Change Signal: Modern Change Management that Works

Here are three provocative questions that arise from this Change Signal conversation with Emily Moore: Who’s missing from your system map? What are you rushing to solve?  And what is resistance actually trying to protect? If you lead change in a big organization, you already know the neat diagrams rarely survive contact with reality. Emily Moore — engineer, educator, and longtime industry leader —...

Here are three provocative questions that arise from this Change Signal conversation with John Anthony:  Are you engaging people before you try to influence them? What resistance are you avoiding that you should be exploring? And how do you know whether you’re dancing with someone… or wrestling? John Anthony joins me to unpack why so many change conversations in large organizations stall, even wit...

Three questions sit at the heart of this Change Signal episode: How much responsibility for change is owned throughout your organization? How much room is there for more change? How good are your mechanics at change? In this solo anniversary episode of Change Signal, I reflect on a year of conversations, experiments, and learning — and make the case that change management is a tired label for the...

Here are three provocative questions that arise from this Change Signal conversation with Simone Ahuja:  Are you solving the real problem or just the first one? What constraint might actually spark creativity? And who’s missing from the table when you design change? In this episode, Simone Ahuja — innovation strategist, intrapreneurship champion, and longtime student of jugaad — joins me to explor...

Here are three provocative questions that arise from this Change Signal conversation with Charlie Gilkey:  What if success scares you more than failure? Where is your “head trash” quietly derailing your best ideas? And who belongs in your corner so your ambitious projects don’t stall? In this episode, I’m joined by Charlie Gilkey — author, coach, and champion of helping people finish what matters....

Here are three big ideas that stand out in Bob Sutton’s conversation:  leadership is about being a trustee of people’s time  friction isn’t the enemy—it’s the signal   and power makes you blind to the mess you’ve created. Bob—Stanford professor, author, and organizational psychologist—joins me to explore why good intentions in big organizations often create bureaucratic nightmares. We talk about w...

Here are three provocative questions that arise from this Change Signal conversation with Charles Conn:  What’s the smallest experiment you can start today?  Where can you loosen control without losing direction?  And could your team learn faster if you planned less? Charles Conn — investor, conservationist, and author of The Imperfect Leader — joins me to talk about how great change leaders stop...

Here are three provocative questions that arise from this Change Signal conversation with Rachel Botsman:  What kind of trust are you actually building?  How much uncertainty can you hold before you grab for control?  And when was the last time you slowed down enough to build real trust instead of just speed? Rachel Botsman—Oxford University lecturer, author of How to Trust and Be Trusted, and one...

Here are three provocative questions that arise from this Change Signal conversation with Dr. Ryan Brown: What are you measuring that doesn’t matter?  Where might your data be lying to you?  And what if the “immeasurable” parts of change are exactly what count? Ryan’s a behavioral scientist who studies how organizations measure what actually works—especially in complex, human systems of change. We...

Here are three big questions that Misha Glouberman asks in the quest for better change gatherings: What if the way you’re structuring your events is stopping the very change you want to create? How might things shift if you assumed everyone involved was a competent adult? And are your “best practices” actually working against your goals? Misha Glouberman is a master of human dynamics and group des...

Here are three big questions that arise from this Change Signal conversation with Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez: Are your projects actually shaping your future? Is your team a true team — or just a group of people in meetings? And what if success isn’t about deadlines at all? Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez, author of Powered by Projects and one of the world’s leading voices in project management, argues that m...

Here are three big questions that arise from this Change Signal conversation with Vanessa Bohns: Are you overlooking the influence you already have? What if social proof beats every logical argument? Could your smallest comments be shaping culture the most? Vanessa Bohns, professor of organizational behavior at Cornell and author of You Have More Influence Than You Think, has spent two decades stu...

Here are three big insights that emerge from this Change Signal conversation with Hahrie Han: Are you creating value or just convenience?; Does belonging come before belief in your organization?; and Are you building agency or just compliance? Hahrie Han, political scientist at Johns Hopkins University and author of How Organizations Develop Activists and Undivided, has spent her career studying h...

Here are three big insights that emerge from this Change Signal conversation with Charles Vogl:  Leadership maturity means rejecting the “Superman” myth of doing it all alone; Real change requires creating spaces where the rules are rewritten; and Belonging — and transformation — scale through small, steady “campfire” gatherings, not grand events. Charles Vogl, author of The Art of Community, has...

Here are three provocative questions that arise from this Change Signal conversation with Dr. Linda Ackerman Anderson: What if change were treated like finance? Are your leaders modelling the change — or just managing it? And what hidden costs are you paying for “too much change, too fast”? For forty-plus years, Linda has studied what actually derails transformational change. Her insights aren’t a...

Here are three big questions that arise from this Change Signal conversation with Paulo Pisano: Is complexity masking your real priorities?; What sacrifices are you pretending aren’t happening?; and How are you building protagonist mindsets? Paulo Pisano, CHRO at Booking.com, has spent his career leading transformation in large, global organizations where change is never simple. He brings a ground...

Here are three provocative questions that emerge from this Change Signal conversation with Dave Ulrich: Why do so many leaders know what to do in change but fail to actually do it? If change is always messy and iterative, how can leaders set expectations without killing momentum? What does it really take to lead through paradox instead of choosing sides? Most change leaders treat transformation li...

Here are three provocative questions that emerge from this Change Signal conversation with Kirstin Ferguson: Why does character matter more than competence when it comes to inspiring transformation? Do everyday leadership moments shape culture more than big, staged gestures? What happens when leaders ask better questions instead of always giving answers? Kirstin Ferguson, leadership thinker, board...

Dan Pontefract’s three big insights on modern change mastery and leading meaningful organizational transformation: Managing up is a critical part of change leadership, and there are smarter ways to do it; Culture isn’t “soft” — it’s the real work of change and can’t be delegated away; and Purpose, balance, and generational shifts are forces shaping how transformation actually succeeds. Dan, former...

Here are three provocative questions that emerge from this Change Signal conversation with Kate Lye: Why do executive teams excel at functional expertise but falter at systems thinking? Can CEOs transform their organizations without first transforming themselves? What happens if change leaders never secure permission to call out executive sabotage? For decades, Kate Lye has watched change programs...

Here are three provocative questions that arise from this Change Signal conversation with Todd Kashdan:  Are you cooperating too much for change to succeed?  What personal costs are you willing to pay for principled rebellion?  Why do people hide their real beliefs just to fit in? My friend Todd Kashdan, psychology professor and author of The Art of Insubordination, brings some unexpected wisdom a...

Here are three provocative questions that emerge from this Change Signal conversation with Michael Norton: Can we ever escape ritual? Why is ambiguous loss harder to process than clear grief? How can we honour the past while creating a new identity? Most change leaders assume ritual is all incense and corporate retreats. Harvard Business School professor Michael Norton sees it differently. His res...

Here are three big questions that Loran Nordgren asks in the question for modern change mastery: Are you accidentally creating resistance by making your ideas sound too revolutionary? What if the anxieties you're avoiding are exactly what you need to address? Why does pushing harder on change often make things worse? Loran Nordgren, a behavioural theory professor at Northwestern's Kellogg School,...

Here’s what Larissa Conte asks us about modern change mastery: Is “power” something that’s learned and usable? What might happen if we focused on possibilities rather than problems? How can you expand your ability to handle more success “wattage”? My guest Larissa Conte calls herself a "power alchemist" — which will either intrigue you or make you roll your eyes. Either way, stick with this conver...

Here are three big questions that arise from this Change Signal conversation with Chris Taylor:  Are your high-stakes moments sabotaging skill development? Why practice once when you could daily? What if home practice beats workplace training? My friend Chris Taylor, founder of Actionable, has spent eighteen years obsessing over what Bob Sutton calls the "knowing-doing gap." Why do people get insp...