If there is one universal truth in the media and marketing industries right now, it is that everyone currently faces a transformation. But according to Rowena Millward, 70% of those transformations fail to realise their intended value.
Millward is no stranger to the gritty reality of leadership. The former Johnson & Johnson leader built a formidable reputation as an executive consultant and personal growth expert.
She draws on her background in psychology and neuroscience to help leaders. Trade audiences also know her as the host of the Uncomfortable Growth Uncut podcast, where she interviews high profile leaders about their most challenging moments.
To address the staggering failure rate of modern business overhauls, Millward officially launched her new book, Rapid Reinvention. She addressed a packed room at the ADMA offices in Barangaroo.
The comprehensive guide offers a new framework to help leaders navigate corporate change in an increasingly volatile landscape.
Fixing the plane while flying
David Morgan MC’d the launch event. In a true test of marital endurance, Morgan revealed Millward tasked him with proofreading the entire 80,000-word manuscript in a blistering 48-hour sprint.
Proving that executive decision making extends well into the domestic sphere, Morgan survived the sleepless ordeal to frame the core challenge modern leaders face.
“There is no leader that we talk to who doesn’t say we’re going through some sort of transformation right now,” Morgan told the crowd. “We’re learning how to fix the plane as we’re flying the plane. We’re trying to keep the wheels on, but we’re also trying to fix and transform, and nobody is telling us how to do that.”
Despite the tight deadline and a few minor dinner table disputes over British semicolon usage, Morgan praised Rapid Reinvention for offering an end to end framework. He noted that Millward’s extensive consulting experience across pharmacy, wagering, banking, and insurance informs a model that measures the emotional toll of change alongside traditional business metrics.
Rowena Millward tackles the tsunami of AI coming change in ‘Rapid-Reinvention’. Image: file
The crap factor in corporate change
Addressing the room, Millward described the book as her greatest work. She drew a line from the early digital transformation era of websites and social media straight into the current artificial intelligence boom.
AI, Millward noted, is a completely different beast. While the digital era largely rewarded execution, AI demands generative thinking.
She pointed out that human beings are biologically incapable of accessing generative thought when they feel stressed and overwhelmed.
This disconnect leads to what Millward affectionately calls “the crap factor,” a term she first coined during her time at Johnson & Johnson.
“You have the beautiful strategy slide, and it looks so nice and clean and delightful,” Millward explained. “And then the leadership team leaves the room. What happens over the next six, 12, 18 months is the crap factor.”
Navigating the AI tsunami
Millward broke down the “crap factor” into three distinct friction points that routinely derail businesses.
First, modern workplaces push employees to the brink. When people lack the capacity to think creatively, they cannot deliver the generative thinking required to leverage AI effectively.
Second, companies often roll out new structures without updating the underlying processes. This misalignment creates silos and horizontal friction, which prevents the collaboration needed for true growth.
Finally, constant and poorly managed change triggers fear. Fear shuts down curiosity and reduces discretionary effort across the board.
“With what’s coming, it’s like we’re in a little canoe and there’s a tsunami coming,” Millward said. “We think if we paddle faster in our canoe, we’ll be able to ride out the tsunami, but we won’t. We actually need to build a ship.”
Ultimately, Rapid Reinvention helps leaders design organisations to absorb and metabolise change without sacrificing the people inside them. Millward argued that the traditional approach of doing more with less only weakens the overall system.
For an industry staring down the barrel of an AI revolution, building that ship has never been more urgent.
Feature image- ‘Rapid Reinvention’.