Why does nobody care about your billion-dollar vision, what can Chick-fil-A teach you about bottlenecks, and how does fixing one problem always create another?
Dan Heath drops some astute and provocative truths about change leadership that'll make you rethink and reset your approach to change. First up: your carefully crafted corporate vision probably sucks because it's all about hitting numbers instead of serving real people.
Heath's blunt takedown of “corporate visions” is just a warm-up. He reveals how the theory of constraints can reset your change strategy by focusing obsessively on the single biggest bottleneck … and he tells a great story about Chick-Fil-a to make the point
Here's the bad and the good news: solving constraints is like organizational whack-a-mole. Fix one bottleneck and another pops up somewhere else. And that gives your change process focus.
This isn't your typical transformation advice – it's provocative, practical, and grounded in real stories that'll change how you think about leverage points. Heath challenges the sacred cows of change leadership with insights you won't hear anywhere else.
Change Signal. Cut through the blather, the BS, and the noise to find the good stuff that works in change, transformation, and growth.
***
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The Change Signal newsletter. Short, practical, weekly
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10:19
The Easiest Change Strategy: Roy Baumeister
Most change programs get the sequence backwards; uncertainty secretly sabotages willpower; and using your non-dominant hand might triple your success rate.
My guest, Roy Baumeister, is one of psychology's rock stars, and he's spent decades studying what actually works when it comes to willpower and behaviour change. Turns out, we've (mostly) been doing it wrong.
Here's the thing: everyone assumes you need to change minds before you change behaviours. Roy's research suggests the opposite. Get people acting differently first, and their attitudes will follow.
Here's where it gets really interesting. Your people aren't running out of willpower during change — they're hoarding it. When uncertainty creeps in, our brains go into conservation mode, making everyone look resistant when they're actually just being smart.
There’s a surprising way around that. Start ridiculously small. Roy's former student had people practice tiny willpower exercises — like opening doors with their non-dominant hand — before tackling smoking cessation. The success rate tripled.
If you're leading transformation in a large organization, this episode will flip your assumptions about human behaviour, willpower, and what actually drives lasting change. Sometimes the smallest interventions create the biggest shifts.
Change Signal. Cut through the blather, the BS, and the noise to find the good stuff that works in change, transformation, and growth.
***
WHEN YOU’RE READY
🎧 A new episode every week (and sometimes two!)
The Change Signal newsletter. Short, practical, weekly
***
CONNECT
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SAY THANKS
💜Leave a review on Apple Podcasts
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10:51
Beyond Resilience: Shatterproof: Dr. Tasha Eurich
What if the pain you're pushing through is actually the data you need; resilience programs are burning billions on the wrong problem; and there's a psychological theory that could transform your change work, but almost no one in business knows about it?
Here's the uncomfortable truth: we're living in a "chaos era" of chronic, compounding stress that our bodies weren't designed for. Traditional resilience — that "bounce back" mentality — was built for isolated crises, not the relentless multi-domain pressure your people face daily.
As a change leader, it’s time to go beyond resilience … for you, your team, and for the people who you’re inviting through change.
Dr. Tasha Eurich’s new book "Shatterproof" challenges the foundation of how we approach resilience.
She reveals why 95% of large organizations are investing in resilience programs that aren't working. The real issue? We're ignoring three fundamental human needs rooted in Self-Determination Theory: confidence, choice, and connection.
When these needs get frustrated, people develop "shadow" behaviours that sabotage your change efforts. But there's a four-step process to help your people become "shatterproof" — not just surviving change, but growing forward through it.
This isn't about adding more wellness programs. It's about fundamentally reimagining how transformation actually works in the human psyche.Change Signal. Cut through the blather, the BS, and the noise to find the good stuff that works in change and transformation.
***
WHEN YOU’RE READY
🎧 A new episode every week (and sometimes two!)
The Change Signal newsletter. Short, practical, weekly
***
CONNECT
💼Connect on LinkedIn
***
SAY THANKS
💜Leave a review on Apple Podcasts
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30:56
The Three Voices Sabotaging Change: Otto Scharmer
Could it be that the biggest barrier to change isn't resistance from others, but three voices in your own head? And what if taking action too quickly is actually making everything worse?
Otto Scharmer, creator of Theory U and MIT lecturer, reveals why most transformation efforts fail at the deepest level. The problem isn't strategy or resources—it's that we're fighting internal enemies we don't even recognize.
Scharmer identifies three forces that sabotage every change leader: the voice of judgment (killing creativity), the voice of cynicism (creating emotional disconnect), and the voice of fear (keeping us trapped in old patterns). Recognizing these voices is literally fifty percent of the battle.
But here's the real kicker: he argues that our obsession with action is backfiring. When we jump from challenge to immediate response, we're just reacting—and reactive responses are the number one problem in organizations today.
The alternative? Learning to "let go and let come"—creating space for genuinely new solutions to emerge rather than recycling the same old approaches.
This isn't fluffy theory. Scharmer shares practical exercises (including one "brutal" MIT practice) and explains why the interior condition of the change leader determines whether interventions actually work.
If you're tired of change initiatives that create more problems than they solve, this conversation will shift how you think about transformation forever.
Change Signal. Cut through the blather, the BS, and the noise to find the good stuff that works in change, transformation, and growth.
***
WHEN YOU’RE READY
🎧 A new episode every week (and sometimes two!)
The Change Signal newsletter. Short, practical, weekly
***
CONNECT
💼Connect on LinkedIn
***
SAY THANKS
💜Leave a review on Apple Podcasts
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26:00
Trust: Your Change Leader Superpower? Rachel Botsman
Learn why trust is contextual, resistance signals engagement, and successfully navigating change requires embracing uncertainty.
In this episode of Change Signal, I dive deep with Rachel Botsman, the world's expert on trust and Oxford University fellow, to explore how trust enables change — and how change can damage trust.
Rachel challenges us to identify our organization's "trust states" and segment our communication accordingly, just as marketers would.
What if those resistant employees aren't difficult, but deeply invested? What if your real trust influencers aren't who you expect?
I love Rachel's definition of trust as "a confident relationship with the unknown."
It elegantly captures the tension at change's heart and invites us to develop what Keats called "negative capability" — holding space for ambiguity instead of rushing toward false certainty.
For change leaders obsessed with acceleration and momentum, Rachel offers a provocative counterpoint: perhaps fragility, care, and patience need to become part of your change vocabulary.
Because as she memorably puts it, "Move fast and break things. Worst mantra ever. Don't break people."
Change Signal. Cut through the blather, the BS, and the noise to find the good stuff that works in change, transformation, and growth.
***
WHEN YOU’RE READY
🎧 A new episode every week (and sometimes two!)
The Change Signal newsletter. Short, practical, weekly
***
CONNECT
💼Connect on LinkedIn
***
SAY THANKS
💜Leave a review on Apple Podcasts
💚Leave a review on Spotify
If you’re leading change in organizations, this will be your favourite podcast.
Change is harder than ever. Transformation is more complex, unpredictable and overwhelming than it’s ever been. Change Signal cuts through the noise to find the good stuff that works.
Michael Bungay Stanier, author of The Coaching Habit and organizational transformation student for thirty years, talks to the best thinkers, senior leaders, and experienced practitioners in the world of change, to find what works, what doesn’t, and what to try instead. With Change Signal as your guide, you’ll be more efficient and less overwhelmed, and your change projects will more likely succeed.
Change Signal: Where we cut through the blather, the BS, and the noise to find the good stuff that works.
Sign up for weekly updates at TheChangeSignal.com
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