If your leadership team defines culture by your values statement, engagement scores, or what you wish were true — you don’t know your culture.

You’re describing your aspirations.

In this episode, Bob ’n Joyce challenge leaders and OD practitioners to stop treating culture like a slogan and start treating it like a system.

Using a disciplined lateral thinking methodology, they show how to uncover what really drives behavior — the unwritten rules, the workarounds, the quiet power dynamics, and the habits that get rewarded and repeated. Not the culture on the wall. The culture in motion.

Why does this matter? Because culture determines how decisions actually get made. It shapes who advances, what gets funded, what gets tolerated, and what quietly dies.

Strategy doesn’t fail because it’s flawed.
It fails because culture wins.

Lateral thinking offers an indirect, disruptive way to see your organization as it actually operates — not as you’ve convinced yourself it does. And once you can see it clearly, you can lead it intentionally.

Because whether you define it or not, your culture is defining you.

Welcome to the Bob 'n Joyce Talk HR 'n OD Podcast.
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If you’re in OD or a leadership role, chances are your 2026 priorities already look familiar—and that might be the problem.

In this episode, Bob and Joyce unpack what a group of seasoned OD practitioners believe must be at the center of OD and leadership attention in the year ahead. Some of the themes will feel like the usual suspects. Others—especially the growing influence of AI—push against comfortable assumptions about how OD creates value.

Rather than offering a tidy checklist, this conversation invites a harder look. Where is your organization genuinely making progress—and where are you telling yourselves a reassuring story? As you listen, you’re encouraged to ask a deceptively simple question: What are we actually focused on, and why?

While OD has evolved in tools, language, and scope, its core mission hasn’t changed: sustaining the health of the organization as a living system. The real challenge for OD leaders today isn’t knowing everything that matters—it’s deciding what matters most given the realities you’re facing.

To ground the conversation, Joyce shares how a leadership development program she created at Delhaize—Leadership College—directly addressed all six focus areas discussed in the episode, offering a concrete example of what intentional, system-level OD can look like in practice.

Come on in. Grab a snack. Welcome!

It’s January—the season of clean closets, organized drawers, and freshly emptied garages. In this episode, Bob ’n Joyce look beyond the annual cleanup ritual to ask a more interesting question: Does decluttering actually change anything, or does it just make us feel productive for a while?

Yes, clearing clutter feels good. It can be energizing and even cathartic. But as we explore, the real value of decluttering—whether in our personal lives or in organizations—doesn’t come from an occasional burst of cleaning. It comes from making decluttering a deliberate, ongoing practice.

When clutter builds up—physical, mental, or organizational—it often goes unnoticed until it slows us down or gums up the system. Done well, decluttering releases energy, sharpens focus, and clears the way for a fresh start by helping us see what truly matters.

Some takeaways from today’s conversation:
• Decluttering feels good, but it can also postpone work on what matters most.
• One-time cleanups offer short-term relief; the benefits rarely last.
• A daily cadence of doing just two things that genuinely make a difference may be far more powerful than an occasional cleanup surge.

Individuals and organizations both benefit from clearing the clutter that slows them down. The challenge is that clutter often hides in plain sight. For leaders and OD practitioners, the work is learning to see it—and engaging people in periodically clearing the air so real progress can happen.

So let’s get to it.
Come on in.
Grab a snack.
Welcome.

In today’s episode, Bob ’n Joyce take on a question many organizations avoid—but can’t afford to ignore: What does the business actually need from its leaders right now?

Rather than defaulting to generic competency models or last year’s leadership playbook, Joyce pulls from her flip-chart archives—capturing real-world leadership “must-haves” identified by two distinct groups: the C-suite and Operations VPs working in the trenches.
What emerges is a fascinating contrast between strategic expectations and operational realities—from leading large-scale change and building long-term capacity, to battle-hardened confidence, simplicity of mindset, and spending more time in the field than the office.

Bob ’n Joyce then force-rank the top three leadership attributes from each group and invite you to do the same. Why? Because leadership development without context is just activity—not impact.

Given the challenges your organization faces this year, this episode helps you make a conscious, strategic choice about where to focus leadership development so it serves the business—not just the curriculum.

Come on in.
Grab a snack.
Welcome.

Footnote: Leadership Attributes Identified by Each Group
C-suite Leadership “Must-Haves”
• Proven track record
• Builds capacity
• High energy endurance
• Vision for strategy
• Inspires
• Compassionate
• Courageous
• Builds productive relationships
• Leads large change
• Keeps the long-term good of the company in mind

Operations VP Leadership “Must-Haves”
• Passionate and curious
• Battle-hardened confidence
• Team smarts (collaborative)
• Simple mindset (ultimate sophistication)
• Fearlessness (no comfort in comfort)
• Preparation and patience
• Time management
• Smart interviewing
• More time out of the office than in
• The art of running meetings

What happens when you slow down, ask better questions, and resist the urge to rush to answers? In this episode, Bob ’n Joyce model a real-time reflection that sparks insight, tension, and surprising clarity for the year ahead.

Using curiosity and inquiry, they pose a series of powerful questions to one another—questions designed to disrupt familiar thinking and generate fresh insights and “aha” moments.

What unfolds is a candid, in-the-moment assessment of their current reality, paired with the creative tension between where they are today and what they hope for in the year ahead. You’ll hear the pauses, the uncertainty, and the less-than-polished responses that come with doing this work honestly.

Fair warning: this is not an easy or comfortable exercise. But it is a meaningful one. The rewards of slowing down, asking better questions, and reflecting together—whether with a team or across an entire organization—are well worth the effort.

Come on in. Grab a snack. Welcome!

In today’s episode, Bob ‘n Joyce reflect on the start of a new year and the importance of pausing to renew and reset our intentions. Many of us begin January with resolutions to improve our health, habits, and overall well-being. Thoughtful organizations do the same—taking time to reflect on what’s working, what’s not, and what truly needs to change.

In organizational development, this process is often called a reset. Bob ‘n Joyce explore one proven methodology—the Future Search Conference—that helps teams and organizations step back, make sense of their current reality, and align around a shared and preferred future.

Why does a structured approach to an organizational reset matter? Because good intentions alone rarely lead to lasting change. Most personal New Year’s resolutions fade by Valentine’s Day, and organizational change efforts face the same risk—many stall, lose momentum, or fall short of their goals.

Whether you’re setting personal intentions for 2026 or leading a team that needs a thoughtful reset, this episode offers practical insights to help turn reflection into meaningful action.

Come on in. Grab a healthy snack. You’re welcome here.

In this episode, Bob ’n Joyce explore key findings from Gallup’s 2025 World Happiness Report. The United States experienced a notable decline, ranking 24th — its lowest position ever. The report highlights how social connection, financial wellbeing, emotional health, and physical wellness all play a critical role in overall happiness.

While these findings may not come as a surprise, they should serve as a wake-up call for business leaders and OD practitioners. Unhappy employees don’t just affect morale — they impact business results and workplace culture in very real ways.

In the spirit of the season, we focus on what we can do to address chronic unhappiness, drawing directly from insights in the Gallup poll. What emerges are solutions that don’t require big budgets or more time. In fact, small, subtle shifts by leaders — being fully present, asking thoughtful questions, and helping people feel seen and validated — can make a meaningful difference.

On a personal level, we invite you, our listeners, to use this holiday season as a moment to pause, look around, and make someone’s day. Kindness is contagious — and when it spreads, it lifts all of us.

No better time to begin than now.

Come on in, grab a snack. Welcome!