Organizations often introduce “ good practices ” with confidence.
The ideas are reasonable. The intentions are sincere.
Yet, months later, nothing remains.

The practice disappears quietly, as if it never existed.

This is rarely a problem of motivation or competence.
It is a structural phenomenon.

The Illusion of Improvement

New initiatives often create a temporary sense of progress.

• A new framework is announced
• Training sessions are conducted
• Documentation is distributed

For a short period, behavior changes.
Meetings sound different. Reports look cleaner.

Then, slowly, the organization returns to its previous state.

The failure is usually interpreted as resistance or lack of discipline.
This interpretation is convenient—and incorrect.

When Structure Rejects Change

Practices do not survive on intention alone.

If the surrounding structure remains unchanged, the organization will treat the new practice as a foreign body.

Common structural mismatches include:

• Evaluation systems that reward old behaviors
• Decision paths that bypass the new process
• Time constraints that make adherence impractical

In such environments, the practice is not adopted.
It is filtered out.

Symptoms of Non-Integration

When a practice fails to take root, the symptoms are consistent.

• Only a few individuals maintain it
• Progress depends on personal effort
• The practice collapses when key people leave

At this stage, the organization often concludes that the idea itself was flawed.

In reality, the idea was never integrated.

Repeated Misdiagnosis

The same explanation appears again and again:

• “ People didn’t commit.”
• “ The culture wasn’t ready.”
• “ Execution was weak.”

These explanations focus on individuals.
They ignore the environment in which those individuals operate.

As a result, the organization repeats the cycle—introducing new practices into an unchanged structure.

Diagnosis

A practice that cannot survive beyond specific individuals was never part of the system.

It was an addition, not an integration.

Until the structure changes, even the best practices will fail to take root.

Related:

• The Relationship Between Organizational Structure and Human Capital