Beating the Odds of Change Failure with Dr. BehNaz Gholami

09/01/21 • 28 min

Guest: Dr. BehNaz Gholami, Executive Director at Dizen and Founder at Human Side Academy. Today I’m joined by Dr. Behnaz Gholami, a social scientist and experience designer who has spent her career engineering change using human centered design. We talk about the concept of change for the human experience and how organizations can beat the statistic of 75% of transformative change failing due to people readiness. Here’s what you’ll learn about in this episode: Why change and transformation is so hard to execute and how human centered design can be used to engineer successful change and transformation. How tools like developing personas for different change experiences, employee journey maps and understanding the moments that matter most to employees are just a few ways we can reinvent the traditional concept of change management. When human centered design can be at risk of over engineering and may not be appropriate for change. Connecting the importance of human-centered design for impacting ecosystems outside of the work experience including the customer experience, holistic human experience and sustainability efforts. The connection between customer experience and employee experience and how a human-centered approach nurtures this symbiotic relationship. The concept of an “experience” economy and what it means for an organization’s customers and employees. Quote: It (human-centered design) gives us a broader approach to create a more harmonious ecosystem around us. Resources: Welcome to the Experience Economy (hbr.org)

Previous Episode

HR vs Racism

Guests and Titles: Nicole Dessain, Chief Experience Officer at Talent.Imperative, Inc. Oneka Cornelius, Executive Director and Founder at Convergence Solutions, LLC. Kendra C. Jackson, Group Director, Internal Communications & Change Management at Real Chemistry Description: Nicole, Oneka and Kendra, all co-founders of HR vs. Racism joined me on this heart-felt episode that’s near and dear to my heart. We talk about the community they built to help create safe spaces for processing the complex topic of racism through the 3 C framework - Building Competence, Confidence and Courage. We explore the HR vs Racism origin story and how the team has created a platform for healing, unpacking and, most importantly, driving anti-racism action and change. Here’s what you’ll learn about in this episode: More about the HR vs. Racism origin story and how this brilliant team worked to create a space for HR professionals to come together, learn from each other and come up with anti-racism action. The pivotal element of community and combatting shame and guilt to drive understanding and action around JEDI +B (Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging) issues in the workplace. A call to action around the competencies needed for current and future HR professionals and Executives to confidently and courageously challenge traditional systems or ecosystems that have bias or elements of exclusivity. The acknowledgement that JEDI + B is not an HR issue - it’s a fundamental culture change issue that requires long-term commitment and focused time, attention and centralization. When HR is at risk of being the problem versus the solution. Learn more about HR vs. Racism by going to : www.hrvsracism.org

Next Episode

One of a Kind Meetings with Kanishka Desai

Kanishka Desai, Co-Founder at Qooley Hybrid working has us all questioning if that meeting could have been an email, but what if you ensured that your next meeting was a one of a kind experience that injected innovation , value and increased engagement? Kanishka Desai, joins me on this episode to share the experiential platform he’s created to bring more positive, inspiring and impactful experiences. His company, Qooley works with creatives and artists to introduce creativity, gamification and play into experiences - including corporate and company meetings. Here’s what you’ll learn about in this episode: The impact of tapping into our emotional brain to unlock creativity, innovation and impact The power and exponential impact of transforming content and powerpoints back to the human experience including increased employee engagement, increased learning and quicker adoption Adapting to a new medium of working through purposeful and memorable experiences, team building and connections How to connect into a sense of community and belonging by the sharing of diverse experiences