It happened again last week! A change lead reached out to me for help – this time it was about preparing for interviewing change management candidates to join her project team. Her people leader had asked her to do two things: 1.       Brief the external recruiter who will search and shortlist the candidates 2.       Carry out the interviews with the shortlisted people She did not know where to start. She has project deliverables and has been asked to ‘interview on the run’. And...on top of...

As someone who loves words, I’ve been noodling with this new word I’ve coined – change-itsu. It describes the art of gentle, adaptive change. It’s delivering change that respects the principles of calm and respect while being attuned to the people experiencing it. The name is Inspired by jujitsu, the Japanese discipline of martial arts which means gentle art. Change-itsu is about moving with intention rather than force, meeting people where they are at, and responding with flexibility instead...

In a recent conversation, the topic of the Abilene Paradox came up. It was quickly dismissed as ‘just another name for group think’. No, not really. Let’s look at why. Both groupthink and the Abilene Paradox  show us how teams make decisions, not because they lack intelligence, but because they suppress honest conversations. The difference lies in the why . In groupthink, people genuinely believe the group is right. Pressure to conform (social norms), maintain harmony, or avoid conflict...