On June 19, Workomics was once again delighted to be guests on the The Inner Game of Change podcast, hosted by Ali Juma. This time, Susan and Terri spent the hour with Ali talking about Construal Level Theory – why humans think differently about things that feel distant versus things that feel immediate — and how co-creation is a powerful mechanism to reduce psychological distance, helping people move from abstract ideas to tangible details and action. Here are a few quotes from the discussion:

Susan:  In reading on construal level theory, I recognized that this is actually what is going on in co-creation. When we bring in stakeholders from across the organization and  ask them to participate in making something new, whether it’s a website or an operating model for a call centre, we’re not just talking, we’re actually drawing out the details. So all of a sudden they are forced to grapple with something that feels real, and think about the details. and therefore everybody comes out on the same page.

Terri: When it comes to what to co-create, you want to focus on something where the output is going to be concrete, but your understanding of it is still ambiguous, and there are still a lot of unknowns for you to solve for.

Susan: What AI ultimately does is brings us generalities, averages, and mathematical models of most likely outcomes. The point of co-creation is to get to surprising specifics. And ‘surprising specifics’ are something that AI is not well suited for.

Along with discussing what kinds of challenges co-creation is particularly useful for and when to use it, Susan and Terri also talk about:

• The ownership effect and how people value and commit more strongly to solutions they help co-create 
• The importance of skilled facilitators, structured activities, and stakeholder management leading up to and within co-creation 
• Whether there is a seat at the table for Artificial Intelligence as a co-creator 

You can listen to the whole episode here, or wherever you get your podcasts. Huge thanks to Ali for inviting Susan and Terri to share some of the Workomics philosophy on co-creation and organizational change!

The Inner Game of Change podcast is hosted by Ali Juma, an organizational change practitioner based in Melbourne. The podcast, which has been running for 5+ years dives into the complexities of managing organizational change from all angles.  His guests come from all over the world, sharing practical strategies and insights to help the listener navigate and lead successful change initiatives. Change and AI? Change and neuroscience? Change and L&D? Change and empathy? It’s a wide-ranging array of perspectives that provides thoughtful insight on making change in organizations.