Leading Organisational Change Without a Roadmap

May 6, 2026 - INSEAD Knowledge

When you’re tackling a transformation that hasn’t been done before, waiting for a perfect roadmap can become an excuse for not moving. The INSEAD case study makes a useful distinction between problems that can be solved with a proven plan and adaptive challenges, where the path has to emerge through experimentation and learning. The first step is accepting that uncertainty is part of the job—and asking what happens if you don’t change.

That doesn’t mean moving forward without direction. In the case of Pharma Global, leaders focused less on defining every step and more on being clear about the destination: what the organization should look like, how decisions should be made and what principles should guide people along the way. That shared vision gave teams enough clarity to act, even when the next steps weren’t yet obvious.

The other big shift is from control to ownership. Senior leaders remained accountable for the transformation, but gave employees responsibility for shaping and implementing the changes. That required trust, clear boundaries and a willingness to let teams solve problems without taking back control at the first sign of uncertainty. The broader lesson is simple: when there’s no established playbook, leaders may need to focus less on controlling the path and more on creating the clarity and conditions that allow the organization to find its way forward.

Read the full article here.