Shows / The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
Welcome to the Human Factor Podcast, where host Kevin Novak, CEO of 2040 Digital and Author of The Truth About Transformation, explores the psychological forces that determine transformation success or failure. Each week, we dive deep into the human side of organizational change with leaders of organizations, transformation experts, and the researchers who understand that technology alone never drives lasting change. This isn’t another business podcast about the latest technology trends. This…
Episodes
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
S3 Episode 9|040 Who Leads When AI Thinks? Judgment, Ambiguity, and the Information That Never Reaches the Decision (Part 2)
It is Monday morning and something is wrong with the numbers. Revenue is down, the market has shifted, and everyone in the room agrees it is serious. So the…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
S3 Episode 8|039 Who Leads When AI Thinks? Judgment, Ambiguity, and the Information That Never Reaches the Decision (Part 1)
A piece of information starts at the edge of an organization. A salesperson hears a customer hesitate. An analyst notices a number that does not fit. As it…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
S3 Episode 07/038 Measuring What Change Feels Like - The Joyful Change Quotient and the Signals Leaders Miss (Part 2)
Picture a transformation dashboard that is all green. Milestones on track, budget holding, adoption counted by logins. Now picture the people underneath it…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
S3|Episode 6|037 Measuring What Change Feels Like — The Joyful Change Quotient and the Signals Leaders Miss (Part 1)
Guest: Dr. Michelle Pipes, Creator of Joyful Change and Author of Stewarding Joyful Change. Picture the dashboard for a change initiative that is about halfway…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
S3 Episode 5|036: The Misread - Why Structural Friction Gets Read As Individual Resistance
The Misread: Why Structural Friction Gets Read As Individual Resistance, with Jenny Vazquez-Newsum Somewhere in your organization right now, there is an…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
S3 Ep 4|035 The Missing Half of Change Management: Why Transformation Has a Model for Everything Except the Person Inside It, with Dr Grant Van Ulbrich
S3 Ep 4|035 The Missing Half of Change Management: Why Transformation Has a Model for Everything Except the Person Inside It, with Dr Grant Van Ulbrich Think…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
S3 Episode 3|034 On Scope, On Schedule, Off Purpose: Why Following the Plan Is Not the Same as Realizing the Purpose, with Tina Berger
S3 Episode 3|034 On Scope, On Schedule, Off Purpose: Why Following the Plan Is Not the Same as Realizing the Purpose, with Tina Berger Here is a project every…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
S3 Ep. 2|033 Performance Is Lost Before Execution: Why the Conditions Around the Work Decide What Capability Converts, with David Edward
Take two organizations in the same industry, similar size, similar products, nearly identical talent. One performs and the other does not. When leaders of the…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
Season 3, Episode 1|032: The Measurement Ratchet - Why Nothing You Measure Ever Leaves
Name one measure your organization has retired in the last three years. Not paused. Retired. If the room goes quiet, you have met the measurement ratchet. In…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
S2 Episode 18/031: Season 2 Wrap-Up and Season 3 Preview
Season 2 comes to a close. In this solo finale, Kevin Novak traces the arc of all eighteen episodes, from the identity crisis of expertise to the long game of…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
S2 Ep 17|030 The Long Game - Leading Institutional Transformation Across Decades
Guest: Tom Serena, CEO, American Gastroenterological Association Most organizational change happens on a clock measured in quarters. A leader arrives, launches…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
S2 Episode 16|029 Beyond Demographics: Why Data Without Craft Fails and Craft Without Data Guesses
S2 Episode 16|029 Beyond Demographics: Why Data Without Craft Fails and Craft Without Data Guesses Guests: Deborah Patton and Justin Thorp You can have the…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
S2 Ep 15|028 The Trust Paradox: Transforming the Institutions Built to Stay the Same
S2 Ep 15|028 The Trust Paradox: Transforming the Institutions Built to Stay the Same Guest Elizabeth Maza Stewart A small category of institution cannot signal…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
S2 Ep 14|027 Transformation Theater - Why Organizations Perform Change Instead of Making It
Transformation Theater - Why Organizations Perform Change Instead of Making It Season 2 | Episode 14|027 Host: Kevin Novak | Duration: ~35 minutes A nonprofit…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
S2 Episode 13|026 The Readiness Illusion: Why the AI Agent Era’s Loudest Claims Outrun the Evidence
The Readiness Illusion: Why the AI Agent Era’s Loudest Claims Outrun the Evidence The agent era is real. We are not yet ready for it. Both of those statements…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
S2 Episode 12|025 The Collective Transformation Problem: When an Entire Industry Has to Change at Once
Guest: Eric Hoplin, President and CEO, National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW) Most transformation conversations focus on a single organization…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
S2 Episode 11|024 The Growth Trap - What Scaling Reveals About the Human Side of Transformation
The Growth Trap: What Scaling Reveals About the Human Side of Transformation Guest: Mike Peroni, Revenue and Go-to-Market Leader Most transformation…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
S2 Episode 10 (023) | The Pattern Spotter: What You See When You Are Inside Thirty Organizations at Once
Special Guest: Erin Fuller, Global Head of Association Solutions and Chief Strategy Officer, MCI What would you see if you could be inside 30 organizations at…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
Episode 022 | S2E9 The Diagnostic Map: Why Transformation Fails at the Human Level
Imagine you are a physician and a patient walks into your office with four symptoms. Each symptom has a straightforward explanation on its own. But a physician…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
Episode 021| Season 2| When Generations Collide - The Generational Fault Lines of Organizational Transformation
Guest: Ryan Vet, Generational Futurist, USA Today Best-Selling Author, CEO of Boon Think about the last major change initiative your organization launched. Who…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
Episode 020 | Season 2: The Broken Contract
Episode 020 | Season 2: The Broken Contract Every person in your organization is operating under a contract that nobody signed, nobody negotiated, and nobody…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
S2 Episode 019: Structural Silence - Why Organizations Train People Not To Speak
S2 | Episode 019 | Structural Silence Silence is not the problem. It is the signal. Why don't people speak up in organizations? It's not because they lack…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
S2 Episode 018: The Organizational Immune System — When Culture Attacks What It Doesn't Recognize
Your body has an immune system that attacks foreign invaders. Your organization has one too. And it works exactly the same way. In Season 2, Episode 018 of The…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
Season 2 Episode 017: The Algorithmic Mirror – What AI Reveals About How We Actually Think, Decide, and Deny
What happens when AI holds up a mirror to your organization and reflects back everything you never wanted to see? In this episode, Kevin Novak explores the…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
S2 Episode 016: The Middle Management Trap - Why Your Most Critical Change Agents Are Set Up To Fail
Why do so many transformation initiatives "die in the middle"? In this episode of The Human Factor Podcast, Kevin Novak explores one of the most overlooked…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
S2 Episode 015: The Contagion Effect - How Emotions Spread Through Organizations During Change and Transformation
Why does one anxious leader create an entire floor of anxious employees before any change has even been announced? Because emotions are literally contagious…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
S2 Episode 014: The Identity Crisis of Expertise - When What You Know Becomes What Holds You Back
Season Two of The Human Factor Podcast begins with what may be the most underestimated psychological force in organizational change: identity. When…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
Season 1 Wrap-Up and Season 2 Preview: The Psychology Behind Transformation Success
In this Season 1 finale, we step back and look at the complete arc of what we've explored together: why 70% of transformations fail and what psychology reveals…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
Episode 012: The Lies We Tell at Work - Why Workplace Dishonesty Destroys Transformation
A project manager knew the deadline would be missed by six weeks but stayed silent. His director wished someone had told her the truth. Both were good people…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
Episode 011: The Drift That Destroys: When Success Becomes the Enemy of Survival
In 2004, Blockbuster laughed Netflix out of the room when they offered to sell for $50 million. Six years later, Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy while Netflix…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
Episode 010 Measuring the Human Factor - When Surveys Lie and Behavior Reveals the Truth
Why do transformation initiatives fail despite dashboards showing 82% employee support? Because we're measuring the wrong things. In this episode, Kevin Novak…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
Transformation Fatigue - When Your Organization Can't Absorb More Change
70% of C-suite executives are considering leaving their roles to protect their well-being. Not because they're weak. Because their organizations have exceeded…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
Human Factor Episode 008: The 12 Hidden Types of Resistance, When Support Isn't Really Support
Summary Kevin Novak reveals why 80% of project failures come from psychological resistance operating below conscious awareness rather than visible opposition…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
Episode 007: The Vulnerability Advantage: Why Admitting Weakness Makes Organizations Stronger
This episode explores one of the most counterintuitive principles in transformation psychology: vulnerability isn't weakness, it's a superpower when wielded…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
Episode 006: The Communication Paradox: When More Words Create Less Understanding
Why does more communication often create less understanding? In this solo episode, Kevin Novak tackles one of the most costly yet fixable problems in…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
Episode 005: The Psychology of Letting Go: Why 'We've Always Done It This Way' Is Killing Organizations
Your best employees are blocking your transformation, and they don't even realize it. In this episode, Kevin Novak reveals why the phrase "we've always done it…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
Episode 004: Data Noise and Decision Paralysis: When Too Much Information Kills Critical Thinking
Kevin Novak and Elizabeth Stewart examine how organizations drowning in data are actually making worse decisions than ever before. This episode unpacks the…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
Episode 3: Why Smart People Make Bad Decisions: The Psychology of Bias in Leadership
Episode 3 Description Smart leaders. Dangerous blind spots. Costly transformation failures. In this episode of The Human Factor Podcast, Kevin Novak and…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
Episode 002: The Gen Z Factor: How Younger Generations Are Rewiring Workplace Psychology
Organizations are hemorrhaging $1 trillion annually due to employee turnover, with Gen Z workers leading the exodus. In this data-driven episode, Kevin Novak…
- The Human Factor: Exploring the Intersection of Humanity, Technology, and Transformation
Being Human in the Age of AI: Trust, Adoption, and Ethical Dilemmas
In this episode of the Human Factor Podcast, Kevin Novak explores the psychological dynamics of AI adoption and its implications for human cognition and…