The Limits of Push and the Power of Pull

There are two basic change strategies: Push and Pull. Push is about driving from the top down. Pull is about empowering employees to drive change. Savvy leaders know how to leverage both.

Change is hard. Employees resist it. That is why it needs to be driven from the top! That argument is often used to justify why leaders tend to use a Push strategy to make change happen - and there is some truth in that. If the company is facing an existential threat and immediate action is needed to ensure survival, its leaders must act decisively and push.

Push is useful when pursuing bold, organization-wide shifts—such as entering a new market or adopting an entirely new business model.

But Push has limitations.

Push is slow. Senior leaders are often the last to know that there is a serious problem. And that only marks the start of the process. Consultants are brought in to study the issue and develop solutions. A decision is reached to act. Teams are chartered, plans are drawn up, and finally execution happens. The process of diagnosing the problem, aligning on the solution, planning the change often takes months, if not years.

Push kills ownership. Because Push initiatives are driven by the top, those that must live with the outcome often have no voice in the process. They experience the change as something being done to them. Despite all those change management efforts, these initiatives are often plagued by a lack of buy-in and acceptance.

Push needs to be used sparingly. When everything is a senior management priority, nothing is. Companies that overuse Push often spend significant resources to ensure all these Push efforts do not interfere with each other.

What is the alternative to Push? Pull.

Pull taps into the knowledge and creativity of those closest to the work to identify opportunities and develop solutions. The role of the leader is to create the conditions for them to succeed.

Pull is the opposite of Push - and often more effective.

Push is top-down, Pull is bottom-up. Push is slow, Pull is fast.

Push is great to tackle a few big problems. However, big, top-down transformations require big investments and come with big risks. Pull is a much more suitable approach for tackling the many small problems. One of the strongest arguments for leveraging Pull is the compounding effect of continuous small improvements. The cumulative impact of many incremental changes often exceeds the benefits of a single, large-scale initiative.

Pull in Action: A Case Study

After years of rapid growth, the senior leadership of an advertising agency started to notice an increasing number of operational issues. The processes that worked so well when the company had 200 employees had become a liability when headcount reached 1,000.

Some members of the leadership team argued for a complete technology revamp, replacing a collection of specialized systems with a single, integrated platform. Having talked to many of the employees on the frontline who had explained to her all the issues they were encountering daily, the CEO decided to revamp the process first.

Instead of mandating a top-down approach, she relied on a Pull strategy to transform its operations. She charged a small team to gather input from employees, identify pain points, and map the current workflows. That team surfaced hundreds of issues, categorized and prioritized them into themes, and charged small groups of employees to develop solutions.

The results were astonishing. The team was able to eliminate most pain points, standardize templates, and automate workflows. Because frontline employees drove the changes, resistance was minimal, engagement was high, and adoption was seamless.

When to Use Pull

While Push strategies are sometimes necessary, Pull is especially powerful to:

• Addressing everyday inefficiencies: Small workflow optimizations often yield enormous long-term benefits

• Increasing employee engagement: Employees who identify and solve problems feel greater ownership and commitment

• Encouraging innovation: Pull fosters a culture of experimentation and incremental improvement

• Building long-term adaptability: Organizations that continuously improve are better equipped to handle disruption

Pull At Scale: The GE Workout

Workout was originally developed at GE to support Jack Welch in his drive to eliminate bureaucracy, empower employees, and drive faster decision-making. Workouts are short workshops that use a structured, problem-solving approach where employees collaborate to identify inefficiencies and propose solutions to a pressing problem.

The team consists of employees closest to the work, and their role is to leverage their experience and insights to generate solutions. The team is responsible for:

• Identifying and prioritizing issues

• Brainstorming and proposing solutions

• Owning the recommendations

• Driving implementation

Leaders do not dictate the solution, but are responsible for:

• Defining the challenge

• Creating psychological safety

• Making decisions quickly

• Following through

Workout has been used by hundreds of companies, and it is successful because it has elements of Push and Pull:

• Bias for Action: Workout is not just a discussion—it's about making real change happen.

• Fast Decisions: At least 75% of ideas should be decided on immediately to avoid bureaucracy.

• Empowerment: Frontline employees drive the conversation and propose solutions.

• Follow-Through: The Workout session is just the beginning—implementation and accountability matter most.

How to Lead with Pull

Pull works best when it is integrated into everyday leadership practices. Savvy leaders naturally incorporate Pull strategies in their daily interactions, such as:

• Listening during one-on-ones: Every conversation is an opportunity to uncover pain points and ideas for improvement.

• Teaching employees how to solve problems: Instead of prescribing solutions, equip employees with problem-solving skills.

• Observing workplace obstacles: Pay attention to what slows teams down and ask them how they would fix it.

• Creating space for employees to challenge the status quo: Encourage and reward constructive feedback and new ideas.

• Holding teams accountable for developing solutions: Instead of solving problems for them, expect employees to propose and test solutions themselves.

Final Thoughts

Transformation does not always require a grand vision imposed from the top. By embracing a Pull strategy, leaders can unlock the collective intelligence of their workforce, drive meaningful change with minimal resistance, and create an organization that is agile, engaged, and continuously evolving.

The best leaders don’t just Push their teams forward—they create an environment where employees generate the Pull to make work better every day.

To learn more about how we can help you tap into the power of Pull to reach the next level of performance, join us at one of our upcoming webinars. Register to learn more about how you can Level Up your team’s performance by Fixing Work.