ABOUT THIS EPISODE
70% of technology transformations fail. Not because of the technology, but because of the gap between what leaders deploy and what people actually do with it.
In this compilation, host Donna P. Mitchell puts a year of the show's strongest answers side by side. Five leaders from five industries — consulting, behavioral science, mission-driven transformation, insurance and health, and product innovation — answer the same question in two rounds: what do organizations get wrong about technology adoption, and what does it actually cost them?
They share almost no vocabulary. They arrived at the same place independently.
It was never the technology. It was the gap.
TOPICS COVERED:
- Why adoption gaps are leadership gaps and experience gaps in disguise
- The difference between sending a message and creating meaning
- Why human-centered discovery has to come before the platform decision
- What executives miss when they fund technology before defining the problem
- Why employees make emotional decisions, not rational ones
- The dignity question nobody is asking about AI and workforce replacement
- Three specific failure signals inside a stalled project
- Why the phrase "it's a tech project" predicts failure
TIMESTAMPS:
(0:00) Cold Open
(0:18) Round One — What They Get Wrong
(0:54) Bryant Richardson: Adoption gaps are leadership gaps in disguise
(1:39) Will Leach: Messaging is not the same thing as meaning
(2:55) Dusty Gulleson: Why you never start with the technology
(3:53) Rohit C. Nambiar: Technology is overglorified, change is underspoken
(4:33) Noel Sobelman: Solve the customer problem before you buy the tool
(5:49) Round Two — What It Really Costs
(6:36) Will Leach: Employees make emotional decisions, not rational ones
(8:16) Dusty Gulleson: The dignity question in replacing people with AI
(9:22) Rohit C. Nambiar: The moment it becomes "a tech project"
(10:00) Noel Sobelman: Fall in love with the problem, not the solution
(10:40) Close
IN THE GUESTS' WORDS:
"Adoption gaps are really leadership gaps and experience gaps in disguise." — Bryant Richardson. "Messaging is not the same thing as meaning." — Will Leach. "Adoption only happens when you have people being heard, understood." — Dusty Gulleson. "Technology is over-glorified in transformation, and change is not spoken enough." — Rohit C. Nambiar. "Fall in love with the problem, not the solution." — Noel Sobelman.
ABOUT THE GUESTS:
Bryant Richardson — Founder and President, Real Blue Sky LLC (EP113)
Will Leach — Founder and CEO, Mindstate Group; author, Marketing to Mindstates (EP117)
Dusty Gulleson — CEO, Tectonic (EP118)
Rohit C. Nambiar — Co-Founder and COO, SabaiHealth; former Group CEO, Tune Protect; author, The Simplicity Trap (EP120)
Noel Sobelman — Partner, Accel Management Group; author, Innovation Portfolio Management (EP123)
ABOUT DONNA P. MITCHELL:
Founder of The Transformation Authority™ and CEO of Mitchell Universal Network, LLC. Forbes Business Council Member and Senior Executive Healthcare Think Tank Member. 49 years across five regulated industries — telecommunications, aviation, airline management, healthcare and pharmaceutical, and emerging technologies — enabling 150,000+ professionals. Author of Pivoting to Technology Adoption: Mind the Gap and host of the IAB-certified podcast of the same name, 120+ episodes reaching 64 countries.
WORK WITH DONNA:
Keynotes, workshops, and executive education on the people side of technology adoption.
The Adoption Assessment — a 90-minute strategic diagnostic that locates exactly where adoption stalls between deployment and durable use.
Executive PR — earned media distribution and AI indexing for executives.
Start here: pivotingportal.com
New episodes every Tuesday.
Forbes Business Council Member.
