The Immunity to Change™ process equips organizations to break through resistance and achieve sustainable, adaptive responses to change.

Immunity to Change™ is a learning process grounded in 30 years of adult development research by Harvard University faculty Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey. It is used in organizations throughout the world and offers an actionable model for effectively moving through change in a positive and productive way.

Why Immunity to Change™ Matters

Senior leadership teams struggle to lead rapid transformative change even when they are fully committed to the change. When such efforts fall short, they often relate the failure to external factors. This pattern impedes progress because external factors are in constant flux and is not a locus of control for success.

Change efforts that require a collective change of behaviors, or change of culture, often fail because executive teams are unaware of their subconscious self-protecting counter commitments that get in the way of accomplishing their change goals.

Resistance to change isn’t just about lack of willpower or skills but stems from an "emotional immune system." This system protects individuals from perceived threats—such as fear of failure, shame, or loss of identity—by maintaining hidden commitments that conflict with stated goals.

These competing commitments act like a foot on the brake, counteracting the desire to move forward (the accelerator). For example, someone might commit to delegating more at work but resist doing so because of a hidden commitment to being seen as indispensable, driven by a fear of losing control or value.

When you are trying to bring about change in your organization, there can be a natural push-back that is difficult to overcome, even when that change is positive and attractive.

Outcomes

By combining the science of human development and agile principles, the Immunity to Change™ Process delivers a vastly different outcome from other approaches because it empowers people to change the mindset underlying their behaviors (what is usually beneath the surface of our awareness).

Applications:

Individual Growth:

Helps people address personal goals, like improving leadership, communication, or work-life balance.

Organizational Change:

Used in teams or organizations to align collective mindsets and overcome systemic resistance.

Professional Development:

Effectively integrated in leadership coaching at all levels of the organization.

  • ITC uncovers competing commitments and subconscious assumptions that sabotage change efforts, even when teams are motivated. For example, a team aiming to innovate might resist due to fears of failure, preserving outdated but "safe" practices. By mapping these barriers, ITC enables organizations to confront and overcome them systematically.

  • Unlike technical fixes (ie: new tools), ITC focuses on adaptive challenges—shifting mindsets and behaviors. This is critical for navigating complex issues like cultural shifts, leadership transitions, or rapid market changes, ensuring organizations evolve without losing stability.

  • Using the Immunity Map, teams collectively diagnose misalignments between stated goals and actual behaviors, fostering trust and collaboration. For instance, at Nascent Pharmaceuticals, ITC helped a merged team improve communication by addressing hidden fears of vulnerability, boosting performance.

  • Through small, safe experiments, ITC tests and reframes limiting assumptions, creating lasting behavioral shifts. This iterative approach ensures changes stick, unlike top-down mandates that often fail.

  • By fostering “self-authoring” mindsets, ITC empowers leaders and teams to take ownership of change, enhancing agility and innovation. Corporations and nonprofits have used ITC to align diverse stakeholders and drive progress.

People development is embedded into the culture instead of a one-off experience that disappears as soon as everyone goes back to their desks. ITC approaches learning and personal development at work as a “team sport,” with support, challenge and accountability coming from peers rather than an outside source.

Case Studies

Case Study #1

By concurrently overcoming the team members’ individual and collective Immunity to Change™, a recent case study showed that over 18 months:

- An executive team doubled its leadership effectiveness (88% growth).*

- The company’s growth profit margin increased from 68% to 82%.

- A Sr. VP of Sales grew Leadership Effectiveness from 73% to 93%.

- Executives and their direct reports scored with the highest Leadership Effectiveness and Creative Competencies, the lowest Reactive Tendencies, and the most balanced Task-Relationship among the company’s second-tier leadership.

*Measurement data was obtained using The Leadership Circle Profile Assessment before and after the ITC work.

Case Study #2

Working with the leadership team of a global software services company with members located in the USA, Latin America, Asia, and Europe showed that leveraging the Immunity to Change™ framework with individual members and their teams yielded significant results faster:

- The Sr. Director to the Vice President didn’t believe he would survive long when reviewing his performance. Six months later, instead of losing his job, he was promoted to Vice President, leading a customer-facing division with P&L responsibility.

- The Vice President boosted his Leadership Effectiveness from the 14th percentile to the 47th percentile.*

*Measurement data was obtained using The Leadership Circle Profile Assessment before and after the ITC work.