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Human Factor Podcast Season 2 Episode 015: The Contagion Effect – How Emotions Spread Through Organizations During Change and Transformation

Episode 015 Episode 015: The Contagion Effect – How Emotions Spread Through Organizations During Change and Transformation What Operates Below Conscious Awareness Hosts: Kevin Novak and Elizabeth Stewart Duration: 36 minutes Available: February 26, 2026 🎙️Season 2, Episode 15  Episodes are available in both video and audio formats across all major podcast platforms, including Spotify, YouTube, Pandora, Apple Podcasts, and via RSS, among others. Transcript Available Below Episode Overview Why does one anxious leader create an entire floor of…

Human Factor Podcast Season 2 Episode 014: The Identity Crisis of Expertise – When What You Know Becomes What Holds You Back

Episode 014 Episode 014: The Identity Crisis of Expertise – When What You Know Becomes What Holds You Back The Real Barrier to Organizational Change Hosts: Kevin Novak Duration: 33 minutes Available: February 20, 2026 🎙️Season 2, Episode 14  Episodes are available in both video and audio formats across all major podcast platforms, including Spotify, YouTube, Pandora, Apple Podcasts, and via RSS, among others. Transcript Available Below Episode Overview Season Two of The Human Factor Podcast begins with what…

Human Factor Podcast Season 1 Episode 013: Season 1 Wrap-Up and Season 2 Preview: The Psychology Behind Transformation Success

Episode 013 Episode 013: Season 1 Wrap-Up and Season 2 Preview The Psychology Behind Transformation Success Hosts: Kevin Novak Duration: 12 minutes Available: December 29, 2025 🎙️Season 1, Episode 13  Episodes are available in both video and audio formats across all major podcast platforms, including Spotify, YouTube, Pandora, Apple Podcasts, and via RSS, among others. Transcript Available Below Episode Overview In this Season 1 finale, we step back and look at the complete arc of what we’ve explored together:…

Human Factor Podcast Season 1 Episode 012: The Lies We Tell at Work – Why Workplace Dishonesty Destroys Transformation

Episode 012 Episode 012: The Lies We Tell at Work – Why Workplace Dishonesty Destroys Transformation The Invisible Force Destroying Your Organization’s Ability to Change, Adapt, and Survive Hosts: Kevin Novak Duration: 23 minutes Available: December 23, 2025 🎙️Season 1, Episode 12  Episodes are available in both video and audio formats across all major podcast platforms, including Spotify, YouTube, Pandora, Apple Podcasts, and via RSS, among others. Transcript Available Below Episode Overview A project manager knew the deadline would…

Human Factor Podcast Season 1 Episode 011: The Drift That Destroys – When Success Becomes the Enemy of Survival

Episode 011 Episode 011 The Drift That Destroys – When Success Becomes the Enemy of Survival Learn About the Silent Force that Destroys Successful Organizations Hosts: Kevin Novak Duration: 40 minutes Available: December 18, 2025 🎙️Season 1, Episode 11 Episodes are available in both video and audio formats across all major podcast platforms, including Spotify, YouTube, Pandora, Apple Podcasts, and via RSS, among others. Transcript Available Below Episode Overview In 2004, Blockbuster laughed Netflix out of the room when they…

Convenient Lies vs Inconvenient Truths: Why We Choose Fantasy Over Math

Convenient Lies vs Inconvenient Truths: Why We Choose Fantasy Over Math Issue 236, October 30, 2025 As we anticipate the end of a challenging year, we feel compelled to face up to some inconvenient truths that make us uncomfortable. We know that when we look “under the hood,” things don’t always look good. AI is buffering the market and making it look better than it is. Job creation is down, profits are up principally from price increases, and inflation remains…

How Human Emotion, Identity, and History Shape Decisions

How Human Emotion, Identity, and History Shape Decisions Issue 224, August 7, 2025 It is human emotion, identity and history that shape our culture and inform our decisions. So, here’s a question that should keep every leader awake at night: In an era where data-driven decision-making and AI-powered analytics lead strategy, why do so many consequential business choices still get made in conference rooms based on gut feelings, unspoken fears, and organizational memories? There appears to be an ongoing debate…

The Costs of Driving Efficiency

The Costs of Driving Efficiency Organizational Transformations We Live Through But Don’t Notice Issue 221, July 17, 2025 What is the cost of driving efficiency? In the process of ensuring the sustainable profitability of an organization, the business model becomes subtly reshaped. It may not be obvious at the time, but short-term financial and structural decisions in the interests of long-term success remold the workforce, the organizational culture, and can trigger larger socio-cultural trends. Rewriting History Historically, organizations seek to…

Decision-Making: The Revolving Door of Organizational Centralization and Decentralization

Decision-Making: The Revolving Door of Organizational Centralization and Decentralization Issue 202, March 6, 2025 We have been keen observers of an organizational cyclical pattern to solve problems that we call the revolving door of centralization and decentralization. Organizations across many industries experience this recurring pattern, shifting between these two organizational constructs. Counterintuitively, organizations seem to repeat the cycle every few years, often framed as a novel strategic solution to operational challenges. A decentralized approach fails. Centralize. A centralized function becomes…

Mastering the Art of Decision-Making in Uncertain Times: Part Two: A Practical Guide

Mastering the Art of Decision-Making in Uncertain Times: Part Two: A Practical Guide Issue 197, January 30, 2025 Last week we explored how to understand how we make decisions in uncertain times. We said that uncertainty has become a certainty, challenging leaders to think differently when it comes to managing change and transformation. Today, we are tackling the issue with a practical guide for improving decision-making skills that is relevant to our disruptive personal and professional environment. Our guide is…