Modern CTO Tech Titans: A Masterclass in Change Management with Ashley Goodall
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Mar 16, 2026 Ashley Goodall, leadership expert and bestselling author who studies the human side of continuous change. He contrasts management’s love of change with employees’ experience of constant disruption. He explains when change helps versus when it harms, outlines five psychological harms of nonstop reorganizing, and argues for stability to enable creativity and meaning at work.
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Change Is Not Always Good For People
- Management treats change as an unqualified good while employees often experience change as harmful to their ability to work.
- Ashley Goodall frames the tension: leaders are sent to make change, but excessive change 'makes it really hard for people to actually do their jobs.'
Aim For Improvement Not Constant Change
- Improvement, not change, should be the goal because not all change leads to improvement.
- Goodall uses the jazz metaphor: people want a stable chord sequence (structure) to improvise change from, not random constant notes that wear them down.
People Felt Soul Crushed By Continuous Reorgs
- Dozens of people described being 'in the blender' of continuous reorgs, burned out and soul crushed by constant change.
- People still believed in change's potential even while calling their experience 'soul crushing.'