Change Signal

Here are three questions that sit at the heart of this Change Signal conversation with Bryan Walker:


 What are you changing too early? 


Where are you too far away? 


And what real issue are you avoiding?

Bryan Walker, longtime IDEO partner, joins me to explore a different way of thinking about change and transformation in large organizations. We talk about why so many change efforts stall—not because of bad strategy, but because they’re designed too linearly, too distantly, and too separate from the work itself.

Bryan challenges the instinct to start with structure and big plans. Instead, he makes the case for starting small, learning through action, and letting the work itself reveal what needs to shift. It’s a move from abstract programs to practical experimentation—and it changes how leaders show up.

We also explore what it takes to make change actually land. Not just belief in the idea, but confidence in the doing, and ultimately a shift in identity: this is who we are now.

If you lead change in a complex organization, this is a grounded, human, and quietly challenging conversation about what it really takes to make transformation stick.

Change Signal. Where transformational change leaders seek and find modern change wisdom. Cut through the blather, the BS, and the noise to find the good stuff that works.

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Here are three questions that arise from this Change Signal conversation with Ron Carucci:


Are we still managing change as if it’s predictable?


What unseen stories are really shaping how our organizations behave?


And where might leaders themselves be quietly getting in the way?

Change management, as most of us were taught it, assumes a linear path: a clear “from,” a clear “to,” and a plan to get there. In this conversation, Ron Carucci makes the case that those days are over. For leaders running complex change in large organizations, the real work now is less about managing transitions and more about building readiness for constant uncertainty.

Ron and I explore why so many well-designed transformations stall — not because the strategy was wrong, but because the leader’s inner patterns were never examined. He introduces the idea of “origin stories”: early narratives that shape how leaders set standards, respond to resistance, and tolerate risk, often without realizing it.

We also unpack Ron’s three-domain model of transformation: work within the leader, between people and teams, and among the systems of culture, strategy, and governance. Miss one, and change quietly unravels. This is a practical, humane, and slightly uncomfortable conversation for experienced change leaders who want results that actually stick.

Change Signal. Cut through the blather, the BS, and the noise to find the good stuff that works in change. If you’re a transformational leader seeking modern change mastery, you’re in exactly the right place.

***

WHEN YOU’RE READY

🎧 A new episode every week (and sometimes two!)

The Change Signal newsletter. Short, practical, weekly

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Three questions this Change Signal conversation with Caroline Kealey invites you to sit with: 


What old model are you still relying on? 


What are you actually moving toward? 


Are you creating clarity or just more noise?

I came across Caroline’s work through a sharp claim: change management is dead. And as we dig into it, you’ll see why that might be less dramatic than it sounds — and more useful than it first appears.

Caroline Kealey is an executive facilitator working at the intersection of change, leadership, and communication. What she names clearly is this: the nature of change has shifted. It’s less planned and linear, more emergent, ambiguous, and unfolding in real time.

That makes most traditional models feel tidy, reassuring — and increasingly unhelpful. Instead of following a roadmap, leaders are asked to act as a compass, setting direction without pretending to have certainty.

We also explore what actually enables change now. Not better plans, but better conditions: agency, belonging, and what Caroline calls “certainty anchors” — things people can hold onto when everything else feels fluid.

And we get practical about communication. In a world of overload, more information isn’t the answer. Helping people make sense of what’s going on might just be the key.

Change Signal. Where transformational change leaders seek and find modern change wisdom. Cut through the blather, the BS, and the noise to find the good stuff that works.

***

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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Here are three questions that sit underneath this Change Signal conversation with Jeremy Bentham: 


What future are you not exploring? 


Where is your strategy getting lazy? 


Are you helping people learn — or making them resist?

If you lead change in a large organization, you already know the future refuses to behave. Jeremy Bentham —who led Shell’s scenario planning team for sixteen years and helped shape how one of the world’s most sophisticated organizations thinks about uncertainty — joins me to explore how to work with that reality rather than fight it. His core idea is simple but demanding: the future is shaped by competing forces, and multiple outcomes are always plausible. If you’re only planning for one version, you’re not being strategic — you’re being optimistic.

We talk about how scenario thinking isn’t about producing reports, but about building a mindset that helps you make better decisions under uncertainty. Jeremy walks through how to identify what’s steady, what’s uncertain, and what actually matters — so your strategy can hold up across different possible futures.

And then we get into influence. Because even the smartest thinking fails if it doesn’t land. Jeremy shares why senior leaders resist being taught — and how change really happens when people discover insights for themselves.

Change Signal. Where transformational change leaders seek and find modern change wisdom. Cut through the blather, the BS, and the noise to find the good stuff that works.

***

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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Here are three questions sparked by this Change Signal conversation with Jacqueline Kappers: 


What loss are you ignoring in your latest transformation? 


Where might you be grief-shaming your people?


 What would change look like if you treated it as individual, not linear?

If you lead change projects inside a large organization, you already know that most transformation efforts struggle not because the strategy is wrong, but because the human response is misunderstood.

In this episode, Jacqueline Kappers challenges the reflex use of the Kübler-Ross grief curve in change management. It was never designed for organizational transformation, and when we force people through tidy stages, we risk doing change to them rather than with them.

Her central idea is simple and uncomfortable: every change begins with loss. Promotion, restructuring, system rollout — it doesn’t matter — something ends before something new begins.

She also introduces the idea of a “grief fingerprint” and a “change fingerprint.” People don’t move through change in neat phases; they oscillate between past and future, certainty and ambiguity.

For senior leaders in change leadership, transformation, and organizational development, this conversation offers a more human, practical way to build change capacity and unlock performance — without pretending that loss isn’t part of the deal.

Change Signal. Cut through the blather, the BS, and the noise to find the good stuff that works in change. If you’re a transformational leader seeking modern change mastery, you’re in exactly the right place.

***

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