Guest: Paul Gibbons
Why do intelligent leaders approve sound change initiatives, then struggle to turn them into action?
In this episode, host Maureen Metcalf speaks with Paul Gibbons, organizational change expert and author of The Science of Successful Organizational Change. Drawing on behavioral science, philosophy, and decades of business experience, Paul explains why facts and rational arguments alone rarely produce lasting change.
The conversation explores the hidden psychological forces that shape major initiatives. Planning bias causes leaders to underestimate complexity, while sunk-cost bias keeps organizations investing in projects that should be dropped. Habits and automatic behaviors can defeat even the strongest intentions, and repeated, poorly coordinated transformations leave employees exhausted.
Listeners will gain insights on:
- Why knowing what should change does not guarantee action
- How simple habits influence behavior
- How change fatigue undermines organizational performance
- How change agility can be developed throughout an organization, and
- What evidence-based management reveals about common business practices.
Paul also challenges conventional “carrot and stick” approaches to motivation and explains how choice architecture can influence behavior without coercion.
This conversation offers you a more rigorous way to understand organizational change...and a practical foundation for building organizations capable of learning, adapting, and thriving under pressure.
Other episodes with Paul you'll enjoy:
- Finding Meaning, Joy, & Purpose in What You Do
- Leadership Myths & the War on Truth
For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.
RESOURCES:
Paul's book, The Science of Organizational Change, is available in paperback at https://amzn.to/4wMwlNY.
The book Nudge he referenced, by Thaler & Sunstein, about changing behaviors is available in paperback at https://amzn.to/4fPeEHE, and as an audiobook at https://amzn.to/4g0AeaP.
Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here.
Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8 . The audiobook version is now available at https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.
Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here.
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OUR PODCAST TEAM:
Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf
Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko
Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan
Booking Producer: Jenna Reik
Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.
CONNECT WITH US:
YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership
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About Our Guest:
Paul Gibbons is an AI-adoption strategist, leadership thinker, author, and keynote speaker working at the intersection of artificial intelligence, organizational change, and human behavior. During more than three decades in strategy, leadership, and transformation, he has held roles with IBM Consulting, Deloitte, and PwC and advised organizations including Google, Microsoft, HSBC, Barclays, Comcast, and KPMG. He founded Future Considerations, a prominent European leadership-development firm, and wrote The Science of Organizational Change, which introduced behavioral science more fully into change-management practice. His current work focuses on people-first AI adoption, leadership capability, behavioral governance, and helping organizations adapt continuously as technology evolves. His latest book is Adopting AI: The People-First Approach.
