Available December 29, 2025

Episode 013: Season 1 Wrap-Up and Season 2 Preview: The Psychology Behind Transformation Successuccess

DURATION: 12 minutes
HOST: Kevin Novak
SHOW: The Human Factor Podcast

COLD OPEN

Twelve episodes. Twelve explorations into why transformation succeeds or fails. And one consistent truth that emerged across every single conversation: the technology is never the problem.

We started this season asking how AI adoption is reshaping trust in organizations. We ended last week examining why workplace dishonesty destroys transformation from the inside out. And somewhere in between, we discovered that the gap between what people say they support and what their behavior actually reveals explains more transformation failures than any technical limitation ever could.

I’m Kevin Novak, CEO of 2040 Digital, Professor at the University of Maryland, and author of The Truth About Transformation and the Ideas and Innovations weekly newsletter.

Welcome to The Human Factor Podcast, the show that explores the intersection of humanity, technology, and transformation along with the psychology behind transformation success.

This is the Season 1 finale of The Human Factor Podcast, where we’re going to reflect on what we’ve learned, preview what’s coming in Season 2, and explore why transformation psychology matters more now than ever before.

When I launched this podcast in the fall of 2025, I had a simple thesis: the 70% transformation failure rate isn’t a technology problem, it’s a psychology problem. Twelve episodes later, I’m more convinced of that thesis than ever, but I’ve also learned something I didn’t expect. The people listening to this show, the transformation leaders, the change managers, the executives trying to guide their organizations through disruption, the individuals seeking to better understand their own and others behaviors, you already know this. What you needed wasn’t someone telling you that people and understanding that human factors matter. You needed frameworks for actually addressing human factor sin systematic, measurable ways.

So today, I want to walk through the arc of Season 1, highlight the frameworks that emerged, and share where we’re headed in Season 2.

THE SEASON 1 ARC

Part 1: Understanding the Human Factor (Episodes 1-4)

We began with the question that’s defining our era. In Episode 1, Being Human in the Age of AI, we explored why people trust algorithms to recommend movies but resist them for strategic decisions. The trust asymmetry we uncovered explains why so many AI implementations stall despite clear business cases.

In Episode 2, The Gen Z Factor, we examined how generational psychology is rewiring workplace expectations, and why traditional management approaches are failing with 40% of the workforce.

In Episode 3, Why Smart People Make Bad Decisions, we explored the unconscious biases that sabotage even the most thoughtful decision-making, from addition bias to assumption errors. And Episode 4, Data Noise and Decision Paralysis, revealed why access to more data often leads to worse decisions, not better ones.

Part 2: The Barriers to Change (Episodes 5-8)

The middle of our season examined what makes change so difficult. Episode 5, The Psychology of Letting Go, explored why smart people cling to outdated methods even when they know better and the deep psychological mechanisms that make unlearning one of the hardest human challenges.

In, Episode 6, The Communication Paradox, we challenged our assumptions about communication itself. We learned that more communication doesn’t create more clarity. Often, it creates more confusion, because of the psychological defenses that resist change also filter how messages are received.

In Episode 7, The Vulnerability Advantage, Elizabeth Stewart joined me to discuss something transformation leaders rarely do: admit what they don’t know. That conversation was one of our most downloaded episodes because it addressed the leadership authenticity gap that employees sense even when they can’t articulate it.

In Episode 8 we introduced the twelve types of hidden resistance, the patterns that kill transformations even when everyone claims to be supportive. That episode resonated because it gave leaders and those across the workforce the language for what they were experiencing but couldn’t name. This episode resulted in many across the audience emailing us and thanking us for helping them understanding what they were feeling and seeing.

Part 3: Making the Invisible Visible (Episodes 9-12)

The final arc of Season 1 focused on detection, measurement, and the organizational patterns that undermine transformation. Episode 9, Transformation Fatigue, explored the invisible crisis killing initiatives before they start, examining the three hidden cognitive loads draining your workforce.

In Episode 10, Measuring the Human Factor, we tackled the measurement problem directly. How do you assess psychological readiness when surveys show high support but behavior reveals resistance? We learned about the gap between stated and revealed preferences which is where most transformations die, and we also explored frameworks for measuring what actually matters.

In Episode 11, The Drift That Destroys, we examined organizational drift, the silent force that destroys successful organizations not through catastrophic decisions but through thousands of small, reasonable choices that gradually pull them away from market reality.

And last week, Episode 12, The Lies We Tell at Work, we examined why workplace dishonesty destroys transformation. We learned about the performance theater, the strategic omissions, and the optimistic reporting that keeps leadership comfortable while reality deteriorates. And when truth becomes a casualty of organizational politics, transformation becomes impossible.

THREE INSIGHTS THAT EMERGED

Looking back across twelve episodes, three insights emerged that I didn’t fully anticipate when we started.

First, resistance is information, not obstruction. When people resist change, they’re telling you something about psychological threats you haven’t addressed. Fighting resistance confirms the threat. Understanding resistance dissolves it.

Second, measurement determines management. You can’t manage what you can’t see, and traditional transformation metrics measure compliance, not commitment. Behavioral indicators reveal what surveys conceal.

Third, identity is the deepest layer. Skills can be taught. Processes can be documented. But when change threatens who people believe themselves to be as professionals, psychological defenses activate that no training program can overcome. Successful transformation protects identity while enabling evolution.

And finally, assessing the road we traveled reveals the myriad of ways we humans react, consider, adapt and reconcile as we navigate change in our personal and professional lives.

As we wrap season 1, I want to set the stage for season 2 and beyond.

SEASON 2 PREVIEW

The Human Factor Podcast returns in mid-February 2026 with new episodes. Here’s what’s coming.

Season 1, again, was about understanding transformation psychology. Season 2 is about applying it. We’re moving from diagnosis to intervention, from frameworks to implementation.

You’ll hear case studies from and about organizations that successfully addressed the human factor, with specific strategies you can adapt.

We’ll have more conversations with leaders and experts who are doing this work in the field. And we’ll introduce new frameworks for the challenges that emerged most frequently in listener feedback: leading transformation while experiencing it yourself, building psychological safety in remote and hybrid environments, and navigating the accelerating pace of change when people are already exhausted.

And of course, in addition to the guests we have lined up, Elizabeth Stewart will be back to share her insights and expertise across several episodes.

CLOSING

Before we close, I want to thank you for listening. Whether you discovered this podcast at Episode 1 or somewhere in the middle, you chose to spend time thinking about why transformation succeeds or fails. You sought to better understand your own behaviors and the behaviors of others. That’s not a casual commitment.

The emails I’ve received from listeners telling me an episode resonated, that a framework helped them see their challenges differently, that they shared an episode with their team and it sparked productive conversation, those messages matter more than download statistics ever could. You’re not just consuming content. You’re doing the work of leading transformation in your organizations, and this podcast exists to support that work.

While we’re on break between seasons, the Ideas and Innovations newsletter continues every week. If you’re not subscribed, you can find it on Substack at 20forty.substack.com or on 2040digital.com.

And if you want to assess your organization’s transformation readiness, the assessment at transformationassessment.com provides a baseline for the psychological factors we’ve discussed all season. Once you complete the assessment, you will receive guidance, resources and more via email over a 2 week period. The goal and intent is to allow you time to process the assessment results, consider the suggested frameworks and considerations, and in conclusion, set a clear path to address the right things to ensure success.

Season 2 launches in mid-February 2026. Until then, keep questioning the assumption that transformation is about technology. Keep advocating for the human factor. And keep remembering that the 70% failure rate isn’t inevitable. It’s the result of overlooking what matters most.

This is The Human Factor Podcast. I’m Kevin Novak. Thank you for an incredible first season. Thank you for watching or listening.

END OF EPISODE

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Upcoming: Season 2 – Mid_February 2026

Season 2 Starts in Mid-February 2026

More Episodes Coming Soon

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