In this article
- What is the burning platform?
- Set your platform on fire and engage your employees
- Build a burning platform in 4 steps
- Are there drawbacks to creating a burning platform?
- Effective metaphors in your change process
By CfL, april 2022
Engage your employees in your company’s upcoming changes with the right rhetoric. Is your company a burning platform that you must either leave together through change or watch go to waste?
Change management is a discipline that is becoming increasingly useful. Our world and our companies are in constant flux, and we must adapt so as not to be left behind on the platform.
A crucial element of good change management is that the entire company is involved and engaged if the changes are to yield the best possible results. But how do you engage an entire workforce composed of different personalities and areas of expertise in such a process?
By using the burning platform as a metaphor for your company’s need for change, you can mobilize your employees and unite them around one goal.
The burning platform is, in short, a widely used metaphor in change management that highlights the critical need for change in a company and thereby engages employees in the change process.
The metaphor originally comes from a tragic incident on an oil platform in the North Sea, where a fire broke out. The employees on the platform saw the flames spreading quickly, and they had to choose either to stay on the platform and wait for rescue or jump into the water to escape the fire—albeit risking drowning.
When the rescue helicopter arrived, those who stayed on the platform perished, while those who jumped were saved.
The point is, if you suddenly find your company in a critical state for one reason or another, you can choose to act or remain passive.
In change management, it is never advantageous for employees to remain passive; by “setting your platform on fire,” you can compel your employees to act and participate actively in the change process.
When you set fire to the platform that is your company, it must clearly demonstrate to your employees that the current situation is unsustainable and that change is necessary.
This requires great courage on your part as a leader, as few are particularly popular with their employees when they point out an uncomfortable truth that demands a significant effort to address.
When building your burning platform, you must make it clear to your employees and other stakeholders that your company has two options:
In a change process, you can quickly encounter resistance from your employees if it is not clear to them why change is necessary.
The burning platform metaphor can alleviate this problem by framing the change not only as a necessity but also as an urgent matter. If we do not act now, the consequences will be severe, affecting everyone in the company.
When using the burning platform as a metaphor, it does not mean you have to tell your employees that your company is literally on fire. Rather, you need to build your own burning platform using these four simple steps:
What is the real problem in your company? What is "on fire"? Your problem must be critical—life-threatening—and require immediate action so that it makes an impression on your employees.
For the men on the oil platform, the consequence of inaction was the worst imaginable. Of course, no one in your company will die if you do not act, but the consequences could potentially be layoffs, budget cuts, or even a threat to your company’s very existence.
Do not set fire to your platform if you do not have a proposal for how to extinguish the fire or escape from it. It is therefore important that, as a leader, you have considered how you propose to solve the company’s problems. When presenting your idea to your employees, you should also address the potential risks and challenges associated with your plan, while emphasizing why the benefits are worth the risk
It is important to present your vision for the company when discussing the upcoming change process with your employees. What benefits will you reap? It is also important to consider who you are speaking to. The positive future outlook that is important to you might not be as important to your employees. Paint the future that your employees dream of, and motivate them to work toward that vision.
Like most methods based on metaphors, there is the obvious challenge that the reality your company is in is rarely as simple as the metaphor portrays.
In catastrophic situations such as a fire on an oil platform, there is seldom any doubt that immediate action is necessary. However, in a business context, the disasters you face may be of a different nature. The burning platform method is sometimes criticized for inventing disasters where none exist.
Another aspect to be aware of when using the burning platform in change management is the rhetoric. Because the metaphor is based on a very dramatic event, the subsequent rhetoric can also become very forceful. As a leader, you may easily let this intense catastrophic rhetoric dominate your communication with employees, which can have a negative effect.
If you speak exclusively to your employees from the perspective of what must be eliminated as quickly as possible, the entire change process will be characterized by negativity, uncertainty, and insecurity—which is undesirable. Instead, you should focus on what you are working toward and the positive changes that everyone in the company will benefit from in the future.
One last thing to be aware of when deciding to use the burning platform in your change management is that it loses its effect if used too often. If you trigger all alarm bells for every small change in the company, they will eventually lose their impact.
If you’re feeling a bit divided because you see the value in using metaphors in your change communication but perhaps aren’t sold on the burning platform metaphor, fear not. There are plenty of different change metaphors available to strengthen your communication with your employees.
A good leader is also a good communicator and storyteller, which is essential if you are to bring an entire workforce on board with a major change process. For example, you can frame your change as a journey where you prepare together, face small and large challenges, complete the mission, and ultimately achieve a reward.
You can also use stories from employees or customers as illustrative examples of the process you yourself are facing. This way, you can demonstrate to your employees that a given approach has proven successful in the past.
In general, the most important aspect of your communication with your employees and stakeholders in a change situation is to speak with them at eye level and include them in the process. This is one of the biggest pitfalls in change management—attempting to implement large-scale changes from a top-down perspectiv
At the International Personality Type Conference 2025, Rob Toomey is leading a highly interactive, hands-on workshop that explores how Jungian personality types, emotional intelligence, and leadership strategies can transform workplace communication.
How Do You Build a Company Culture When Employees Are Only on Board for Six Months at a Time? The answer lies in the collaboration between Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping and CfL.
CfL provides leadership training across multiple levels at Bravida. Learn about the long term partnership between CfL and Bravida Denmark.
Learn how to build high-performance teams that thrive and deliver results. Discover what might be holding your team back from reaching its full potential.