76% of CEOs want to transform. Only 23% succeed.

76% of CEOs want to transform. Only 23% succeed.

That is what the current PwC CEO Survey shows.

You know the pattern:

• Monday: the strategy project starts
• Wednesday: operational business is on fire
• Friday: the project is put on ice

And the following week, the PMO prepares the PowerPoint status report for the steering committee, with permanently green traffic lights.

This is no coincidence. It is system failure.

Successful companies do it differently: they create a dual operating system.

John Kotter described this more than ten years ago: two systems in parallel — one optimises Run, the other drives Develop. Organisationally separate.

The same people work in both systems. 10–15% of their capacity goes into transformation. With its own budget. Its own KPIs. Clear governance.

Not two separate worlds, with some people doing Run and others doing Develop. That only creates divisions. Runners do not believe developers. Everyone thinks they know better. The existing system? Remains untouched.

The balancing act of ambidexterity: people spend 10–15% of their time in Develop — cross-functionally, outside their line structures. They understand both worlds. They can persuade because they themselves work in operations.

This is the highest discipline of strategic leadership. And very few succeed at it.

I have introduced this system with many clients. And I know this balancing act is not easy. Very few master it. But those who do genuinely take transformation from PowerPoint to delivery.

Why do so many fail? I know companies that carefully cascade their strategy to departments and teams. The problem: that merely reinforces the existing leadership. Real change? Nowhere to be seen.

Why cross-functional? Because systems tend to preserve themselves. Cross-functional teams break through that logic. They bring different perspectives. They change structures instead of reproducing them.

A recent PwC study shows that companies with this organisational separation achieve three times the success rate.

The hard truth: transformation "on the side" is wishful thinking. If you do not create dedicated resources, you do not gain time. You only lose money.

💬 How do you address this in your company? Do you have real capacity for transformation — or does it run "on the side" for you too?

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