Why Even Top Companies Fail at Organizational Change: A CMO’s Insight

Why Good Companies Fail—And How to Fix It

Why do once-dominant companies stumble? The organizations that led their industries, now called legacy brands, often lose their edge not because of a single misstep but due to a cascade of factors that undermine their intentions. The question isn’t why good companies fail—it’s why they fail at navigating change.

Nick Tran: The CMO Who Turns Chaos Into Growth

To explore this challenge, we invited Nick Tran to FROM THE CULTURE podcast. Tran is a CMO whose name top marketers cite with admiration—a testament to his track record at brands like Taco Bell, Samsung, Hulu, and TikTok. Each of these companies, he notes, was either in crisis or on the brink when he joined.

Now President and CMO of First Round Collective, Tran sees this pattern not as coincidence but as a calling. His insights on change management are rooted in real-world experience turning around struggling brands.

The Real Reason Companies Stumble: Too Much Noise

"Most companies have good instincts. The leaders have experience that enables them to make good choices. Their understanding of who they are and who they serve was, at one point, at least, hard-won and clear. The reason they end up in trouble is rarely because their instincts disappeared but typically because the noise grew too loud and drowned out their instincts."

What Is This ‘Noise’? A Breakdown of Destructive Pressures

• Board demands that prioritize short-term gains over long-term strategy.
• Shareholder pressure focused on the next 12 weeks instead of the next 12 years.
• Executive incentives that reward personal career growth over stakeholder sustainability.

The cumulative effect? Good instincts become inaudible, drowned out by competing priorities. This isn’t about losing direction—it’s about losing the ability to hear it.

The Countercultural Fix: Death to Ego

Tran’s most powerful takeaway? Remove self. Death to ego. Leaders must shift from being the hero to acting as stewards of their organizations. This aligns with Robert Greenleaf’s servant leadership model—a philosophy that remains radical in today’s C-suite, where incentives often reward the opposite.

Tran’s approach isn’t theoretical. By any measure, he has won—yet his success stems from rejecting the hero narrative. Instead, he focuses on enabling others to thrive, a mindset that turns change from a threat into an opportunity.

Key Takeaways for Leaders Navigating Change

• Good instincts exist, but external noise can silence them.
• Servant leadership—prioritizing the organization over personal ego—is critical.
• Short-term pressures often derail long-term vision; leaders must resist them.
• Change isn’t about fixing a single flaw but about adapting systems and mindsets.