You've built the asset. You've done the comms. You even held office hours (that no one came to). And still…nothing changes. Sound familiar? These moves are still everyone’s go-to plays for substantial transitions in the workplace, even when we have decades of experience that they fall flat.
In this episode, Rodney and Sam dig into one of the most under-explored problems in organizational life: how you actually get people to do shit. Not just understand it. Not just nod at it in a meeting. Actually do it. They walk through why the classic change playbook (comms, training, socialization, stakeholder management) keeps failing, and what a real system of activation actually looks like.
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Mentioned references:
"change management is broken": AWWTR Ep. 26 with Michael Bungay Stanier
"comms and change management": BNW Ep. 3 with Deirdre Latour
"complicated vs complex"
Ira Glass quote about taste
00:00 Intro + Check-In: What's a tech habit that reveals your true generational age?
03:49 Why "getting shit done" doesn't get enough airtime
05:32 The three-step chain: information → understanding → behavior
06:46 Real example: Rodney's role change at The Ready and what governance actually did
09:16 The asset creator's blind spot
15:34 Living into your authority
18:09 Why clarity (including hard deadlines) is a gift
19:49 Which kinds of change need enrollment vs. just execution
24:07 Why the big reveal keeps happening (and why it keeps failing)
27:09 The big bang is often avoiding user feedback
30:49 Ira Glass on developing taste
32:57 Iterating as you go
34:50 Change management is just marketing inside your own company
38:22 Change 1: Lower activation energy with explicit, clear asks
40:34 Change 2: Run a system of socialization, not just an event
43:55 Change 3: Remove things and make space before asking for more
44:54 Change 4: Keep it ugly to unlock better participation
47:50 Wrap
Sound engineering and design by Taylor Marvin of Coupe Studios.
