- Report
Closing the Change-Readiness Gap
What Gets Lost Between Strategy and Execution
Organizations struggle to implement strategy due to a “change-readiness gap” between what leaders intend and what teams are actually able to execute. Enterprise agility depends on aligning intent, authority, structure and trust so teams can act with clarity, adapt quickly and deliver results.
Summary
This report explores the “change-readiness gap” — the distance between an organization’s intent to adapt and its ability to execute — and why enterprise agility falters down in practice. Building on the Manifesto for Enterprise Agility, it examines how four conditions must align: clear intent, decision authority close to the work, structures designed for flow, and the trust needed to surface risks, learn quickly and adapt.
Drawing on PMI research with executives and project professionals, the report shows how these challenges are experienced differently across the organization and offers practical ways to strengthen alignment, reduce friction and improve execution.
Rather than approaching agility as a framework or process choice, it provides a practical lens on the organizational conditions that determine whether change efforts succeed or fail.
- Date
July 2026
- Content Type
- Topics
22%
of executives say that empowering decisions at the edge is the most difficult principle of enterprise agility to achieve or sustain
86%
of executives agree that collaboration and transparency are essential agile values
41%
of executives believe their operating model supports rapid allocation of capital and talent
Why Strategy Falters in Execution
Where Leaders and Teams Diverge
How to Close the Gap
Voices Behind the Insights
Meet the contributors and experts whose insights helped shape this report.
“Agility collapses without a shared 'why.' When people know the purpose, they don’t wait for permission — they act with conviction.”
Terence Mauri
Founder, Hack Future Lab
Related Content
The Manifesto for Enterprise Agility
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Step Up: Redefining the Path to Project Success with M.O.R.E.
PMI research shows what project professionals must do to succeed in changing environments and how they can strengthen execution and impact.
