OrgDev with Distinction

Episodes

• Whole Scale Change in Complex Organisations with Dr. Paul Tolchinsky 29.05.2026 29m

  We'd love to hear from you so send us a message! What does it really take to create large-scale organisational change that lasts? In this episode of the OrgDev Podcast, we speak with Paul Tolchinsky - pioneer of Whole-Scale™ Change, cofounder of the European Organisation Design Forum (EODF) and one of the most influential voices in large-system transformation and organisation design. Drawing on more than four decades of experience, Paul shares lessons from working with organisations around th...
• Leaders Think They’re Driving Change - So Why Isn’t It Landing with Rupert Brown 08.05.2026 1h 1m

  We'd love to hear from you so send us a message! Why do so many transformation and change programmes fail to deliver in practice – even when the strategy looks solid? In this episode of the OrgDev Podcast, we explore why organisational change breaks down during execution, and what leaders, HR and organisation development practitioners can do to make change actually stick. We look at the gap between strategy and reality – from leadership alignment and decision-making to the lived experience o...
• Workplace Conflct - What Smart Leaders Do Differently with Rick Buccheri I| 02.05.2026 1h 5m

  We'd love to hear from you so send us a message! In this episode of the OrgDev Podcast, we’re joined by Rick Buccheri, an organisational development practitioner based in New York, to explore conflict, collaboration and the real work of change. Drawing on his experience in organisational consulting and conflict resolution, Rick shares how tension shows up beneath the surface of teams - and what it takes to engage with it productively. We discuss why conflict is often avoided or mishandled, h...
• The Hidden Leadership Power of Endings with Lizzie Bentley Bowers and Alison Lucas 24.04.2026 58m

  We'd love to hear from you so send us a message! How do leaders handle endings well - and why do so many organisations rush past them? In this episode of the OrgDev Podcast, we speak with Lizzie Bentley Bowers and Alison Lucas about one of the most overlooked aspects of leadership and organisational change: endings. Many organisations focus on launches, growth, restructures, mergers and new strategies. Far less attention is given to what is being left behind - projects ending, team changes,...
• Leading Change in a Human Way with Gareth Evans 17.04.2026 1h

  We'd love to hear from you so send us a message! What does it take to support people and organisations working under pressure, complexity, and trauma? In this episode of the OrgDev Podcast, we welcome Gareth Evans, Lead for Specialist Organisational Development at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. A facilitator, coach, and thought leader in relational and trauma-informed OD, Gareth is the developer of the Conversational Spaces Framework and co-developer of the OD Practice Framework fo...
• Adaptive Action - Human Systems Dynamics with Glenda Eoyang - Orgdev Episode 100 10.04.2026 1h 4m

  We'd love to hear from you so send us a message! Most organisations are still managed as if they can be controlled, predicted and engineered into success. But what if that assumption is the problem? In this episode of the OrgDev Podcast, we explore a different way of seeing organisations - not as machines to optimise, but as complex human systems that are constantly shifting, adapting, and responding to their environment. If you’re dealing with messy change, unclear direction, or patterns th...
• The Workplace Productivity Trap - Dynamic Work Design wirth Nelson Repenning MIT OrgDev Episode 99 01.04.2026 1h 4m

  We'd love to hear from you so send us a message! Why do so many organisations struggle to improve productivity - even when they invest heavily in strategy, transformation and new ways of working? Nelson Repenning, co-author of There’s Got to Be a Better Way, describes the hidden systems that shape how work actually gets done. Drawing on decades of research at MIT and real-world organisational transformation, Nelson unpacks why well-intentioned improvements often fail - and what leaders can d...
• The Real Reason Strategy Fails with Stefan Cousquer - OrgDev Episode 98 26.03.2026 59m

  We'd love to hear from you so send us a message! Why do leadership teams say the future matters - and then fail to make time for it? This episode examines a common pattern inside organisations: strong strategies, but limited execution. We explore how top teams prioritise, make decisions, and enable strategic change, and why leadership effectiveness is often constrained not by capability, but by how time, attention, and work are structured. Here are the links to Stefan’s latest editorials: W...
• Leadership in Complex Systems with Dr Jean Boulton - OrgDev Episode 97 13.03.2026 1h 13m

  We'd love to hear from you so send us a message! In this episode, Dr Jean Boulton joins us to explore how ideas from complexity science can help leaders understand strategy, power and change in uncertain environments. What really drives change in organisations - and what quietly kills it? Why do some initiatives gain traction while others fade away, even when the intent is strong? Originally trained as a physicist and now a strategy practitioner, Jean brings a distinctive perspective o...
• Is Your HR Operating Model Set Up to Win ? with Perry Timms - OrgDev Episode 96 27.02.2026 1h

  We'd love to hear from you so send us a message! Why has HR’s operating model barely changed in 25 years – while everything around it has? In this episode of the OrgDev Podcast, we speak with Perry Timms about the uncomfortable truth at the heart of modern HR: we’ve spent decades optimising processes instead of redesigning how HR actually works. As organisations evolve at pace – driven by digital transformation, new workforce expectations, agility, and shifting power dynamics – many HR func...
• Clear Leadership, Real change with Gervase Bushe - OrgDev Episode 95 24.02.2026 1h 11m

  We'd love to hear from you so send us a message! What if organisations can’t be engineered into better performance — only invited into change? We’re joined by Gervase Bushe, one of the most influential contemporary thinkers in Organisation Development and a leading voice in dialogic OD. For decades, many change efforts have assumed that if we design the right structure, define the right process and implement the right plan, performance will follow. Bushe’s work challenges that assumption. D...
• Design Your Organisation for an AI Driven Future - Omar Morales Microsoft - OrgDev Episode 94 19.02.2026 42m

  We'd love to hear from you so send us a message! What does organisation development look like when AI, complexity and constant transformation become the norm rather than the exception? In this episode of the OrgDev Podcast, we’re joined by Omar Morales, Head of Organisation Development at Microsoft, to explore how organisations design for adaptability, leadership resilience, and sustained performance in fast-moving environments. Drawing on nearly two decades of global experience across organ...
• Understanding Complexity with Dave Snowden - OrgDev Episode 93 13.02.2026 48m

  We'd love to hear from you so send us a message! How to apply complexity thinking in your organisation If we can’t reliably predict what will happen in our organisations, can’t control outcomes in any simple way, and can’t even agree on what’s true – how do we lead? That’s the territory explored in this conversation with Dave Snowden. We move beyond tidy change models and into the realities of uncertainty, distributed knowledge and contested meaning. This episode challenges the instinct to s...
• Essential Guide to High Growth and Strategy with Rupert Morrison - OrgDev Epsiode 92 23.01.2026 1h 7m

  We'd love to hear from you so send us a message! Strategy is one of the most overused words in organisational life – and one of the least well understood. In this conversation with Rupert Morrison, we explore what strategy actually means, who really owns it, and why so many organisations struggle not with ambition, but with focus. We talk about why strategies so often turn into shopping lists, why prioritisation is harder than it looks, and how pace, culture, and execution collide once a stra...
• Stop Educating Start Learning - The Secret to Performance with Nick Shackleton-Jones OrgDev Episode 91 16.01.2026 54m

  We'd love to hear from you so send us a message! This week on the OrgDev Podcast we’re joined by the brilliantly provocative Nick Shackleton-Jones, a guest who never fails to challenge how organisations think about learning. Nick brings energy, clarity and a healthy dose of disruption as he unpicks why so much workplace learning fails to change behaviour and what actually works instead. He shares a rallying cry of resources not courses along with stories about simulations and onboarding...
• Organisation Development Pro Tips for Improving Performance - Part 2 - OrgDev Episode 90 15.01.2026 31m

  We'd love to hear from you so send us a message! Top tips from leading Organisation Development and Design Experts This is part 2 of a special highlights episode. This year has been a big one for us. We recorded 44 episodes, and the podcast reached listeners in 109 countries. Our guests joined us from as far afield as California, Spain and Australia – as well as Austria, the Netherlands and Sweden, and together we covered a broad spectrum of practice – from neuroscience and psychological sa...
• Organisation Development Pro Tips for Improving Performance - Part 1 - OrgDev Episode 89 09.01.2026 35m

  We'd love to hear from you so send us a message! op tips from leading Organisation Development and Design Experts This is a special highlights episode.This year has been a big one for us. We recorded 44 episodes, and the podcast reached listeners in 109 countries. Our guests joined us from as far afield as California, Spain and Australia – as well as Austria, the Netherlands and Sweden, and together we covered a broad spectrum of practice – from neuroscience and psychological safety, to syst...
• Leading with Purpose, Not Control with Dr Louise Van Rhyn - OrgDev Episode 88 19.12.2025 1h 3m

  We'd love to hear from you so send us a message! What does leadership look like when it’s driven by purpose rather than control? In this episode of the OrgDev Podcast, we’re joined by Dr Louise Van Rhyn, social entrepreneur, leadership and organisation development practitioner, and founder of Symphonia. Louise shares powerful insights from more than four decades of practice working with leaders, organisations and large-scale social change initiatives across South Africa and beyond. We explore...
• Why Transformation Fails - And What Works with Dr Gwen Stirling Wilkie - OrgDev Episode 86 09.12.2025 1h 4m

  We'd love to hear from you so send us a message! Why Do Transformations and Change Fail - And What Can Leaders Do About It? Where do leaders go when the map runs out – when the terrain ahead is shifting faster than they can chart it? Today on the OrgDev Podcast, we’re stepping into the space where the known meets the unknown, and where transformation takes root. In this episode. we’ll hear how Gwen blends rigour and relationality, why she believes leadership must be both human-centred a...
• Design Thinking for Real-World Workplace Problems with Giles Wright - OrgDev Episode 87 09.12.2025 58m

  We'd love to hear from you so send us a message! How Can Design Thinking Solve Your Organisation's Most Intractable Problems? Design thinking has transformed how we approach products and services - but what does it really look like when we apply it to people, culture, and organisations? How do we move from post-it notes and empathy maps to real organisational change? To explore the intersection between design thinking and organisation development, we’re joined by Giles Wright – an...