Leading the Human Side of Change
Change, by its nature, can be unsettling within an organisation. Korrin Balmain often explains it with a simple analogy.
“Imagine leaving your car at a valet car wash, when you get it back, the seat has moved, the mirrors are different, and the radio station has changed. You would stop the car and put everything back.”
Now imagine that happening to hundreds of employees at once.
“If they have not been shown how to adjust things in the new system, it just feels like disruption.”
It is a simple example, but one that captures a much larger truth about how organisations experience change. At a time when artificial intelligence is reshaping industries at speed and businesses are investing heavily in new tools and systems, Korrin has learned over more than two decades of working across enterprise technology and transformation that the hardest part is rarely the tech itself.
The Change and Partnership Director at Dynamo6 has helped organisations navigate everything from large-scale platform migrations to the cultural challenges that come with technology transitions. During her career, Korrin has guided organisations such as MediaWorks, Trade Me, Xero and Atlassian through such changes across Australia and New Zealand. Over the years, she has become known for translating complex technical concepts into something people inside organisations can actually understand and trust.
“Successful technology adoption is really a people project,” she says. “It’s not just about the tools themselves. It’s about making sure people have the skills to use them and the confidence to embrace the change.”
Her work often involves helping organisations rethink how teams collaborate and communicate as technology evolves. That focus on practical transformation has also been reflected in the Google Cloud ecosystem she works within. In 2024, Dynamo6 became the first New Zealand partner to earn the Google Cloud Work Transformation Specialization.
Yet, despite the profound transformation capabilities that organisations have access to, Korrin reiterates the need to focus on organisational needs first before getting caught up in technological possibilities.
The rise of generative AI has pushed organisations into action, but sometimes not for the right reasons. “Everyone wants AI at the moment,” she says. “But sometimes you have to ask, what is it that you are really after? Are you just trying to jump on the hype train?”
Boards and leadership teams frequently feel pressure to act quickly so as not to be left behind. In those moments, a big part of Korrin’s role is to slow the conversation down and “unpack” what the organisation is actually trying to achieve. “Boards will say we need some AI in our strategy,” she says. “But they have not necessarily been debriefed on what it actually means for the organisation.”
And AI is not always the right answer. Automation, better data discipline or improvements to existing processes can often deliver far greater value. “Just because everyone else is doing it does not mean you have to do it,” she says. “Maybe AI is not right for you right now. Maybe automation is.”
Korrin has seen many examples where organisations begin chasing a technology trend before understanding the operational and cultural implications that come with it. When that happens, the risk is not technical failure but human resistance.
“People move at the speed of trust,” she says.
AI tools in particular can feel opaque. “When people are interfacing with AI, they cannot see it. There is just this magical thing that happens in the background. That can create fear.”
People begin to question whether the information returned by the system is accurate, whether their input is safe, and what the broader implications might be for their role. Korrin believes a certain level of scepticism is not only understandable but necessary.
“You are the expert, not the AI,” she says. “AI is just gathering information at a speed that you could never fathom. But you are the one who reviews what it brings back.”
Helping organisations navigate that balance between technological opportunity and human comfort is where Korrin’s work becomes particularly nuanced. She describes herself as a “technical translator”, someone who can move between engineers, executives and frontline staff to ensure everyone understands what a new system actually means. “I have to get the technical people to talk to me,” she explains. “Then I digest what that means so I can tell people what it actually means for them.” Her process begins with understanding the organisation’s history with change. Some companies have a culture that embraces transformation, while others have experienced disruptive projects that left people wary. “How have historical changes gone?” she asks. “How are their people equipped to manage change?”
Korrin often embeds herself deeply within organisations so employees see her not as an external consultant but as part of the internal team. Once that trust is established, she builds networks of early adopters and internal champions who help shape the change process from within.
One of the fastest ways to lose trust during a transformation, Korrin says, is inconsistent messaging. “Right at the beginning, the messaging has to be consistent,” she says. “If someone suddenly says we were going to do this, but now we are doing this, trust closes.” Employees quickly notice contradictions between what leaders say and what actually happens. Once trust starts to erode, the entire process slows down.
That sensitivity to language has become particularly apparent in the way organisations now talk about AI. In the past, it has been a lot about efficiency, but that can carry certain connotations. “Efficiency and AI can sometimes be seen as negative,” she explains. “People think if I become more efficient, does that mean I will lose my job?”
Some organisations are deliberately reframing the conversation to one of productivity and better outcomes. “They are not saying we want less admin work,” she recalls. “They are saying we want higher quality admin work.”
Despite working at the centre of one of the fastest moving areas of technology, Korrin’s drive comes from the human side of things. After years helping organisations navigate large-scale digital change, she has seen how easily people can feel overwhelmed when technology moves faster than understanding.
“I just want to help people,” she says. “Technology can move incredibly fast, but if people do not understand what it means for them, or they feel left behind by it, then the change will never really succeed. For me, it has always been about helping people feel confident with the technology they are being asked to use, and making sure they understand why the change is happening in the first place.”
If she could offer advice to her younger self, it would be to embrace curiosity. “Ask more questions,” she says. “Now I am probably the annoying person who keeps asking, ‘What does that mean? and ‘What happens next?’ But if I cannot articulate what something means, people are not going to come along on the journey.” Because while technology will continue to evolve at extraordinary speed, the success of any transformation still depends on a far older system: human trust.