It sounds ridiculous, but the number of times I’ve seen projects delayed not because of complexity, but because an exec wanted to pick the colour palette for the kick-off deck, or insisted on a name that ‘pops’ is quite embarrassing. That’s not change leadership. That’s change theatre.

The “Blame & Rebrand” habit is what happens when a change initiative that is drifting towards a standstill gets a new name, a shinier logo, and a fresh round of comms.

Relaunching a tired old project with a new logo rather than tackling the fundamental design flaws and systemic obstacles is a tempting but treacherous step. Leaders fear the fallout of admitting past missteps, so they wrap the same broken initiative in new packaging and sell it back to the same weary teams. The message becomes: this may walk like a duck, and talk like a duck, but it’s actually something exciting and new!

But people aren’t fooled by an old duck being served as a spring chicken. They quickly learn that big announcements don’t mean real action. They learn that catchy names come and go, while the core problems remain untouched. They learn that “transformation” is often just redecoration.

The result is just cynicism, fatigue, and a workforce that is conditioned to filter out the noise and adopt a “let’s-wait-and-see” attitude.

This isn’t a strategy that energises an already change-fatigued organization. And it certainly isn’t any way to drive ownership and accountability for the changes that really matter.

If you want to lead change, stop analysing typography and start exploring the root causes holding you back as an organization. Stop designing new slogans and vanity slide decks and direct your attention to the visible and invisible barriers to success. Explain the shift in direction, the reasons for the reboot, and why this is necessary.

Then stop quacking, take real ownership, and people will follow.

Rewriting the Narrative

At Changentum, we don’t “manage” resistance. We partner with leaders to replace outdated change management with human-centred change leadership. Our approach replaces top-down mandates with dialogue, equips teams to lead from every seat, and turns sceptics into advocates.

No blame. No jargon. Just results.