What Data to Show When You're Losing Buy-In
When stakeholder buy-in starts to slip, more dashboards won’t save you. This field guide shows you how to reengage skeptics with the right metrics—at the right moment.
Dan Olson
Change leader, coach, and writer. Former Inc. 500/5000 founder. I help practitioners make change practical, human, and sustainable.
Change Management as a Stepping Stone, Not a Final Destination
Change management isn’t a career cul-de-sac—it’s one of the best strategic apprenticeships in the enterprise. Learn how it opens doors to roles in strategy, operations, HR, and Chief of Staff, with real-world pivots, practical advice, and a new way to frame your impact.
Why 'NTD' Is Wrecking Your Meetings (and Your Mind)
NTD—“Need to Drop”— has become a workplace shorthand for our fractured attention. Here’s why bouncing between meetings is breaking our focus.
Chief Change Officer? Why It’s Time to Rethink the Org Chart
As executive teams evolve, change is still missing from the top. ChangeGuild makes the case for a Chief Change Officer—a strategic role focused on turning intention into execution without leaving people behind.
Why Not Us? How Practitioners Can Beat the Big Four at Their Own AI Game
AI-first boutiques are eating the Big Four’s lunch—not with size, but with speed. This isn’t the end of consulting. It’s the rebirth. Learn how practitioners can outmaneuver legacy firms and turn disruption into opportunity.
The Tyranny of the Urgent in Modern Consulting
As a freelancer or embedded consultant, you’re juggling multiple messaging systems and client platforms—while trying to focus on meaningful work. This is a meditation on urgency, distraction, and designing a better rhythm in the chaos.
Declaration of (Change) Dependence: Why You Can’t Go It Alone
Independence gets the headlines, but real change depends on interdependence. This Fourth of July, we explore why the myth of the lone change agent falls short—and how coalition-building, shared ownership, and designed dependencies drive lasting transformation.
Change Maturity Theater
Change Maturity Theater" is alive and well—where organizations perform competence instead of building it. This piece explores how to spot the signs, sidestep the spectacle, and guide your team from performative process to practical progress. Less spotlight. More substance.
Welcome to ChangeGuild: Start Here
ChangeGuild is a home base for modern change practitioners. This post introduces our mission, our three core offerings—content, coaching, and courses—and how to start exploring the site.
The AI Assistant Arms Race
AI assistants aren’t just speeding up tasks, they’re reshaping how we work, decide, and deliver. This article explores why the real competition isn’t about features, but about who controls the interface of modern work, and what change leaders need to do about it.
What Is Nudge-Based Behavior Change?
Nudging isn’t about manipulation—it’s about making the right behavior the easiest behavior. In a world where attention is scarce and resistance is high, smart change managers are borrowing from behavioral science to guide action, not demand it. Here’s how subtle design choices can drive big impact.
The Practitioner’s Dilemma: Be the Expert or Be the Mirror?
Change practitioners often feel pulled between being the expert with the answers and the mirror that helps others see themselves. The real skill? Knowing when to be which—and how to move between them.
Scrum and Circumstance
Agile rituals up front, Waterfall habits behind the curtain. This piece explores the rise of “Agilefall,” where teams cosplay Scrum while clinging to timelines, sign-offs, and Gantt charts. It’s process theater, and everyone knows it.
The AI Wake-Up Call for Consultants
AI isn’t killing consulting—it’s exposing it. If your business model relies on slide decks and boilerplate insight, it’s time to evolve. Here’s what the Reddit backlash and GenAI stumbles are really telling us.
The Rise of Shadow AI: How Unregulated Tools Are Reshaping Your Org
Shadow AI is spreading quietly across your org—reshaping workflows, risking data, and shifting culture. If you’re not tracking it, you’re not managing change. Here’s what it is, why it matters, and how to lead before it leads you.
Change Practitioners: Steal These 5 Plays from the CX Playbook
Change management has a lot to learn from customer experience. From journey maps to service recovery, CX has mastered empathy at scale. It’s time we stole their best moves.