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Culture, Not Code: How Change Management Powers True Transformation
By now, most leaders understand that digital transformation isn’t just about adopting new tools—it’s about rethinking how the business works. But knowing that doesn’t make it easier to do.
I’ve worked with dozens of enterprises who invested in Salesforce with every intention of modernizing. But what separated the success stories from the stalled efforts wasn’t the technology stack. It was the leadership mindset and the organization’s ability to manage change—strategically, visibly, and human-first.
Many transformation efforts fall into the same trap: companies only pay lip service to change management and fail to make it part of a core strategy.
They over-index on the “what” (the platforms, the integrations, the roadmaps) and under-invest in the “how” (the people, the behaviors, the buy-in). The result? Low adoption. Fragmented rollout. Quiet resistance. And eventually—abandonment or under-utilization of the tools meant to enable growth.
From what I’ve seen, the most common blockers aren’t technical at all. They’re human:
© Copyright 2025. All Rights Reserved.
Published 5/7/2025
Culture, Not Code
Author: Sandra Swindle,
VP of Global Delivery
Robin Kamen is a senior consultant of OSF Digital Strategy. She is a digital marketing and strategy leader with experience building global brands and driving customer engagement and ROI across many verticals.
Author: Robin Kamen, Sr. Consultant
- Vague goals and misaligned leadership. Teams don’t understand the value that the new technology will unlock or clearly see their role and responsibilities in the project.
- Superficial compliance. Employees nod along in meetings but revert to old workflows the moment resistance appears.
- Siloed execution. Departments move at different speeds, with different incentives, making coordinated change extremely difficult.
- Fear and fatigue. When change feels imposed—not co-created—it breeds cynicism and burnout.
One of the biggest misconceptions I see? Confusing communication with change and acceptance. Change Management ≠ Change Messaging.
Yes, comms are vital, but real change management goes deeper. It means setting up support systems, defining new roles and responsibilities, creating psychological safety, and enabling learning curves—not just announcing a vision and hoping it sticks.
That’s why at OSF Digital, we help clients build people-first transformation strategies that anchor change in behaviors.
Our AI Catalyst process, for example, doesn’t just identify technical opportunities—it surfaces the cultural frictions, stakeholder dynamics, and adoption risks that can derail even the best-laid plans. We use this to co-create transformation journeys that feel achievable.
If you're attending Dreamforce and you’re leading—or about to lead—a transformation initiative, let’s talk. Let’s assess where your teams stand, how the leadership team is showing up, and what it would take to make change stick, not just start.
- Start with people, not platforms. They recognize that adoption is emotional, not just operational. Change is personal—so their strategy is too. so they tailor their strategy to stakeholder needs.
- Model the change from the top. These leaders don’t delegate change—they embody it. They speak about the transformation publicly, act in alignment with new behaviors, and show up consistently as visible sponsors.
- Treat resistance as data. Rather than bulldozing over hesitancy, they listen. Low engagement? Tool workarounds? Delays? These are signals to re-align—not punish.
- Keep the vision alive. Transformation isn’t a one-off campaign. It’s a cultural shift. Successful leaders make the “why” of change impossible to forget—through stories, metrics, and shared wins.
- Build for momentum, not perfection. Instead of aiming for total readiness, they start small, pilot often, and adapt in real time. This keeps teams engaged and avoids transformation fatigue.
We’ve seen a different pattern emerge from companies who actually make transformation stick. These leaders do five things differently:
