Most organisations assume they are “ready for change” because people seem supportive, the strategy looks clear, or the project plan is well‑structured. But real readiness has very little to do with enthusiasm or communication.

Readiness is structural. It’s a property of the system — not the people inside it.

If you want to know whether your organisation is genuinely ready for change, you must look beneath behaviour and sentiment and examine the architecture that shapes how people interpret, respond to, and carry load.

Here’s how to diagnose structural readiness in a clear, practical way.

1. Start by assessing coherence, not attitude

Most leaders begin by asking:

• Are people on board

• Are they resisting

• Do they understand the change

These questions focus on behaviour. But behaviour is an output of structure.

A structurally ready organisation shows coherence:

• goals align

• priorities don’t contradict

• messages match actions

• teams understand how their work connects

• decisions follow predictable patterns

If coherence is low, readiness is low — even if people appear supportive.

Diagnostic question: Do people receive consistent signals about what matters, or do they have to guess

2. Examine load, not motivation — and include Change Fitness in the equation

People don’t resist change because they’re unmotivated. They resist because they are overloaded.

Structural load includes:

• competing priorities

• unclear expectations

• constant rework

• excessive reporting

• emotional pressure

• cognitive overload

• lack of recovery time

But there’s another critical dimension leaders often overlook:

Change Fitness — the internal capacity to meet external demands.

Load is not just about the demands placed on people. It’s also about the supply of capability they have available.

Overload occurs when:

• demands > capacity, or

• change load > Change Fitness

This is why two people in the same environment can respond so differently:

• One feels energised and capable

• The other feels stretched, anxious, or stuck

It’s not personality. It’s not attitude. It’s not motivation.

It’s the relationship between structural load and Change Fitness.

When the system increases demands without increasing capacity, readiness collapses — no matter how supportive or enthusiastic people appear.

Diagnostic question: Are the demands of the change greater than the Change Fitness available to meet them

3. Look for drift — the silent killer of readiness

Drift is the gradual loss of alignment, clarity, and capability over time. It shows up as:

• workarounds

• inconsistent practices

• unclear ownership

• slow decision cycles

• chronic re‑prioritisation

• “shadow systems” people create to cope

Drift erodes readiness long before a change initiative starts.

Diagnostic question: Are teams relying on informal fixes because the formal system no longer works smoothly

4. Assess trust as a structural outcome, not a personal trait

Trust is often treated as a cultural or interpersonal issue. But in reality, trust is a structural signal.

People trust when the system:

• behaves consistently

• resolves issues fairly

• supports learning

• reduces unnecessary risk

• aligns words with actions

When trust is low, readiness is low — regardless of how many town halls or emails you send.

Diagnostic question: Do people feel the system protects them when they take responsible risks

5. Evaluate sensemaking, not communication volume

Organisations often assume that more communication equals more readiness. But readiness depends on sensemaking, not messaging.

Sensemaking is the system’s ability to help people:

• understand what’s happening

• interpret why it matters

• see how it affects them

• know what to do next

If people can’t make sense of the change, they can’t adapt — no matter how many emails they receive.

Diagnostic question: Do people have the information they need to interpret the change, or just information about the change

6. Check decision pathways, not decision speed

A structurally ready organisation has:

• clear decision rights

• predictable escalation paths

• transparent criteria

• aligned authority

• minimal bottlenecks

When decision pathways are unclear, people hesitate, delay, or avoid action — not because they’re resistant, but because the system is ambiguous.

Diagnostic question: Do people know who decides what, or do they spend energy navigating uncertainty

7. Look at capability, not enthusiasm

Enthusiasm is temporary. Capability is durable.

Structural readiness depends on:

• Change Fitness (individual capacity)

• team routines

• leadership clarity

• stable processes

• aligned incentives

• supportive systems

If capability is low, readiness is low — even if people are excited.

Diagnostic question: Do people have the capability to adapt, or just the desire to

8. Use a structural diagnostic, not intuition

Most organisations rely on gut feel:

• “I think the team is ready.”

• “People seem positive.”

• “We’ve communicated well.”

But intuition is unreliable because leaders see only the surface.

A structural diagnostic — like our Strategic Readiness Survey — reveals:

• coherence levels

• drift patterns

• load distribution

• trust signals

• capability gaps

• readiness risks

It turns readiness from a guess into a measurable condition.

The Bottom Line

If you want to know whether your organisation is ready for change, don’t look at behaviour, attitude, or enthusiasm.

Look at:

• coherence

• load

• drift

• trust

• sensemaking

• decision pathways

• capability

These are the structural foundations that determine whether people can adapt — not just whether they want to.

Because readiness isn’t a feeling. It’s a condition.

And once you can diagnose it, you can build it.