Alberto Terol

When we talk about change, we often assume there is a single “right” way to drive it. In reality, most change efforts gravitate around two very different approaches. Both are powerful and both are incomplete on their own.

1️⃣ Change by redesigning the system – Buckminster Fuller

Buckminster Fuller was a rare hybrid: inventor, engineer, architect, and systems thinker. He is best known for the geodesic dome, a structure that achieves extraordinary strength with minimal material by distributing forces across the whole system. Less weight. Less waste. More resilience.

Fuller’s core idea about change was radical in its simplicity:
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”

From a change-management perspective, this is not about persuasion or enforcement. It’s about re-architecting the environment so that new behaviors become the natural, easiest option. When the system changes, behavior follows.

Change here is structural, almost invisible. Like gravity, it works whether people “believe” in it or not.

2️⃣ Change by attraction – Tom Peters

Tom Peters comes from a very different tradition. As one of the most influential voices in modern management thinking, he has always emphasized energy, identity, and meaning over formal structure.

His view on change is less architectural and more social:
“Leaders don’t create followers. They create tribes.”

Instead of redesigning the system first, this approach focuses on creating a compelling nucleus: a group of believers, early adopters, people who want the change and embody it publicly. Others don’t need to be convinced, they join by adscription, because the tribe feels alive, attractive, and meaningful.

Here, change spreads through belonging, not compliance. Through story, not structure.

⚖️ Two approaches. One tension.

Fuller reminds us that systems shape behavior more than intentions. Peters reminds us that identity and belonging move people faster than rules.

The real craft of change lies in knowing when to redesign the system
and when to grow the tribe, and how to let both reinforce each other.

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