It’s the heart of summer, but in the French entrepreneurial ecosystem, spirits are not entirely at rest. If July usually rhymes with economic slowdown and prospects of vacation, the atmosphere of this 2026 vintage is marked by a muted excitement. Between the omnipresence of generative artificial intelligence which has established itself in our work routines and the post-crisis changes which are redefining social bonds, leaders face a major challenge: managing permanent change without an absolute compass.
Behind the technological acronyms and growth curves, a human reality emerges. How to reinvent your organization when the horizon changes every week?
Technology advances, humans resist
Just take a look at the waves of innovation in recent months. What seemed revolutionary at the start of the year is already bordering on obsolescence today. For employees, the pace is dizzying. They must adapt, continually train, learn to collaborate with machines or virtual agents and — sometimes — fear being replaced. This is where the most complex crux of modern management lies.
However, past crises and global economic turbulence have taught us an essential lesson: history repeats itself, but human dynamics remain the same. Between the almost dystopian stories of science fiction and the reality on the ground in a French SME or startup, there is a gap that only empathy can fill. Putting humans aside under the pretext of rapid technological transition is the best way to create distrust and paralyze one’s own structure.
From Lewin to Kotter: What theorists have left us
To avoid navigating by sight, many entrepreneurs delve back into the classics of organizational sociology. The approaches follow one another and complement each other, as researcher David Autissier points out in his reference work.
From 1950, Kurt Lewin demonstrated that resistance to change is not broken by force, but is lifted through dialogue. Its three-step model (questioning habits, experimenting with new processes, then integration) remains extremely relevant today. Later, in the 70s and 80s, Rosabeth Moss Kanter theorized the importance of instrumental levers: transparent communication and continuing education as drivers of the “wheel of change”.
Then came the managerial era of John Kotter in the 90s. His observation? A project almost never fails because of the technique, but because of the lack of commitment of those who carry it out. Kotter has formalized a rigorous model in 8 steps, emphasizing the pivotal role of middle managers. They are the ones who must translate management’s vision into concrete actions and give meaning to daily life.
At the turn of the 2000s, digital technology pushed companies towards more collaborative and participatory approaches, popularizing the idea of co-construction and internalization of skills.
In 2026, the era of “Macro Transformation”
Today, in the summer of 2026, classic change management — often thought of in a micro way, project by project — has shown its limits. We have entered the era of transformation management. The challenge is no longer just to successfully switch to a new accounting tool or a CRM, but to ensure the overall agility of the company in the face of permanent disruptions.
This contemporary paradigm, theorized in particular by David Autissier and Jean-Michel Moutot, is structured around a pragmatic triptych:
- Define : Create a clear vision. Explain the “why” of the movement to the teams in advance so that everyone understands their role and can take ownership of the future.
- Experiment: Get out of the design offices. Set up cycles of participatory workshops and pilot projects. It is the employees in the field who test, evaluate and adjust practices through regular surveys.
- Anchor: Measure the real impacts and ensure the sustainable adoption of new working methods. A transformation is only validated when it becomes invisible, that is to say when it is part of the company culture.
Accept the part of the unknown
Theorizing about change is reassuring. This provides essential frameworks, benchmarks and reading grids for structuring our businesses. But the truth of July 11, 2026 is also this: no algorithmic model or management book will be able to completely erase the part of the unknown inherent in the entrepreneurial adventure.
The role of the modern leader is no longer to have all the answers, but to build an organization resilient and confident enough to invent its own solutions as the path unfolds. And it starts, invariably, by listening to those who make the business run on a daily basis.
