From pilots to progress: Moving journey work forward

Coffee Chat with Rosanne de Vos, Senior Journey Management Coach at TheyDo

What stops journey work from scaling? Spoiler: It’s not the method, it’s the system.

In this practical session, Rosanne de Vos unpacked why so many journey efforts stall after a few promising pilots and explained how you can move beyond them.

If you’ve ever launched a micro journey or two only to hit a wall when trying to embed the work across your organization, you’re not alone. But as Rosanne shared, the key isn’t to abandon pilots. It’s to see them as part of a broader system, and then change that system.

Here’s what we learned:

The pilot trap is real

Small wins help build momentum, but they often bypass standard processes. Pilots are usually driven by enthusiastic champions with strong internal networks, not repeatable structures. Without cross-journey alignment and leadership support, those champions burn out, and the work stalls.

Rosanne’s tip: Pay attention to the moment when pilots stop being energizing and start becoming exhausting. That’s your signal to level up.

Systems thinking = sustainable change

To scale journey work, you need to map the system, not just the journey. Rosanne introduced a practical tool: the stakeholder network map. By identifying who truly influences priorities (and who influences the influencers), teams can stop chasing buy-in and start building coalitions.

Real-world example: One insurance design team kept hearing “Yes!” from product and marketing, but nothing changed. What was the problem? After mapping the system, they learned the real blockers were in finance and HR. Once they found their allies in the operating model team, everything shifted. 

You don’t need to say “journey” to drive change

Sometimes the biggest block is language. “Executives don’t speak journey,” Rosanne reminded us. Speak in their terms: metrics, priorities, impact. 

Several attendees echoed this point: using journey insights doesn’t always require journey jargon. One practitioner shared how they quietly used journey data to influence prioritization—without ever naming it:  “The minute you shift from the journey to the metrics that matter to the business, that’s the sweet spot.” 

Resistance isn’t random 

Pilots often fail to scale because they ignore the system’s natural resistance points. Instead of being surprised by blockers, journey teams can map them in advance. Then, co-design new ways of working with stakeholders—not for them.

Include people in the redesign of processes. Let them see where they fit in the bigger picture, rather than imposing change from above. 

To-go cup

Pilots build credibility. Systems build sustainability.

• Map your organization like you’d map a journey

• Find the people who influence the people who decide

• Speak your stakeholders’ language

• Build a coalition—don’t go it alone

The moment you feel stuck in pilot mode, it’s time to start mapping the system.

Want more?

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