[Event featuring] Sharing on Rotary Club of Lan Kwai Fong’s invitation: Change Done Right: Overcoming the 3 Myths That Quietly Undermine Project Success
In today’s fast-paced business environment, organizations are constantly transforming. Whether it is deploying generative AI, restructuring departments, or moving to a dynamic new workspace, change is the only constant.
Yet, a frustrating paradox remains: organizations invest heavily in state-of-the-art solutions, craft flawless communication plans, deliver comprehensive training, and still face low employee adoption.
On October 28, 2026, Catherine Tam Thillainathan, Director of Change Management Services at ChangeAccomplishment Hong Kong and a Prosci Advanced Instructor, addressed this very challenge as the Guest Speaker at the Rotary Club of Lan Kwai Fong’s regular meeting.
Drawing from Prosci’s 25 years of global research and her own two decades of experience leading transformations across four continents, Catherine debunked the three most common myths that quietly undermine change adoption.
The AI Paradox: A Symptom of the People Side of Change
Many organizations introducing AI face what we call the "AI Paradox": on one side, there is low adoption, low engagement, and a lack of clear value. On the other side, there is overuse, overspend, and excessive activity that fails to move the needle.
The root cause? The conditions for successful adoption were never set. As Catherine emphasized, "This is not a solution problem—it is a change management problem."
To achieve true project health, organizations must balance three critical elements of the Prosci Change Triangle (PCT) Model: Leadership/Sponsorship, Project Management (the technical side), and Change Management (the people side). When these three elements are aligned, projects are 7x more likely to meet objectives.
Let’s look at the three myths Catherine debunked during her session:
Myth 1: "If the solution is good, people will naturally adopt it."
Many leaders believe that if a new software or process is objectively superior, employees will automatically embrace it.
• The Reality: A good solution does not tell people what success looks like in their day-to-day work. When behavioral expectations are left unclear, adoption, value, and success become entirely random.
• The Fix: Leaders must define the exact future state of behaviors. Change management bridges the gap between "installing" a solution and "realizing" its value.
Myth 2: "Clear communications and completed training mean people are ready."
We often check boxes: "Emails sent? Yes. Training completed? Yes. Therefore, the team is ready."
• The Reality: Prosci research shows that 73% of organizations are currently at or beyond change saturation. Employees are overwhelmed. Sending an email does not mean the message has landed, and attending a training session does not mean a habit has changed.
• The Fix: We must ask: "Have we created the time, support, and conditions for people to apply this in real work?" True readiness is an individual journey built through the ADKAR Model (Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, Reinforcement).
Myth 3: "Adoption is the user’s job."
When a project fails to gain traction, the blame often falls on "stubborn" users who resist change.
• The Reality: Adoption is a collaborative effort. Low use does not automatically equal resistance, and high use does not automatically equal success.
• The Fix: The ultimate goal is responsible, valuable, and proficient use. This requires active sponsorship from leadership, technical support from project managers, and empathetic enablement from change practitioners.
What Does "Change Done Right" Actually Mean?
At ChangeAccomplishment, we define change success through a simple yet powerful standard:
"Change is done right only when people use the new way of working well enough, right enough, and long enough to deliver the intended value."
A Mastermind of Professional Minds
The highlight of the evening at the Lingnan Club was the highly interactive discussion that followed. The audience—composed of seasoned professionals, corporate leaders, and entrepreneurs—brought their
own live case studies to the table. From managing regional restructurings to driving digital workflows, the participants shared practical perspectives that enriched the collective learning of everyone in the room.
We would like to express our deepest gratitude to Charter President Eva Chiu and President Elect Douglas Lam for their exceptional hospitality and leadership. We also celebrate our Director of Branding & Marketing, Viola Pak, for facilitating such a wonderful evening of networking and strategic exchange.
Don't leave your next transformation to chance. Let’s build a people-first roadmap that actually works.
Contact ChangeAccomplishment Hong Kong today to schedule your strategic consultation.
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