From Ought to Is: Deborah Rowland on the Bouncers on the Door of the Night Club of Truth

Most transformation programmes don't fail from poor project management. They fail because leaders are managing how they believe the world *ought* to be, rather than facing how it actually *is*. In this episode, Mark speaks with Deborah Rowland, one of the world's foremost thinkers on leading large, complex change, formerly of Shell, PepsiCo, Gucci and the BBC, and author of the new book *From Ought to Is: Catalysing Change and Movement in a Polarised World*.  Deborah argues that our "oughts", the implicit codes we carry about how the world should be, act as bouncers on the doors of the night club of truth, letting in only the facts that confirm what we already believe. Real change starts only when leaders can put those oughts aside long enough to face what is actually true, however uncomfortable that truth might be. Mark and Deborah cover why resistance in a change process usually signals an ought clinging to an old loyalty rather than reality breaking through, why the body registers truth before the mind can name it, and how Deborah's own hemisphere thinking connects to Iain McGilchrist's work discussed in a recent episode with David Hurst. Deborah also shares a striking story from her consulting practice, and a simple daily discipline, bracketing, equalising and describing, for facing reality one ordinary working day at a time. **About Deborah Rowland** Deborah Rowland is a leading thinker, speaker, writer, coach and practitioner in the leadership of large, complex change. Over a career spanning more than three decades, she has led change inside global organisations including Royal Dutch Shell, PepsiCo, Gucci Group and BBC Worldwide, and founded the Still Moving consultancy. She was named to the Thinkers50 Radar list and the 2021 HR Most Influential Thinker list. She is the co-author of *Sustaining Change: Leadership That Works* and the author of the bestselling *Still Moving: How to Lead Mindful Change* and the *Still Moving Field Guide*. Her latest book, *From Ought to Is: Catalysing Change and Movement in a Polarised World*, is out now. **Deborah Rowland / From Ought to Is** 🌐 Deborah's website: https://www.deborahrowland.com/ 📖 From Ought to Is (Wiley): https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9781394265145 🛒 From Ought to Is (Amazon): https://www.amazon.com/Ought-Catalysing-Change-Movement-Polarised/dp/1394265115 Connect with Arkaro: 🔗 Follow us on LinkedIn: Arkaro Company Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/arkaro Mark Blackwell: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrblackwell/ Newsletter - Arkaro Insights: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/arkaro-insights-6924308904973631488/ 🌐 Visit our website: www.arkaro.com 📺 Subscribe to our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@arkaro Audio Podcast: https://arkaroinsights.buzzsprout.com 📧 For business enquiries: mark@arkaro.com