--- title: Training Isn’t Change. And Mandates Aren’t Adoption. description: AI rollouts don’t fail on technology. They fail in the gap between training and change. Here’s the leadership capability that closes it. image: https://donovanleadership.com/hubfs/design-problem-quote.png --- [Skip to content](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/training-isnt-change.-and-mandates-arent-adoption#main-content) ![cropped-DON_LongRGB01](https://donovanleadership.com/hs-fs/hubfs/cropped-DON_LongRGB01.jpg?width=886&height=247&name=cropped-DON_LongRGB01.jpg) - [Home](https://donovanleadership.com/) - [Coaching](https://donovanleadership.com/executive-coaching-transform-your-leadership-style-donovan-leadership) Show submenu for Coaching - [One on One Coaching](https://donovanleadership.com/one-on-one-coaching) - [Group Coaching](https://donovanleadership.com/group-coaching) - [Blog](https://donovanleadership.com/blog) Show submenu for Blog - [All Posts](https://donovanleadership.com/blog) - [Research](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/tag/research) - [Books](https://donovanleadership.com/books) - [About](https://donovanleadership.com/about) Show submenu for About - [Contact Us](https://donovanleadership.com/contact) Open main navigation Close main navigation - [Home](https://donovanleadership.com/) - [Coaching](https://donovanleadership.com/executive-coaching-transform-your-leadership-style-donovan-leadership) Show submenu for Coaching - [One on One Coaching](https://donovanleadership.com/one-on-one-coaching) - [Group Coaching](https://donovanleadership.com/group-coaching) - [Blog](https://donovanleadership.com/blog) Show submenu for Blog - [All Posts](https://donovanleadership.com/blog) - [Research](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/tag/research) - [Books](https://donovanleadership.com/books) - [About](https://donovanleadership.com/about) Show submenu for About - [Contact Us](https://donovanleadership.com/contact) - [Influence Curve Quiz](https://influence-curve.lovable.app/) [Influence Curve Quiz](https://influence-curve.lovable.app/) May 14, 2026, 5:13:30 PM # Training Isn’t Change. And Mandates Aren’t Adoption. [Brian Donovan](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/author/brian-donovan) Share: [facebook-f icon](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://donovanleadership.com/blog/training-isnt-change.-and-mandates-arent-adoption) [linkedin-in icon](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://donovanleadership.com/blog/training-isnt-change.-and-mandates-arent-adoption) [Twitter icon](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://donovanleadership.com/blog/training-isnt-change.-and-mandates-arent-adoption) [pinterest-p icon](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://donovanleadership.com/blog/training-isnt-change.-and-mandates-arent-adoption) [envelope icon](mailto:?body=https://donovanleadership.com/blog/training-isnt-change.-and-mandates-arent-adoption) Jenny Fernandez and Noam Bar-Lev open a recent [Fast Company piece](https://www.fastcompany.com/91476333/why-most-ai-implementations-fail) (February 2026) with this scene. Dana had eight months to roll out AI tools to the marketing, sales, and customer success teams at a global B2B firm. Legal had signed off. PR had signed off. Training was launched. The dashboards turned green. The real work was happening somewhere else. When deadlines hit, some of her teams tried the new tools for a short while, then went back to what they knew. Others clicked through the system just enough to keep the metrics green, while doing the real work on outside platforms that did the job faster and matched their actual processes. The training had been completed. The behaviour hadn’t changed. The line she used: “We didn’t have a resistance problem. We had a design problem.” This pattern is not unique to her. [BearingPoint’s 2025 study](https://www.bearingpoint.com/en/about-us/news-and-media/press-releases/middle-managers-are-the-key-to-ai-driven-transformation/) of 300+ managers across Europe and the US tells you why this keeps happening: 64% of organisations provide AI training. Only 35% have a structured change management programme to go with it. Training teaches the tool. Nothing teaches the change. The instinct is to read this as an argument for more change management. It isn’t. Even structured change programmes fail when the layer that has to execute them is being squeezed from both directions. Same delivery targets, more uncertainty, no added capacity. Middle managers have always carried the weight of transformation. AI made the weight heavier and the support thinner at the same time. The gap that decides whether the rollout works isn’t technical. It’s the capacity of leaders to move people through a change with no instruction manual yet. To hold the discomfort without flinching. To translate a strategic mandate into workflow choices that survive contact with Tuesday morning. That leadership capability has a name. It isn’t authority. It’s influence. The operational kind. The ability to shift behaviour in people who don’t report to you. The question worth asking before adding another initiative is where you currently sit on that capacity. The [Influence Curve diagnostic](https://influence-curve.lovable.app/) takes five minutes. In your experience, what actually moves people when training doesn’t? Best regards, Brian  [influence curve](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/tag/influence-curve), [Leadership and AI](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/tag/leadership-and-ai) ## Related posts [![The CISO Influence Gap](https://donovanleadership.com/hs-fs/hubfs/ciso-influence-gap-v2.png?height=200&name=ciso-influence-gap-v2.png)](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/most-cisos-dont-have-a-capability-gap-they-have-an-influence-gap) [influence curve](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/tag/influence-curve), [technology leadership](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/tag/technology-leadership), [cybersecurity leadership](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/tag/cybersecurity-leadership), [CISO leadership](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/tag/ciso-leadership) ## [Most CISOs Don’t Have a Capability Gap: They Have an Influence Gap](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/most-cisos-dont-have-a-capability-gap-they-have-an-influence-gap) [Brian Donovan](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/author/brian-donovan) May 7, 2026, 5:38:59 PM [Read more](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/most-cisos-dont-have-a-capability-gap-they-have-an-influence-gap) [![](https://donovanleadership.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/cropped-cropped-DON_LongRGB01-Apr-17-2025-10-32-34-4205-PM-Jun-09-2025-08-08-25-8302-AM.jpg?height=200&name=cropped-cropped-DON_LongRGB01-Apr-17-2025-10-32-34-4205-PM-Jun-09-2025-08-08-25-8302-AM.jpg)](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/bookshop/the-gentle-art-of-leadership) ## [The Gentle Art of Leadership](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/bookshop/the-gentle-art-of-leadership) [Admin](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/author/admin) Feb 15, 2017, 4:00:00 PM The Gentle Art of Leadership The Gentle Art of Leadership, by Brian Donovan and Dean Phelan, is now... [Read more](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/bookshop/the-gentle-art-of-leadership) [![](https://donovanleadership.com/hs-fs/hubfs/influence-quote-card.png?height=200&name=influence-quote-card.png)](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/influence-isnt-a-soft-skill) [Leadership and AI](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/tag/leadership-and-ai), [Cyber leader](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/tag/cyber-leader), [Top Cyber News MAGAZINE](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/tag/top-cyber-news-magazine) ## [Influence isn't a soft skill](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/influence-isnt-a-soft-skill) [Brian Donovan](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/author/brian-donovan) May 28, 2026, 5:29:18 PM A short post this week. The longer version is in a digital magazine, and I'd rather point you to it... 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