Flyntrok, a change consultancy built on deep listening, reframing, and human-centered…
Kavi ArasuGuestSrikanthHostWe talk about organizational change as if it were a project.
Define the future state, build the roadmap, communicate, execute, etc.
What are we fundamentally getting wrong about change, Kavi?
Srikanth, you know, I think the way we've been thinking about change in itself is very limiting.
And that context, be it society, be it the whole of civilization, that context is perpetually changing.
And whatever change that we put in place, has to be a subset of or deliberately moving towards the change that is happening outside of the immediate context of the organization that we are in.
What does that mean? That means Our rate of change within, be it as an individual, be it as an organization, our rates of change has to be on par with, if not more than, the rate of change outside us.
In case we keep falling behind, we will get relegated at some point or the other.
And the way in which you had put up the question as well points to an internal orientation which is there, which is define the project, go towards the objectives of the project, which is well efficient for organizational setups.
But look at it this way, that what if the framing of the project in itself was constrained by the requirements of the organization and not best fit for purpose? And therefore, I ask a more foundational question is, are we solving the right problem? Has the problem moved by the time the project finishes? What are the downstream effects of the project? The project may be successful, but does it have more consequences than what we had originally intended to solve? These are other questions, Srikanth, that we don't pause to ask, and those often lead to other greater challenges.
pause to ask more questions.
And one of the leading pieces to that, Kavi, is you also mentioned about changes should be intentional and built to last.
Organizations are built to last, so should change be.
Why do organizations so often confuse moment to change then? Well,
Three quarters of the organizations that where many organizations rather that were featured in Jim Collins' famous book of build to last and good to great, they're not around.
And that's because they haven't kept in tandem with the changes that are happening around them.
We talk about organizational change as if it were a project.
Define the future state, build the roadmap, communicate, execute, etc.
What are we fundamentally getting wrong about change, Kavi?
Srikanth, you know, I think the way we've been thinking about change in itself is very limiting.
And that context, be it society, be it the whole of civilization, that context is perpetually changing.
And whatever change that we put in place, has to be a subset of or deliberately moving towards the change that is happening outside of the immediate context of the organization that we are in.
What does that mean? That means Our rate of change within, be it as an individual, be it as an organization, our rates of change has to be on par with, if not more than, the rate of change outside us.
In case we keep falling behind, we will get relegated at some point or the other.
And the way in which you had put up the question as well points to an internal orientation which is there, which is define the project, go towards the objectives of the project, which is well efficient for organizational setups.
But look at it this way, that what if the framing of the project in itself was constrained by the requirements of the organization and not best fit for purpose? And therefore, I ask a more foundational question is, are we solving the right problem? Has the problem moved by the time the project finishes? What are the downstream effects of the project? The project may be successful, but does it have more consequences than what we had originally intended to solve? These are other questions, Srikanth, that we don't pause to ask, and those often lead to other greater challenges.
pause to ask more questions.
And one of the leading pieces to that, Kavi, is you also mentioned about changes should be intentional and built to last.
Organizations are built to last, so should change be.
Why do organizations so often confuse moment to change then? Well,
Three quarters of the organizations that where many organizations rather that were featured in Jim Collins' famous book of build to last and good to great, they're not around.
And that's because they haven't kept in tandem with the changes that are happening around them.
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