Life is full of change.
Write a report for your boss that’s a change. Having to deal with an email thats hit your inbox. Buy a new washing machine. Change.
Switch cars, switch roles, switch priorities. Change again.
We deal with this stuff every day. We adapt. We move on. It’s what humans do. It’s how we innovate, improve, and push boundaries. It’s how we landed on the moon, and why we’ll keep doing things that once felt impossible.
So why does change get such a bad reputation?
Because it’s not change that trips us up
It’s the surprise, uncertainty and transition that come with it.
In a fast-moving world, permanently plugged into information, living in a “you can have everything, and you can have it now” culture, we’ve become far less tolerant of uncertainty. When we don’t know what’s coming next, stress rises. Engagement drops. Frustration creeps in. Communication suffers. Relationships strain. Trust erodes.
And here’s the thing:
The level of surprise and uncertainty we’re dealing with isn’t decreasing, it’s accelerating.
Look around.
You’re probably reading this at work and have already navigated a handful of unexpected moments today. Maybe it was juggling family demands before logging on. A last-minute meeting change. A new priority dropped on you with no warning. Nothing dramatic, but it all adds up.
Zoom out and the picture gets bigger.
Election results that catch people off guard.
Universities are competing globally rather than locally.
Legacy brands are losing relevance as consumer values shift.
Whole industries are having to rethink themselves faster than ever before.
This isn’t going away. And in many ways, that’s fine, because we can cope with change.
So what’s the real problem?
The zombie epidemic
Walk into almost any organisation and you’ll spot them.
The zombies.
They shuffle along. They talk endlessly about “how things used to be.” They’re permanently overworked, permanently underpaid, and permanently unhappy, despite spending more energy complaining than actually doing the work.
Put a few zombies together, and it gets contagious. Fast.
But they’re not the real danger.
The real risk lies with the walking dead.
These are the people who still show up. Still looks capable. Still perform, just about. But internally, they’re disengaging. Draining. Switching to autopilot.
The data backs this up:
- Around 70% of people globally are not engaged at work
- Only 8% strongly agree that their work contributes positively to their well-being
- Around 80% report feeling stressed at work
This is the real epidemic. And it’s quietly embedded in organisations everywhere.
Why this keeps happening
Most organisations are still using outdated approaches to manage change, surprise, and uncertainty.
More communication plans.
More town halls.
More frameworks.
More “change initiatives”.
Yet engagement continues to slide. Stress continues to rise. And more people drift from fully alive… to quietly checked out.
We don’t need more change management.
We need to change the way we think and act around change itself.
That means rethinking how people experience uncertainty.
How leaders show up under pressure.
How teams build the mental, emotional, and social skills to stay grounded when the ground keeps shifting.
In my next post, I’ll unpack the conventional approaches most organisations rely on, and why, despite good intentions, they’re failing to stop the spread of the walking dead.
If this resonates, I hope you’ll join me for the next part of the journey.
