The Inner Game of Change

Welcome to The Inner Game of Change.  where we explore the thinking that shapes how change really happens.

What happens when artificial intelligence makes work faster, but the organisation around it stays the same?

In this episode, I speak with transformation leader and Engage founder Lauren Ryder, about rethinking productivity in the age of artificial intelligence.

We explore why saved time does not automatically become organisational value, how artificial intelligence changes the nature of work, what happens when routine tasks disappear, and why capability, judgement, performance measures and career pathways may all need to be reconsidered.

We also examine productive friction, human only thinking, leadership accountability and the second and third order consequences of redesigning work around artificial intelligence.

At the centre of the conversation is a deceptively simple question:

What does productivity actually mean when the cost and effort of producing work changes dramatically?


About Lauren
I’ve spent more than 20 years inside major organisations, leading transformation and seeing first-hand what separates the leaders who can move people through complexity from those who simply manage it.

Because when a transformation doesn't land, it's usually because of leadership.

As CEO of Leading Edge Global, I work with CEOs, Boards and Executive Teams navigating significant change, from AI and digital transformation to operating model shifts and large-scale programs. My sweet spot is the messy bit between strategy and execution, where decisions need to be made, people need to come with you, and a beautifully designed PowerPoint is no longer going to save anyone.

I’ve also built Engage, a leadership development and community platform focused on developing the human capabilities leaders need for the future of work: judgement, adaptability, influence, emotional intelligence and strategic thinking.

I write regularly for Forbes Australia, and Women's Agenda, and have been featured in the AFR, SMH and The Age, and host the Leading Change podcast. I’ve also been recognised as one of the Top 100 Women in Data Centres globally and as Business Leader of the Year.

I’m fascinated by the gap between the leadership organisations say they want and what actually happens when the pressure is on.

That’s the gap I want to close.

www.leading-edge.global

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In 1872, Japan changed its calendar and its clocks with just twenty three days’ notice. Almost fifty years later, Tokyo was still ringing bells to remind people what the new time meant.

This is a story about mandate, resistance, old and new systems living side by side, and the long distance between introducing a change and making it normal. And there may be something in it for how we are approaching artificial intelligence today. When Japan Changed Time When Japan Changed Time. 

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Welcome to The Inner Game of Change.  where we explore the thinking that shapes how change really happens.

My guest today is Dr David Rock, cofounder and chief executive of the NeuroLeadership Institute, originator of the SCARF model and author of our Brain at Work.

This is Part Two of my conversation with Dr David Rock.

In Part One, we explored what continuous change does to the brain and why artificial intelligence can activate our sense of threat when many organisations are already nearing the limits of their capacity for change.

Part Two is anchored by one question:

Who is doing the thinking?

As artificial intelligence becomes part of how we write, decide and relate to one another, which capabilities are we prepared to lose, and which must we protect?

David challenges the advice that everyone should use artificial intelligence as much as possible. We discuss how it can increase confidence while weakening judgement, why feedback from a machine can feel easier to receive, and what happens when leaders use agreeable systems to navigate difficult human relationships.

The distinction is simple: artificial intelligence should help us think more deeply, not think less.

Here is Part Two of my conversation with Dr David Rock. 

About David
I coined the term 'Neuroleadership', and am the co-founder and CEO of the Neuroleadership Institute (NLI). NLI makes organizations better for humans through science. It has partnered with 2/3 of the Fortune 100, helped over 20 million people perform better by understanding the brain, and started whole movements in the workplace. Our work was central to Microsoft's culture transformation. 

I am the author of 4 books including Quiet Leadership, the business best seller Your Brain at Work and published dozens of papers on the neuroscience of leadership.

I have a new book coming out November 2026, called Good with Humans.
Pre order: https://www.amazon.com/Good-Humans-Neuroscience-Makes-Ticks/dp/0063463962/

I own a small retreat center in upstate NY. Ideal for small corporate retreats, with 11 separate rooms, especially great for people with an interest in wellness and nature. Complete with a hyperbaric chamber, sauna, 2 x jacuzzi's and private walking trails. See https://www.roundhousefarms.org/

In addition, I support new authors through the Round House Literary Agency, see https://rhliterary.com/ where I leverage my understanding of the human brain to help architect ideas to have impact, and authors to do their best work.

I am also an impact investor, mentor and coach to several neuro-tech, health-tech and wellness businesses, through my Round House Incubator. As a registered broker dealer agent, I also raise capital for early stage projects in that space.

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In 1569, Gerard Mercator made a map for sailors. The sailors largely ignored it for almost two hundred years. Then it quietly became the picture of the world that generations of us grew up with, without anyone ever deciding it should.

In September 2026, 164 countries at the United Nations voted to challenge it.

In this episode of Stories of Change, I explore why the accurate map is the one that feels wrong, and what Mercator's slow adoption can teach anyone trying to make AI work in their organisation.

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Welcome to The Inner Game of Change.  where we explore the thinking that shapes how change really happens.

My guest today is Dr David Rock, cofounder and chief executive of the NeuroLeadership Institute, originator of the SCARF model and author of our Brain at Work.

His forthcoming book, Good With Humans, brings together more than twenty five years of research into what motivates us, what puts us into a state of threat and how this shapes the way we interact with one another.

In this conversation, we explore what change does to the brain, why even a perceived threat can affect our ability to think, how a leader’s emotional state can spread through a team, and whether continuous change is beginning to test the limits of our cognitive capacity.

This is part one of my conversation with Dr David Rock.

Enjoy.

About David
I coined the term 'Neuroleadership', and am the co-founder and CEO of the Neuroleadership Institute (NLI). NLI makes organizations better for humans through science. It has partnered with 2/3 of the Fortune 100, helped over 20 million people perform better by understanding the brain, and started whole movements in the workplace. Our work was central to Microsoft's culture transformation. 

I am the author of 4 books including Quiet Leadership, the business best seller Your Brain at Work and published dozens of papers on the neuroscience of leadership.

I have a new book coming out November 2026, called Good with Humans.
Pre order: https://www.amazon.com/Good-Humans-Neuroscience-Makes-Ticks/dp/0063463962/

I own a small retreat center in upstate NY. Ideal for small corporate retreats, with 11 separate rooms, especially great for people with an interest in wellness and nature. Complete with a hyperbaric chamber, sauna, 2 x jacuzzi's and private walking trails. See https://www.roundhousefarms.org/

In addition, I support new authors through the Round House Literary Agency, see https://rhliterary.com/ where I leverage my understanding of the human brain to help architect ideas to have impact, and authors to do their best work.

I am also an impact investor, mentor and coach to several neuro-tech, health-tech and wellness businesses, through my Round House Incubator. As a registered broker dealer agent, I also raise capital for early stage projects in that space.

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Ali Juma 
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In 1916, Clarence Saunders asked shoppers to do something that now feels completely normal: pick their own groceries.

But self-service did more than change shopping. It shifted work from clerk to customer, redesigned the store around that new behaviour, and changed what happened to the job on the other side of the counter.

A story about autonomy, work, design — and how change eventually becomes so normal we stop seeing it.

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What happens when an entire country changes the alphabet its people use to read, write and work?

In 1928, Türkiye made the switch quickly. The harder part came afterwards: teaching adults, changing newspapers and workplaces, rebuilding fluency, and helping experienced people become learners again.

A story about adoption, identity, redesign...and why the human transition always moves at a different speed.

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Welcome to The Inner Game of Change.  where we explore the thinking that shapes how change really happens. 

Today I am joined by Grace Edwards, a journalist, communication expert and former United Nations professional who has spent much of her career helping people make complex ideas simple, clear and meaningful.

Our conversation starts with a deceptively simple question. In an age where artificial intelligence can generate polished communication in seconds, what actually makes communication work?

Is it the words? The context? The person delivering them? Or the judgement behind what we choose to say, and what we choose to leave out?

Grace and I explore simplicity, journalism, change communication, reading the room, human judgement and what happens when artificial intelligence enters the communication process.

And, in a small experiment, we actually invite ChatGPT into the conversation and ask it directly what it cannot bring to the table.

But underneath all of this sits a bigger question about the purpose of communication itself. What are we really trying to create when we communicate well? Grace offers a perspective towards the end of our conversation that brings many of these threads together.

This is a conversation about saying less, understanding more and why the human element in communication may matter more than ever.

I am grateful to have Grace chatting with me today.


About
I am a communications consultant and public speaking coach with more than a decade of experience. Working with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and others, I turn complex ideas into messages that drive action in speeches, op-Ed’s, interview talking points, press releases, videos, corporate reports and more. I specialize in transforming policy and climate challenges into compelling content that moves decisions and global audiences. My ability to communicate in a clear and compelling way is enhanced by my early experience as a journalist, contributing previously to CNBC, Associated Press (AP), Reuters, BBC News and others. 

With the surge in LLMs, I have also created my own customised GPT (the Speech Atelier), to help clients to use A.I. responsibly. This is supported by detailed knowledge documents I wrote from my experiences to ensure accuracy, fact-checking, relevance (reads related news), humanised language and storytelling tricks applied from Caesar to Churchill and Obama. 

I hold a double bachelors degree in Law (LLB) / International Studies (University of Sydney) and am a native English speaker, advanced in Mandarin as well as intermediate Serbian.

Grace’s profile

linkedin.com/in/grace-brown-4b289828

Website

instagram.com (Blog)

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What happens when people believe in a change but still refuse to adopt it?

In this episode of Stories of Change, we explore the surprising history of the seat belt—from invention and public resistance to legislation, enforcement and habit—and what it can teach us about behaviour change, AI adoption and the gap between knowing and doing.

The invention mattered. The click changed everything.

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Welcome to The Inner Game of Change.  where we explore the thinking that shapes how change really happens. 

What happens to human learning when answers are suddenly abundant and change keeps accelerating?

In this episode of The Inner Game of Change, I welcome back Tracy Defoe, Kata coach and adult learning expert, to explore the Coaching Kata and its growing relevance in the age of artificial intelligence.

We explore a simple idea: when we cannot know exactly where change will take us, we need to learn our way forward.

Tracy shares how the Coaching Kata helps people navigate uncertainty through small experiments, reflection and deliberate learning. We discuss productive struggle, psychological safety, the temptation to jump to solutions, and the importance of human judgement.

We also ask whether artificial intelligence is helping us become better thinkers, or simply faster answer seekers, and where it can genuinely strengthen coaching and learning.

A conversation about change without certainty, coaching without giving people the answers, and learning our way forward.

About Tracy

Aims to make you smarter about learning.
Adult Education professional specializing in learning at work. Interested in culture change, supporting peer-leadership, informal learning, multiple literacies and communication in diverse settings. 
Experienced in designing and implementing innovative learning at work programs. 
Humble Lean Practitioner interested in combining my interests in Lean with Adult Learning and Culture Change. Student of the Kata, Coach and Learner.  
Improvement and Coaching Kata learner and coach.  Volunteer Host of the Cascadia Kata Dojo Community Call - a 30 minute weekly zoom meeting for Kata Coaches From British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and California.
Specialties: Customized solutions, embedding lean or essential skills in content training, facilitation of improvements or supporting leaders in improving their facilitation, communicating with the workforce, re-framing change as learning challenge, training design and delivery, implementation and evaluation. 
Facilitating meetings and retreats for clients, strategic planning, realizing a mission and vision to a Challenge, and a daily improvement plan. 
Plain Language and Clear Design.

Contact Tracy

Tracy’s profile

linkedin.com/in/tracydefoe

Website

thelearningfactor.ca (Company)

Email

[email protected]

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Ali Juma 
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