Every change has an official narrative. It is the story leaders tell about why the change is happening, what it will accomplish, and what the organization will look like on the other side. This narrative is almost always expressed in terms of gains: greater efficiency, stronger competitive position, expanded capability, new opportunities. Every change also has an unofficial narrative. It is the story individuals tell themselves, usually silently, sometimes in hushed conversat

No change in recent memory has struck more directly at professional identity than the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence in knowledge work. Previous technology disruptions like automation in manufacturing or digitization in administrative work, primarily affected a narrower set of workers. The type of work now being disrupted, analytical, communicative, creative, interpretive is work is much broader and cuts across most protected domain of professional identity toda

There is a specific aspect of the psychology of change that deserves particular attention, because it has significant implications for how leaders communicate in volatile environments. Human beings do not respond equally to all forms of threat. Our brain has a particular sensitivity to one specific kind of threat that turns out to be more cognitively costly than almost anything else: not knowing. Research has shown that uncertainty, the absence of clear information about what

"Our words should be bridges to comprehension, not barriers to connection." - Steven Bartlett, The Diary of a CEO: The 33 Laws of Business and Life The leader knew what he wanted to say. He planned the message carefully and delivered it clearly. But he delivered it to the wrong person, not the wrong individual, but the wrong version of the individual. He communicated to where he needed his people to be, rather than where they actually were. The team member sitt