49. How To Make Big Things Happen At Work

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 underexplored problems in organizational life: how you actually get people to do the new thing. 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. -------------------- Ready to change your organization? Let's talk! https://hubs.la/Q03McTwc0 Get our Newsletter: https://hubs.la/Q03McTw50 Follow Us: –LinkedIn:   / the-ready   –Instagram:   / atworkwiththeready   --------------------- Mentioned References: —change management is not the way:    • 26. Unweirding Change with Michael Bungay ...   —Comms and change management:    • 3. The Right (and Wrong) Ways to Message C...   —complicated vs complex:    • The Ready  - Design Sprint Conference 2019   —Ira Glass taste quote:    • Ira Glass on Storytelling 3   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 --------------------- Season 9 - Episode 18 This episode originally aired on May 4th, 2026. Sound engineering and design by Taylor Marvin of Coupe Studios: https://coupestudios.com