Thoughts on Change: How to herd humans without losing your mind
This podcast explores the messy, political, emotional, and deeply human side of leading change. It covers how to move culture, build credibility, and influence without bulldozing. The host, Kelly Mallery, provides insights on herding humans without losing your mind.
Episodes
Episode 13 - Just Because It's a Problem Doesn't Mean You Should Solve It
Change efforts don't usually fail because they're bad ideas.They fail because they're buried under noise.As Continuous Improvement leaders, we see problems everywhere. We spot waste, inefficiencies, bottlenecks, and opportunities that others miss. But one of the hardest lessons to learn is that not every problem needs to be solved right now.In this episode, we continue the C.H.A.N.G
Episode 12 - Kata & TWI Summit Reflections
What actually makes change stick?Is it:the tool? the process? the storyboard? the training? Or is it something much deeper?In this episode of Thoughts on Change, I sit down with Mark Rosenthal and Laurel Martin to unpack one of the biggest challenges in Continuous Improvement:Why organizations can implement Lean tools… and still struggle to create lasting behavior change.And honestly? This convers
Episode 11 - Are you overhelping your team? Helping with intention in CI.
If you work in CI, helping probably feels like second nature. In fact, it’s probably one of the reasons you got into this work in the first place. But here’s the uncomfortable question we’re digging into today: Is your helping actually helping?There’s a fine line between helping people grow and accidentally creating dependence. And if you cross that line, your help can quietly become harmful—for t
Episode 10 - Stop Treating People Like Projects: The Real Secret to Influence in CI
If you’re struggling to get engagement with your change efforts, there’s a good chance the problem isn’t their resistance……it’s your lack of connection.I know—this one can sting a little.In Continuous Improvement, we’re trained to focus on tools, systems, and results. But the truth is, none of those things work without people. And when we stop seeing people as people—and start seeing them as the m
Episode 9 - Herding Humans, a new way to lead change
In this episode of “Thoughts on Change,” Kelly proposes a shift from pushing change to “shaping what’s possible” through credibility and influence. She defines a “change shaper” as someone who shows up effectively when resistance appears, regardless of title, and outlines six characteristics: connect with curiosity and compassion to create safety; help with intention to build others’ capability wi
Episode 8 - Building a bridge from credibility to shaping change
Kelly introduces Thoughts On Change as a podcast about the human side of leading change and explains the recent progression from “Resistobots” (internal reactions to discomfort) to the Transform framework and now a focus on credibility. She shares feedback, especially from women in continuous improvement roles, who are doing the work but want to be trusted to lead real change. Kelly argues credibi
Episode 7 - CI Warrior Series: Abby Kovarik on Muda, Culture Change, and Leading with Heart
Kelly Mallery introduces the first CI Warrior interview on Thoughts On Change with Abby Kovarik, a continuous improvement specialist at Raymond Corp (a Toyota Material Handling brand), who focuses on strengthening people, clarifying work, and building problem-solving confidence. Abby shares how an internship during college led her into lean, including a mindset shift about inventory as waste, and
Episode 6 - Getting results that matter, which layer of the problem are you solving?
Kelly explains that even with integrity, clear intent, relationships, and gemba time, credibility won’t stick without delivering results—solving not only the requested problem but also the hidden, unspoken one. She describes three layers behind common CI requests like “we need 5S”: the surface tool request, the performance gap (missed output, delays, excess inventory), and the deeper systems-and-b
Episode 5 - Intent, the invisible driver behind change
In this episode of 'Thoughts on Change,' Kelly explores the critical role of intent in building credibility during change initiatives. Understanding that people judge us based on our behavior while we judge ourselves by our intent is crucial. Kelly discusses how to bridge this gap by clearly stating our intentions and ensuring our actions align with them. She offers practical steps for e
Episode 4 - The #1 reason CI practitioners aren’t heard (and how to fix it)
In this episode of 'Thoughts on Change,' host Kelly delves into the discrepancy CI (Continuous Improvement) professionals often feel between their potential contributions and the tasks leaders assign to them. Emphasizing the politics, emotions, and human aspects of leading change, Kelly explores why CI practitioners struggle with credibility and influence. The discussion focuses on integ
Episode 3 - We Don't Just Face Resistance...We Create It
In this episode of Thoughts On Change, Kelly discusses how change leaders often create the resistance they face and introduces various archetypes, dubbed 'Resistobots,' which embody different counterproductive behaviors. These include Commandax (the controller), Factron (the rational), Softstep (the accommodator), Shellout (the avoider), Quickshift (the fixer), and Doctrina (the preacher
Episode 2 - People Don't Hate Change, They Hate the Future They Picture
In this episode of Thoughts on Change, host Kelly explores why people resist change—even when they deal with it constantly. The answer isn't about change itself, but about the future people imagine. Kelly unpacks the psychology behind change resistance, introducing the concept of change as a "two-sided coin" where people either see gain or loss. Learn how to identify the fear of los
Episode 1 - Welcome to the show
Welcome to the very first episode of Thoughts on Change! This podcast is for practical change makers—CI practitioners, culture leaders, and anyone trying to drive meaningful change without losing their minds.In this episode, host Kelly introduces the show and shares why it exists: to help you navigate the messy, emotional, and deeply human side of leading change. Too often, change leaders are trea
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