Kathy Solberg Book Discussion

Michael welcomed Kathy Solberg to discuss her background and book. Kathy shared her career journey from academia to running a leadership program and starting her own consulting company, Common Unity Consulting. She mentioned her upcoming book "Practical Tools for Workplace Transformation" releasing September 10th. The conversation touched on how Kathy's diverse experiences across academia, consulting, and running peer groups for various professionals have allowed her to accumulate valuable tools and skills that she uses to help others.

Kathy explained that many change management efforts fail because complex solutions are applied to complex problems without properly addressing existing systems and infrastructure. She described her "unweaving" process, which starts with noticing and clarifying current systems before acting, emphasizing the importance of understanding what works before implementing changes. Kathy noted that leaders often try too many different approaches without giving previous efforts enough time to succeed, leading to broken trust and employee exhaustion.

Michael shared his experience from government healthcare panels where doctors were often excluded from planning discussions, leading to failed implementations when doctors ultimately rejected the proposed solutions. He drew a parallel to current AI deployments, warning that many AI initiatives will likely fail by 2027 due to lack of proper oversight and understanding of standard operating procedures. Kathy agreed and added that many organizations struggle with creating meaningful strategic plans without proper human interaction in the process.

Kathy explained that her book, which took over three years to write, was inspired by her frustration with people wanting to return to pre-pandemic normalcy and her desire to share insights about creating a better future. She described the book as a gift of simplified systems and tools, including 302 worksheet pages that will be available for free on her website when the book launches in September.

Kathy discussed creating a book focused on workplace boundaries and control, which started as a personal project but evolved into a workplace-focused publication. Michael shared his experience with conference notes and learning resources, emphasizing the challenge of implementing new knowledge due to limited staffing. They both discussed the importance of applying learning to both personal and professional settings, with Kathy noting how her book addresses the connection between personal and workplace behavior.

Michael and Kathy discussed the promotion and release timeline for Kathy's book. They agreed to release promotional content gradually over a few days to build anticipation, with Michael's team handling the editing and distribution process. Kathy provided her website kathysolberg.com as the place for people to learn more about her work and the book.

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