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Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

The Transformation Plateau: Why Change Stalls in the Messy Middle

The Transformation Plateau: Why Change Stalls in the Messy Middle Issue 241, December 4, 2025 The early enthusiasm everyone on the team had was palpable. Six months ago, leaders announced a sweeping digital transformation initiative with all the fanfare that major change initiatives deserve. The town hall was packed, Slack channels were full of employee chatter, and everyone seemed optimistic. Executives spoke passionately about the future and the problems being solved. Early adopters volunteered eagerly for pilot programs. The organization’s…

Kevin Novak
December 3, 2025
Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

The Trouble with Making Assumptions and Over-Generalizations

The Trouble with Making Assumptions and Over-Generalizations Issue 160, May 16, 2024 We’ve noticed a disturbing trend over the past three years. To put it bluntly, organizations including governments, are making many assumptions about their stakeholders and constituents. The assumptions stem from over-generalizations, past knowledge, or due to wearing blinders.  In each instance, we will discuss how you, the consumer, will bear the cost and impact of these behaviors. Failing to See the Total System Let’s take a US political…

Kevin Novak
May 16, 2024
Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

Unintended Consequences: Decision-Making and Economic Interconnectedness

Unintended Consequences: Decision-Making and Economic Interconnectedness Issue 151, March 14, 2024 We’re entering the fray in the debate on the economy. And central to this debate is a refresher focused on our inability to make connections, see patterns and anticipate how micro and macro trends can radically and consequentially compromise our approach to solving real or perceived problems. In solving what we see as immediate problems (low wages, inflation, price-gouging, lack of skilled workers and migration as examples), there are…

Kevin Novak
March 14, 2024
Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

Making Faulty Assumptions, Part II – Ideas and Innovations from 2040

Making Faulty Assumptions, Part II Issue 108, May 11, 2023 Last week we explored how making bad assumptions can derail a business model and debilitate a team. Operational assessment and readiness can fall victim overnight based on assumptions that are out of alignment with shared purpose and market orientation. As we have stated, often the infrastructure can be so dysfunctional that bringing new strategies to life and achieving new goals simply isn’t possible. Here are a few signs that indicate…

Kevin Novak
May 11, 2023
Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

What Happens When You Make Assumptions? – Ideas and Innovations from 2040

What Happens When You Make Assumptions? Issue 106, May 4, 2023 Does your organization have what it takes to succeed? For example, how many times a day do you make an assumption? On a scale of magnitude, perhaps it’s the assumption that the sun will rise each morning and gravity will still be in place at night — to assuming that other people will drive responsibly and the trash in your neighborhood will be picked up.  Assumptions are based on…

Kevin Novak
May 3, 2023
Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

What Were They Thinking? – Ideas and Innovations from 2040

What Were They Thinking? Issue 101, March 30, 2023 Jared Diamond, author of Collapse, asked a profound question referring to the ancients in Easter Island. When they cut down the last tree on the island, what were they thinking? Seriously, what sane society would make a valuable natural resource extinct with one final hatchet job? Which in turn made their people extinct? Or how about a more complicated social problem replacing the US draft with an all-volunteer military, ultimately making…

Kevin Novak
March 30, 2023
Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

The Consequences of Unbounded Optimism – Ideas and Innovations from 2040

The Consequences of Unbounded Optimism Issue 94, February 9, 2023 All societies live by stated or perceived mantras. In the United States we reach for the stars, believe the sky is the limit, and if we build it, they will come. These sentiments permeate our culture, inspire our children, and guide our business leaders. We love entrepreneurialism; we reward it, admire it, and aspire to it.  The entrepreneurial spirit and manifest destiny represent the American can-do ingenuity and genius of…

Kevin Novak
February 9, 2023
Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

The Unintended Consequences of Indecision – Ideas and Innovations from 2040

The Unintended Consequences of Indecision Issue 87, December 22, 2022 Should I stay or should I go?  Should we pivot or stay the course? Are my next-gens going to quietly quit? How are we going to make more money in such a disruptive economy? Is everyone going to agree with me? Am I going to be held accountable? Do I even need to be accountable? And why is everything so damned hard all the time? If you are a leader,…

Kevin Novak
December 22, 2022
Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

An Elephant? What Elephant? Where Is the Elephant? – Ideas + Innovations from 2040

An Elephant? What Elephant? Where Is the Elephant? Decision-Making: Actions, Influences, Impacts and Unintended Consequences Issue 75: Sept 29, 2022 In June of this year, we published an article about unintended consequences and how many organizations, governments and individuals are blindsided by not anticipating the future. Technically, unintended consequences are outcomes of actions in the immediate past or in current times that have unforeseen impacts or influences on the near or far future. Consider a line of dominoes or a…

Kevin Novak
September 29, 2022
Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

Assumptions and Consequences – Ideas + Innovations from 2040

Assumptions and Consequences Issue 74: Sept 22, 2022 Don’t make any assumptions! How many times have we heard this – at work and at home?  Yet, we make assumptions all the time. And our assumptions are typically personal speculations that have broad implications. We assume that our workforce is achieving its potential.  We assume that leadership is making decisions that benefit the entire organization, including its workers.  We assume that our customers are pleased with our products and services and…

Kevin Novak
September 21, 2022
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