Realistic goals → early wins → belief → momentum.

The Onion ran a headline that made me laugh… then wince:

“CEO Unveils Bold New Plan To Undo Damage From Last Year’s Bold New Plan.”

It’s funny because it’s true.

More organizations get derailed by constant reinvention masquerading as strategy — not by competitors.

New leader? Reorg. Bad quarter? Initiative. Competitor making noise? Transformation program.

Before you know it, you’re not transforming the business.
You’re churning it.

One leader who broke that cycle: Mike Mahoney at Boston Scientific.

When he arrived in 2012, the company was exhausted from “big swings.”

Share price down 90%. Failed integrations. Teams bracing for the next shakeup.

So he did something radical: he stopped transforming and started building.

Brick by brick.

Realistic goals → early wins → belief → momentum.

Aligned strategy instead of competing priorities. Innovation that matched where the company could actually win.

Thirteen years later? A $150B market cap and a culture people actually want to be part of.

It reminded me of a simple truth: transformation fatigue is real.
And steady progress often beats dramatic reinvention.

Curious: when has your organization “transformed” something… only to transform it again 18 months later?