The Four Change Friction Traps: Loran Nordgren

Change Signal

Here are three big questions that Loran Nordgren asks in the question for modern change mastery:

• Are you accidentally creating resistance by making your ideas sound too revolutionary?

• What if the anxieties you're avoiding are exactly what you need to address?

• Why does pushing harder on change often make things worse?

Loran Nordgren, a behavioural theory professor at Northwestern's Kellogg School, flips change management on its head. Instead of focusing on making ideas more appealing, he argues we should be removing psychological friction.

His "fuel versus friction" framework reveals why breakthrough changes often fail. The issue isn't that people don't see the value — it's that invisible barriers are holding good ideas back.

You'll discover why framing change as "evolution" works better than "revolution." Loran shares practical tactics like the South by Southwest email templates that doubled attendance without flashy marketing.

Most provocatively, he suggests that many of our change intuitions don't just fail — they actually amplify resistance. This conversation challenges how you think about urgency, buy-in, and the role of anxiety in organizational change.

If you're tired of change initiatives stalling despite obvious benefits, this episode offers a different lens for diagnosing what's really going wrong.

Change Signal. Cut through the blather, the BS, and the noise to find the good stuff that works in change, transformation, and growth.

***

WHEN YOU’RE READY

🎧 A new episode every week (and sometimes two!)

The Change Signal newsletter. Short, practical, weekly

***

CONNECT

💼Connect on LinkedIn

***

SAY THANKS

💜Leave a review on Apple Podcasts

💚Leave a review on Spotify