The High School Secret to Org Change: Katy Milkman

Fresh starts supercharge change initiatives, pre-mortems predict failure points before they happen, and the “movable middle” holds the key to transformation success.

Ever notice how change initiatives start with a bang but fizzle by February? As someone leading organizational change, you’ve probably seen this pattern too many times.

In this episode, I explore these challenges with Katy Milkman, professor at Wharton and author of “How to Change.” She shares a mind-blowing insight: 40% of premature deaths come from changeable daily decisions – which got me thinking about how this applies to organizational transformation.

We dig into practical tools for change leaders, including how to diagnose resistance (spoiler: your assumptions are probably wrong), why traditional change management wisdom fails, and what actually moves people to embrace new ways of working.

Plus, Katy busts one of the most persistent myths in change management. Turns out all that “visualize success” stuff? Not backed by science at all.

Change Signal. Cut through the blather, the BS, and the noise to find the good stuff that works in change management.

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