Every January, workplaces fill with good intentions. Teams set goals. Leaders commit to new habits. Individuals promise themselves that this will be the year things finally stick. And yet, when it comes to workplace resolutions, the pattern is familiar: strong starts, fading momentum, and quiet frustration by spring. This is not a motivation problem.
In my latest column in The Globe and Mail, I explore why most workplace resolutions fail, and what actually helps people sustain change at work. The short version? We ask individuals to carry the full weight of change, while leaving the systems around them untouched.
Why most resolutions we make for work fail, and what actually helps
When workplace resolutions rely solely on willpower, discipline, or “trying harder,” they are almost guaranteed to erode. The structure of the work itself, how goals are reinforced, how progress is supported, and how identity shows up in daily behaviour, matters far more than we tend to admit.
Why good intentions aren’t enough at work
That tension between intention and structure has come up repeatedly in my client work, and it also surfaced in thoughtful conversations with Terri-Ann Richards, whose work consistently examines how organizations unintentionally undermine the change they say they want. I’ll be sharing more of her perspective next month, when she joins the blog as a guest contributor.
In the column, I look further at:
- Why workplace resolutions often collapse even when people care deeply,
- How habits and identity quietly override good intentions, and
- What leaders can do differently if they want change to last.
Once you’ve read the column, come back here and reflect for a moment. Where are workplace resolutions in your organization being propped up by personal effort, rather than supported by thoughtful design? What would shift if the system carried more of the load? I’d love to hear what stood out for you. Add your thoughts in the comments below so we can learn from one another.
Merge’s leadership development consultancy has one singular focus – to turn managers into leaders; to help great people become exceptional leaders so that they can turn their people power into real and tangible results. Through her speaking, training, consulting, mentoring and facilitation services, Merge helps leaders in organizations create high-performing workplaces.
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