As we move into the second quarter of 2026, it is increasingly clear that disruption is no longer a cyclical event businesses can ride out – it has become a structural feature of the operating environment.
The latest findings from our 2026 Disruption Index reinforce a crucial shift: disruption has normalised. Leaders are not facing fewer shocks; rather, they have developed a higher tolerance for volatility. The danger is that this masks growing internal fragilities in capability, alignment, and resilience – the fault lines that often precede distress.
One of the most striking signals is the widening pressure at the top. CEOs report significantly higher levels of disruption and anxiety than the rest of the C-suite, highlighting a growing leadership disconnect. In our experience, this misalignment can act as a precursor to underperformance: decisions slow, execution weakens, and organisations struggle to keep pace with the risks their leaders can already see. Restructuring is rarely
