SIX BATTERIES OF CHANGE 22 When we developed our batteries model in 2014, we presented it to hundreds of managers in talks, in our classes, and in our consulting meetings. We re- ceived positive feedback: the model was simple, but not simplistic. It helped managers to discover the blind spots in their change approaches. Often they brought examples of how they had tackled particular change problems. We started to document these cases to show how the batteries of change could be used to explain successful change. In 2016, realizing it was time to empirically validate whether the concept of organizational energy was linked to change success and change effective- ness, we approached managers who had been exposed to the batteries mod- el, asking them and their executive colleagues to fill out a questionnaire. We collected information from 112 companies: subsidiaries of famous interna- tional companies – like Medtronic, Merck, Yusen, KBC and ING – and many smaller local firms; companies from different industries, including construc- tion, financial services, logistics, automotive, postal services, technology, and professional services. We collected information on their batteries of change, but also on the characteristics of their change projects and the effectiveness of their change journeys. For example, some change projects helped com- panies to improve their performance. Other change projects helped compa- nies to get ready for a digital world. With some of the companies from our sample, we had follow-up meetings to discuss the findings and validity of the results. TEAM SKY AND THE BATTERIES OF CHANGE Being successful in cycling – as in most sports – is about more than attract- ing a bunch of top athletes and paying them well. Our batteries model helps to better understand why Team Sky has been able to achieve such remarka- ble success over the last couple of years. Sir David Brailsford had an ambition for Team Sky that was inspiring and motivating: to have a British rider win the Tour de France within five years. Brailsford then went one step further in a sport mired in doping scandals: he