A Change in Conversation

By Arne KöttingBusiness Technology Education How To Management

A Change in Conversation episodes

February 19#10 - Mind the gap: How to spot comms risks before they drive resistance
Learn to use the "Hit vs. Shit" radar to predict resistance and protect your program's ROI and reputation.
Every program log tracks data migration and cutover, but few track the communication risks that actually kill adoption. This "hidden risk" often manifests as "silent noise"—quiet withdrawal or non-compliance—that sabotages your rollout long before go-live.
Why it matters now
Your program is an internal brand; if expectations don't match reality, trust erodes, and once trust is gone, your ROI evaporates, regardless of technical readiness.
What you’ll learn
Why "Silent Noise" is more dangerous than loud complaints.
The "Hit vs. Shit" lens for diagnosing adoption risk.
How to map perceived gains and losses across the timeline.
Scoring communication risks with the rigor of technical logs.
Strategies for Proactive vs. Reactive risk management.
Communication isn't "soft work"—it's protection for your reputation and ROI that requires the same rigorous tracking as your technical critical path.
Listen now to diagnose your hidden program risks.
➡️ Website Change Playbook
➡️ Arne on LinkedIn
➡️ Book free 15-min catch-up
22 min
February 13#9 - How decentralising comms can help to hedge local resistance
Learn how to activate local multipliers to turn 'HQ noise' into local ownership and secure global adoption.
Global tech programs often fail when local teams treat them as distant "HQ initiatives," leading to passive resistance and low adoption. This disconnect is rarely about language; it's an ownership deficit that leaves local leaders disengaged when you need them most – and creates shaky go-lives.
Why it matters now
Without a strategy to bridge the central-local gap, you risk costly rollout delays, overloaded hypercare, and a solution that technically works but fails to deliver value on the ground - sustainably.
What you’ll learn
Why centralised communication triggers the "HQ Trap".
The "Messenger Effect": Why local voices outperform global slides.
Replacing heavy toolkits with agile "mini-briefings".
How to activate local multipliers without overloading your central team.
Turning global noise into local ownership and accountability.
Localisation isn't translation—it's a strategic risk mitigation mechanism that turns passive information into active local ownership.
Listen now to secure global adoption through local relevance.
➡️ Website Change Playbook
➡️ Arne on LinkedIn
➡️ Book free 15-min catch-up
17 min
February 10#8 - How to find the sweet spot of visibility for your IT program
Standing out in an increasingly noisy organisation to protect buy-in and user adoption.
Many IT programs struggle to secure buy-in because they misjudge visibility—sharing too much, too early, or too late. In a saturated attention economy, broadcasting every technical milestone trains stakeholders to ignore you, creating noise rather than alignment.
Why it matters now
Your program competes with every other initiative for airtime and leadership focus; without precise calibration, you risk eroding credibility before your rollout even begins.
What you’ll learn
The 3 visibility traps that kill adoption: Noise, Timing, and Climate.
Why "hype" campaigns often lead to momentum decay.
How to calibrate volume like a DJ, not an on/off switch.
The “Two-Filter Test” to ensure every communication lands.
Strategies to align messaging with the current organisational mood.
Adoption thrives on relevance, not volume—treat stakeholder attention as a finite resource to be protected, not exhausted.
Listen now to cut through the noise and protect your investment.
➡️ Website Change Playbook
➡️ Arne on LinkedIn
➡️ Book free 15-min catch-up
22 min
February 05#7 - How the ghosts of project past shape adoption before you even start
Uncover how past failures create early resistance—and learn how to fix it before rollout.
Many tech programs struggle long before rollout because past failures quietly shape how people respond to the new initiative. Years of overpromising and underachieving, along with burned terminology, sit in the collective memory and trigger visible or hidden resistance that standard communication can’t fix. Without diagnosing this heritage, adoption stalls, engagement drops, and credibility weakens – even when the technical solution is strong.
Why it matters now
CIOs and program leads are under pressure to protect ROI and avoid another “quiet failure.” Understanding organisational memory is now essential to land major transformations.
What you’ll learn
Three heritage patterns driving early resistance
How burned terminology undermines your message
How to surface hidden concerns before rollout
Practical steps to assess heritage in 90 minutes
Your past change failures are shaping adoption on go-live and well beyond – diagnose them early or risk repeating them.
Listen now to learn how to identify and address change heritage before it derails your next program.
➡️ Website Change Playbook
➡️ Arne on LinkedIn
➡️ Book free 15-min catch-up
22 min
February 04#6 - Why your Why is everything
How a clear business purpose strengthens alignment, reduces resistance, and keeps your tech program credible when pressure rises.
Many tech programs are launched with a solid plan for the “what” and “how” of their change, but the core business “why” is vague or missing. Without a clear why, stakeholder commitment stays shallow, resistance increases, and programs lose momentum when pressure rises. The result is higher adoption risk and greater vulnerability to credibility issues when challenges appear.
Why it matters now
Long programs like SAP and ERP require sustained alignment across functions, markets, and leadership layers. A clear why is one of the few levers that consistently protects engagement, resilience, and decision-making over time—especially when the organisation is already saturated with parallel initiatives.
What you’ll learn
How a missing why weakens adoption and alignment
What makes a strong, credible business why
Common mistakes when defining and using the why
Practical steps to test and strengthen your why
A clear, grounded business ‘why’ is one of the strongest safeguards against adoption risk and stakeholder pushback in complex tech programs.
Listen now to learn how to define a why that strengthens alignment and keeps support steady when challenges hit.
➡️ Website Change Playbook
➡️ Arne on LinkedIn
➡️ Book free 15-min catch-up
24 min
February 03#5 - Why understanding your stakeholder is the key to fixing tech resistance
Spot hidden concerns before they escalate into visible resistance.
Many ERP and platform programs struggle not because the technology is weak, but because teams overlook critical stakeholders whose concerns surface too late.
Superficial stakeholder analysis creates avoidable noise, unexpected pushback, and jeopardises adoption and program credibility. Most of this risk is predictable – if you know what to look for.
Why it matters now
Tech changes now touch more functions, regions, and workflows than ever. Missing even one influential group can slow decision-making, stall testing, or trigger visible resistance at the worst possible moment.
What you’ll learn:
Two common failures in traditional stakeholder analysis
How to map the full stakeholder ecosystem
A smarter way to assess influence and impact
How to avoid overloading or under-informing key groups
How to surface hidden concerns before they escalate
A deeper, structured stakeholder analysis reduces surprises and protects adoption.
Listen now to learn how to spot blind spots early and prevent resistance.
➡️ Website Change Playbook
➡️ Arne on LinkedIn
➡️ Book free 15-min catch-up
16 min
February 02#4 - Discover the early-warning system every IT leader needs before go-live
How structured dialogue surfaces risks before they hit your rollout and ROI.
Most tech programs don’t fail because the system is wrong — they fail because stakeholder misalignment goes undetected until it damages adoption, timelines, or ROI. When IT teams rely on training and top-down information alone, they miss the early signals that something in the field isn’t lining up with the project plan.
Why it matters now
With parallel transformations and rising CFO scrutiny, IT leaders can’t afford late-stage surprises. You need a reliable way to detect reputational risks before go-live.
What you’ll learn
Why dialogue is a risk protocol, not a feature inbox
The real reason line managers push back (spoiler: it's not laziness)
What qualitative sensing reveals that surveys can’t
How to combine insights into an adoption dashboard
When to intervene before adoption drops
Structured dialogue gives IT leaders the early-warning system they need to protect adoption and prevent expensive rework.
Listen now to learn how to build a practical, repeatable dialogue process that reduces stakeholder risk and strengthens your path to go-live.
➡️ Website Change Playbook
➡️ Arne on LinkedIn
➡️ Book free 15-min catch-up
12 min
January 30#3 - The art of positioning your change to deliver buy-in, not resistance
Avoid the trust and adoption risks caused by overpromising or underselling your transformation.
Most tech programs lose credibility long before go-live — not because the system fails, but because leaders set the wrong expectations.
Overpromising creates disappointment. Underwhelming stories disappear in the noise. Both increase stakeholder risk and quietly erode adoption.
This episode breaks down how to position your program in a way that earns trust and protects ROI.
Why it matters now
Right now, CIOs and program leads are under pressure to show value, avoid resistance, and justify major investments. Getting your positioning wrong is an avoidable risk — and one that shapes how your program will be judged.
What you’ll learn:
Spot overpromising patterns that damage adoption
Identify underwhelming narratives that lose attention
Assess true change impact users will feel
Map your hit/shit topics early
Set expectations that protect program credibility
Build a positioning that scales across countries
Clear, honest positioning is one of the highest-leverage decisions in any tech program.
Listen now to learn how to position your program in a way that protects adoption, trust, and ROI.
➡️ Website Change Playbook
➡️ Arne on LinkedIn
➡️ Book free 15-min catch-up
20 min
January 29#2 - The three common blind spots that could derail your ERP comms strategy
How to surface the early warning signs that shape adoption, credibility, and ROI long before go-live exposes the gaps.
Many tech programs fail not because of the system, but because leaders overlook the organisational signals that shape behaviour long before go-live. History, context, and strategic alignment are often ignored, leaving adoption to chance. These blind spots quietly erode credibility and turn expensive transformations into low-usage investments.
Why it matters now
CIOs and program leads are under pressure to show ROI, reduce stakeholder risk, and avoid becoming the next “quiet failure” after a technically successful go-live.
What you’ll learn
How history drives resistance
How organisational mood affects adoption
What initiative fatigue really signals
Why timing shapes receptivity
How to build a unifying narrative
How to scan blind spots early
Ignoring your change landscape is one of the fastest ways to lose adoption and credibility, even in well-run programs.
Listen now to learn how to surface the blind spots that decide whether your next rollout lands cleanly—or becomes another expensive lesson.
➡️ Website Change Playbook
➡️ Arne on LinkedIn
➡️ Book free 15-min catch-up
13 min
January 29#1 - Five comms strategies to guarantee your most successful ERP launch ever
The human factors that determine ERP adoption, alignment, and long-term value.
ERP programmes rarely fail because of technology. They struggle because ERP reshapes how an organisation works — how decisions flow, who owns what, how people collaborate, and which routines and power structures survive the change. Most teams prepare rigorously for technical risk, but treat the human side as an afterthought. That’s where adoption, data quality and alignment quietly fall apart.
Why it matters now
This episode explains why ERP is uniquely human, and why ignoring the underlying behavioural dynamics can turn even strong programmes into slow, expensive, politically sensitive rollouts.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
Why legacy attachment drives shadow processes
How local power dynamics block global alignment
How team energy shapes organisation-wide behaviour
Why long programmes overload users’ capacity
How expectation gaps undermine trust after go-live
Successful ERP isn’t about perfect technology — it’s about managing the human dynamics that decide whether people actually use it.
Listen now to understand the five dynamics behind ERP success, and how to manage them early to protect your adoption rate and your real ROI.
➡️ Website Change Playbook
➡️ Arne on LinkedIn
➡️ Book free 15-min catch-up
19 min

About A Change in Conversation

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Leading a complex tech transformation across multiple countries? Struggling to keep stakeholder engagement on-brand, on-message, and on-time—while making your program stand out in a noisy workplace?

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A Change in Conversation

A Change in Conversation episodes

About A Change in Conversation