Issue Change fatigue from repeated cosmetic reorganizations erodes trust in further redesign

Summary

McKinsey warns that change fatigue can deepen the cultural obstacles to productivity improvement. The fatigue builds when organizations go through repeated structural or cosmetic changes that involve little real redesign of processes. Each such round erodes trust and engagement among employees. That erosion makes people more skeptical of the next redesign effort, even one that would address workflows properly. In the 2026 survey, 24 percent of leaders named transformation fatigue as a primary barrier to fixing productivity stagnation. The report pairs this with the need to handle internal politics carefully, since decisions about duplications, centralization, and process ownership involve negotiating power across functions.