When things are going well, agencies fall into the trap of cognitive ease. There is a false sense of security in the status quo. This sense of security is often disrupted by a change in the business environment. Cognitive ease leaves agencies unprepared for this disruption. Build resilience and adaptability by leveraging Gleicher’s Formula for Change — Dissatisfaction × Vision × First Steps must exceed Resistance.

Prerequisite
Familiar with the Drupal agency ecosystem
Openness to hearing truth bombs about the current uncertainty and volatility in the Drupal agency space
Curiosity about agency growth stages and evolution
Interest in change management and transformation strategies to scale agencies sustainably

Outline
Introduction
In this session, I will share the story of how my team transformed operational and financial decision-making by applying Gleicher’s Formula for Change (D × V × F > R). This framework helped us break free from the trap of “cognitive ease”—a period when things seemed fine on the surface but deeper dysfunction was building underneath.
The Trap of Cognitive Ease
During favourable periods, agencies experience cognitive ease, no significant disruptions, or a need for a heightened focus or mobilised efforts. My team was no different. However, as change began to creep in, we detected warning signs such as longer opportunity cycles and mismatch of capability versus needs.

Gleicher’s Formula for Change: An Agency-Friendly Framework

Once warning signs became significant, the need for change kicked in like a survival mechanism. Unsure what needed to change and how, my research led me to Gleicher’s Formula.

For a change to be successful, the consolidated effect of dissatisfaction, vision, and the initial steps had to be greater than the resistance to change. If any of these are lacking, the transformation may only be theoretical or unsuccessful. I now had the pieces of the puzzle; what remained was to place them together

Leveraging Dissatisfaction
An immediate result of being in a state of cognitive ease amidst an uncertain business environment was dissatisfaction. Factors such as projects running longer than planned, unpredictable opportunities cycle, and inaccurate/no forecasts. We leveraged the dissatisfaction to draw attention to specific and tangible impact areas such as revenue forecasts, project margins, and workforce planning.

Vision Clarity

The current state of the impact areas helped me define what the vision or desired state looks like. The vision was not shared tools, dashboards and metrics, but a shared understanding of what we needed and why. We wanted to equip each team with a shared language of financial intelligence & impact. It started with something as basic as defining essential metrics, designing how to track them consistently and regularly sharing outcomes with the team.

Building Momentum, Not Perfection

A change or transformation is often misunderstood as a big sweeping movement when in reality it is several incremental updates that result in a meaningful impact. We assessed the information available to create building blocks, such as the number of projects, their billing models, actual invoice data and deal pipelines. These became the foundation of our reporting, and we chose to live with accurate data instead of aiming for precision.

Overcoming Resistance

Once the initial reports and models started taking shape, we started soft rollouts with teams. The initial feedback ranged from doubts about overthinking the problem, questioning the impact, and the reliability of data. The combined forces of dissatisfaction with the status quo, a clear vision, and tangible outcomes demonstrated enough evidence that the transformation was much needed, and challenging the status quo was essential for maintaining resilience.

Conclusion

The journey of driving the operational and financial transformation became clearer and easier through the framework of Gleicher’s Formula for Change. If your agency is showing signs of cognitive ease, the Gleicher Formula can guide your shift. Leverage your dissatisfaction, set a clear vision, and let your first steps build momentum. Because when the resistance shows up—and it will—what matters is that the change feels worth it.

Learning Objectives
Identify signs of “cognitive ease” in agency life and understand why it can stall growth.
Apply Gleicher’s Formula for Change to drive meaningful transformation, not performative process shifts.
Learn from my experience of implementing financial visibility through small, iterative, cross-functional steps.
Leave with a tangible framework for mapping dissatisfaction, articulating vision, and reducing resistance inside your agency.

Experience level
Intermediate