We are a week into 2025–how is it going so far?

January 6, 2025

By Carolyn Dewar, McKinsey & Company senior partner and co-author of The New York Times bestseller, CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest.

Every January, millions of us set goals with the best intentions: exercise more, spend less, and lead better. Yet by February (or even by now??), most of those resolutions are dead in the water. It’s not because we’re lazy or lack discipline. The truth is, we’re wired to resist change—even the kind we desperately want.

Harvard psychologists Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey call this the “Immunity to Change.” They’ve spent decades studying why people and organizations get stuck despite their best efforts. Their insight? We’re not failing because we don’t try hard enough. We’re failing because competing commitments and hidden beliefs sabotage our progress.

Why we sabotage ourselves

Kegan and Lahey explain that just as our physical immune system defends against threats, our psychological immune system protects us from perceived risks. The problem? These “risks” are often tied to growth. Trying something new, risking failure, or changing how we see ourselves can feel threatening—even if the change is positive.

Their?“Immunity to Change Map”?is a tool to uncover these hidden dynamics. Take the manager who wants to delegate more. On the surface, it’s a great goal. But underneath, the manager might hold a competing commitment to maintaining control, driven by the belief that “if I don’t oversee every detail, the work will suffer.” This hidden assumption isn’t malicious—it’s rooted in a desire to succeed. But it creates an invisible barrier to progress.

By surfacing these competing commitments, Kegan and Lahey’s approach enables people to rewrite the internal stories keeping them stuck.

Teams and organizations have an immunity problem, too

Here’s where things get even more interesting: it’s not just individuals who struggle with hidden barriers. Organizations have their own immune systems—unwritten rules and cultural assumptions that undermine bold goals.

In our work with companies, we’ve seen this dynamic play out repeatedly. Leaders set ambitious objectives: foster innovation, drive growth, build a collaborative culture. But despite their efforts, progress stalls. Why? Because the team’s actions are aligned with an unstated but deeply held belief—one that often contradicts the official strategy or desired change.

For example, consider a company that claims to value innovation but punishes mistakes. The stated goal is bold creativity, but the real goal—unspoken but powerful—is to avoid risk. Employees aren’t intentionally undermining innovation; they’re responding rationally to a system that rewards caution over courage.

Or take a team that prizes collaboration but rewards individual achievements. On paper, everyone agrees collaboration is critical. But if promotions and recognition go to the person who stands out, the message is clear: compete, don’t cooperate. The result? Mistrust, silos, and a culture that runs counter to its aspirations.

Diagnosing and breaking the immunity

As leaders, one of our most important jobs is to surface and challenge these hidden dynamics. That starts with asking two critical questions:

1. What behaviors or beliefs are working against our goals?

2. What fears or assumptions are driving those behaviors?

These questions help us uncover the unspoken rules shaping our team’s culture and align actions with aspirations. But to fully understand and reshape the system, we also need to explore the mechanisms reinforcing these behaviors.

At McKinsey, we ground this work in our influence model[CH3]?, which highlights the four levers that shape employees’ mindsets and behaviors:

1. Role modeling: Are leaders walking the talk, embodying the values and behaviors they want to see in their teams?

2. Understanding and conviction: Do employees genuinely believe in the organization’s goals and understand why they matter?

3. Formal mechanisms: Are systems such as incentives, processes, and structures aligned with the stated objectives?

4. Skills and capabilities: Do employees have the tools and training needed to succeed in the desired behaviors?

Diagnosing the barriers isn’t about blaming people for acting rationally within the system—it’s about understanding and reshaping the system itself.

For example, an innovation-focused organization might need to redefine failure—not as something to avoid, but as a necessary step toward success. Leaders can share stories of how risks that didn’t pan out paved the way for breakthroughs. This reframes failure as a badge of progress, not a mark of shame.

Similarly, a team struggling with collaboration might revisit its incentive systems. Are bonuses tied exclusively to individual performance? If so, what would happen if rewards were linked to team outcomes instead? Aligning the formal mechanisms with collaboration changes what gets celebrated, fostering trust and cooperation.

The call to action

This year let’s stop blaming ourselves—and our teams—for falling short of resolutions and goals. Instead, let’s get curious about what’s holding us back and?uncover the beliefs, assumptions, and systems sabotaging progress.

When we confront these hidden forces, we stop fighting against ourselves and start aligning our goals with the way we actually operate. That’s where real growth happens—not through sheer willpower, but through clarity and courage.

This isn’t just about sticking to resolutions. It’s about unlocking potential—yours, your team’s, and your organization’s. Let’s make this the year we stop getting in our own way.

Carolyn Dewar is a senior partner based in McKinsey’s Bay Area office and the co-author of The New York Times bestseller, CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest.