Beyond Change, Article 10: Adoption Starts Before the Kickoff
This article is part of Beyond Change, our 10‑part series on the real work of driving adoption. The series looks at what happens after go‑live and explores the people, decisions, and moments that shape whether change takes hold in a lasting way.
By the time most projects reach kickoff, key decisions have already been made.
The scope is defined. The solution is selected. The timeline is in motion. The sponsors have been briefed. The teams are assembled. The plans are polished.
And yet, that’s also when most organizations first start thinking seriously about adoption.
Training gets scoped. Communications are mapped. A change network might be formed. A change lead joins the project.
But by then, the tone is already set.
The way the change was framed.
Who was consulted.
Who wasn’t.
The speed of the decision.
The clarity of the “why.”
The presence or absence of trust.
All of that happened before kickoff. And all of it shapes how people will receive what comes next.
This is the adoption paradox: we invest heavily in driving engagement after the decisions have been made, often without realizing that most of the resistance, confusion, and skepticism we’re trying to overcome was baked in upstream.
Adoption doesn’t start with rollout. It starts with intent.
Where Adoption Really Begins
It starts when leadership first begins exploring options. It starts when someone says, “We need to do things differently,” and the conversations that follow either include people or don’t. It starts in the early assumptions about who will be affected, and how much input they’ll have. It starts in the narrative that gets built behind closed doors before it ever reaches a slide.
Once that story is set, adoption becomes about rewriting it or reinforcing it. But that story begins early.
Which means that true adoption strategy begins before the kickoff. It starts by building alignment, not just around the solution, but around how people will experience the change. It means engaging voices before the design is locked. It means planning for ownership, not just messaging. It means asking, from the very beginning: “Will people recognize themselves in what we’re building?”
Why Waiting Until Launch Is Too Late
Waiting until launch to address adoption is like waiting until harvest to worry about the soil.
This doesn’t mean delaying action or dragging out decisions. It means recognizing that speed isn’t always progress. That urgency without inclusion often creates the very resistance we try to solve later. That the real adoption work begins long before the first email goes out.
When you think back on the changes you’ve seen succeed or fail, how early did adoption really start? And what could have changed if it had started earlier?
Read the rest of the Beyond Change series and explore how real adoption takes shape.
Continue the Series
Dive into all ten articles in the Beyond Change series and follow the full journey of what it takes for change to take hold inside an organization.
If you are navigating a transformation and want support thinking about adoption from the start, we are here to help.
Whether you are early in shaping a change or already moving forward and seeing resistance surface, having the right conversations sooner can make a meaningful difference. We work with teams to bring clarity, alignment, and ownership into change before momentum is lost.
Use the form below to connect with us and start the conversation.