The Clarity Goals Approach to Change

Where people, presence, and purpose come first.

Organizations don’t fail at change because the strategy is wrong or the technology isn’t ready. They struggle because people are asked to transform without the clarity, safety, or support they need to actually make new behavior possible.

At Clarity Goals, we start where change really begins:
with the humans leading and experiencing it.

We begin with people, not plans.

Research from Harvard Business Review, McKinsey, and Amy Edmondson consistently shows that transformation succeeds only when teams feel safe enough to experiment, speak honestly, and learn in real time. (1)

That requires more than communication plans or training sessions.

It requires relationships, trust, and a shared understanding of why the change matters.

Our work focuses first on creating the conditions that allow people to participate fully - and only then on the processes that carry the change forward.

And importantly:
change often feels threatening when it disrupts identity, roles, or a person’s sense of competence. (2)

When the way people understand themselves, their expertise, or their place in the system feels at risk, resistance is not irrational — it is human.

Our work focuses first on creating the conditions that allow people to participate fully — and only then on the processes that carry the change forward.

We help leaders transform themselves first.

Every meaningful change asks leaders to shift:

how they show up,
how they listen,
how they make decisions,
how they create space for others.

Most change efforts break down not because employees resist but because leaders are applying yesterday’s habits to tomorrow’s challenges.

Clarity Goals supports leaders in examining their patterns, narratives, and instinctive responses so they can lead with awareness instead of urgency.

This internal shift is what enables the external change to take hold.

We work at three levels at once.

Change happens when individuals grow, teams align, and systems reinforce the new way of working.

Our approach integrates all three:

Individual - self-awareness, presence, identity, and leadership behavior
Team - trust, communication, conflict habits, decision-making norms
System - roles, structures, agreements, and repeatable ways of working

When these layers move together, change feels coherent instead of disruptive.

We design containers for honest conversation and real alignment.

People adopt new behaviors when they feel safe enough to express concerns, test ideas, and explore what the change means for them.

Our signature frameworks - including The Meeting Container and The Living Container for ongoing team practice - create predictable, inclusive environments where dialogue replaces fear and clarity replaces confusion.

This emotional infrastructure becomes the foundation for everything that follows.

We turn insight into action, and action into habit.

Insight matters.
Practice matters more.

We help leaders and teams apply new behaviors immediately, observe what happens, and refine in real time.

This cycle - awareness → action → reflection - is how change becomes culture.

**Our philosophy is simple:

Sustainable change is relational, not mechanical.**

When leaders are aligned, teams feel seen, and the purpose is clear, organizations move faster with far less friction. Technology becomes easier to adopt. Strategy becomes easier to execute. People feel more connected to the work and to each other.

Clarity Goals creates the human conditions in which change takes root - and stays.

If you’re ready to lead change in a way that honors people and strengthens your organization, let’s build it together.

CITATIONS

(1) Safety, Trust, and Leadership Behaviors

Harvard Business Review – Human-Centered AI & Behavioral Adoption

Wilson, H. J., & Daugherty, P. R. (2023). “Building Human-Centered AI That Works.”
Demonstrates how trust, transparency, and cognitive load shape adoption.
Davenport, T., & Bean, R. (2022). “Why So Many Data and Analytics Transformations Fail.”
Identifies human dynamics and leadership alignment as primary drivers of success.

McKinsey – Transformation Failures

McKinsey & Company (2018). “Unlocking Success in Digital Transformations.”
Shows ~70% of transformations fail; leadership role-modeling and a cohesive change story are top predictors of success.
McKinsey Global Survey (2021). “The Keys to Successful Change.”
Confirms leadership behavior as the determining factor in sustained transformation.

Amy Edmondson – Psychological Safety

Edmondson, A. (1999). “Psychological Safety and Learning Behavior in Work Teams.” Administrative Science Quarterly.
Edmondson, A. (2019). The Fearless Organization. Wiley.

(2) Identity, Roles, and Competence as Drivers of Resistance

These works directly support the statement that change feels threatening when identity, roles, or competence are disrupted:

Heifetz, R., & Linsky, M. (2002). Leadership on the Line. Harvard Business School Press.
Defines adaptive challenges as those that threaten identity and competence.
Ibarra, H. (2015). Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader. Harvard Business Review Press.
Shows that behavior change requires identity change; people resist when identity is destabilized.
Rock, D. (2008). “SCARF: A Brain-Based Model for Collaborating with and Influencing Others.” NeuroLeadership Journal.
Demonstrates how threats to status, certainty, and autonomy (components of competence and role) trigger resistance.

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