Don’t Change Just Because…

“Just One More Thing…” is a short-form way that I share ideas, questions and guidance with more substance than a LinkedIn post and less academic rigor than my articles. I hope you find it valuable.

It’s the tired opening line in a LinkedIn post, the first slide in a consultant’s deck, or the hook in a salesperson’s pitch: “Because the world is changing faster than ever, you must…”

Just this week, I’ve heard that line used to justify:

• Scrapping the Ulrich HR model (it’s old and everything’s changed!),
• Remote work as the only legitimate choice (everything’s changed post-COVID!),
• That AI skills will differentiate future HR professionals (everything’s changed with AI!).

It’s easy to empathize with the perception of rapid change as we experience frantic individual schedules and increasingly overwhelming amounts of information. But it’s important to differentiate between acute busyness, information overload and actual change that demands our reaction.

The speed of business change is actually decreasing
If you want dramatic business change, consider that personal computers fundamentally changed how work was done starting in the 1980’s. Massive offshoring of manufacturing jobs in the US fundamentally changed what work was done in the 1990’s. The internet transformed society, created new industries and eliminated jobs starting in the mid-1990’s through the early 2000’s.

Since the 2010’s, the world of business has not changed at that pace. Tragedies like COVID had emotional impact but did not transform industries. Remote work is still the same work just done elsewhere. AI will likely have a significant impact on select areas of business, but it hasn’t yet.

Business in 2025 remains largely the same as it was 10 or 15 years ago, meaning that the world of business is NOT changing faster than ever. In fact, it’s likely changing more slowly than at any time in recent history.

Why should you change?

There are certainly good reasons why you should change things in your organization. If your company’s strategy has changed and your function, team and you need to change with it. If you have identified a business problem that requires planned change to solve it. If you’ve identified legitimate, fact-based and specific industry or societal shifts that you need to respond to.

But don’t let the projected histrionics of drama-loving consultants and vendors who don’t understand or don’t care about the actual pace of change fool you into taking action where none is needed.

If their only reason for action is “because everything’s changing” — walk away.