Fastcompany iconFastcompanySep 10, 2026 ~1 min source read

Transformation doesn’t happen in the boardroom

Every company has a transformation agenda, whether it's AI adoption, improved productivity, new operating models, or workforce agility. For organizations with large frontline workforces, the real transformation test is what happens when a manager needs to fill an open shift at 7 a.m.

Transformation doesn’t happen in the boardroom

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Every company has a transformation agenda, whether it's AI adoption, improved productivity, new operating models, or workforce agility.

For organizations with large frontline workforces, the real transformation test is what happens when a manager needs to fill an open shift at 7 a.m.

That manager needs to know who is available, who has the right skills, what they will cost, whether assigning them creates a compliance issue, and how the decision affects the employee and the business.

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The useful part

Every company has a transformation agenda, whether it's AI adoption, improved productivity, new operating models, or workforce agility. For organizations with large frontline workforces, the real transformation test is what happens when a manager needs to fill an open shift at 7 a.m. That manager needs to know who is available, who has the right skills, what they will cost, whether assigning them creates a compliance issue, and how the decision affects the employee and the business.

How it works

  • Just 6% of those surveyed say transformation is properly integrated in day-to-day work.

Details worth keeping

In many organizations, those answers aren't easily found. Transformation cannot be something we ask people to do to their jobs.

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