Q1, a Brief Personal Accounting:A Life Event, Surprise Org Change Podcast, AI, and 9/11 & the FDNY
A scan of my 2026 Q1 led to a personal and professional accounting exercise. I noticed a pattern of highly valuing, to the point of celebration, shared values about the value of people we (I) know, and even those we (I) don’t. More specifically,
First, my wife and I celebrated 40 years of marriage (a true accomplishment on her part given who she had to work with!) complete with family and a soundtrack with printed lyrics of Springsteen’s “If I Should Fall Behind…” (a ballad about adult love and enduring commitment).
Second, the “Leading Organization Change” course (Wharton Executive Education) ran in February and led to an interview podcast by a Brazilian participant. The podcast takes just over 30 minutes. It explores Cassie Solomon and my book Leading Successful Change: 8 Keys to Making Change Work (Wharton School Press, revised edition, 2020). The podcast covers the approach to change presented in the course and in the book, an approach not generally taken. As many of you know, the majority of organizational change efforts fail, and yet we seem intent on repackaging failed approaches. We repeatedly try to change individuals in order to change organizations instead of changing organizations in order to change people. The book and the course present an approach for doing the latter and document case after case of successful change that employed the latter approach, either explicitly or de facto. The beat goes on.
(As a note, the interviewer, Alberto Corcias, begins the podcast in Portuguese but, fortunately for me, conducted the interview in English (with Portuguese subtitles). Human Talks Expedition
The next running of Leading Organizational Change? February 2-February 5, 2027. Join us.
Third, Jennifer Simon and I collaborated on the first of four AI articles that I’m writing for AI Innovator, Shea, G. and Simon, J., “Education in the Age of AI.” The AI Innovator (3/3/26). The article addresses AI and university instruction which, of course, constitutes an issue on its own and serves as an example of the more general challenge and opportunity presented by AI. We suggest ways to think about AI and education and offer extracts from a possible syllabus. The article closes with, “We either work to put AI in context, including one generation’s role in educating or learning from another, or AI will become our context.”
Finally, Rising from Ground Zero: 9/11 and the FDNY’s Path through Crisis to Transformation is getting real for my co-authors and me. Eight years and over 40 interviews totaling over 90 hours led to the book, due out on 8/31/26 in this the 25th anniversary year of the attacks on the World Trade Center. Here is one of many much appreciated pre-publication endorsements,
"Rising from Ground Zero: 9/11 and the FDNY’s Path through Crisis to Transformation belongs on every Leader’s Bookshelf. It presents FDNY responder, on the ground, personal stories of 9/11 and what followed. Moving and inspiring, it is a story of crisis, endurance, and healing. It is also a story of transformation, of how to transform even the most elite of organizations. Any leader navigating stormy seas or facing the daunting task of organizational renewal should read Rising from Ground Zero-- carefully."
Admiral James Stavridis, 16th supreme allied Commander of NATO and author of “2084: A Novel of Future War”
Here’s a pre-publication/pre-order site in English.
Then there's the approaching 50th anniversary of our national fantasy baseball league (my brother and I share a team), but that's for another day.
And you? If you have a moment, send me your 2026 Q1 ‘report’ on your own aligned (or unaligned) accounting.