251. Transition Equation

At The Table with Patrick Lencioni

Patrick Lencioni

Pat, Business, Success, Work, Entrepreneurship, Companyculture, Patricklencioni, Teamwork, Leadership, Organizationalhealth, Culture, Management

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 16 September 2025

⏱️ 22 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In what ways can the formula for change be useful for understanding both personal and organizational change?

In episode 251 of At The Table, Patrick and Cody explore the so-called change equation, a simple yet powerful formula that explains why some change efforts succeed while others stall. Breaking it down into dissatisfaction, vision, and a first simple step—multiplied together—they show how these elements must outweigh resistance for change to occur.

Topics explored in this episode:

0:55 – The Change Equation

3:17 – D: Dissatisfaction with the Current State

* How leaders and individuals can identify and amplify dissatisfaction.

4:38 – V: Vision for a Better Future

* The importance of painting a clear and compelling future state.

6:52 – F: The First Simple Step

* Why a small, achievable action builds momentum and reduces overwhelm.

17:59 – R: Resistance to Change

* How fear, comfort, and uncertainty fuel resistance.

Here are some additional notes that relate to the equation explored in this episode:

D × V × F > R.

D = Dissatisfaction with how things are now.

V = Vision of what is possible.

F = First concrete steps that can be taken towards the vision.

If the product of these three factors is greater than R = Resistance, then change is possible. Because D, V, and F are multiplied, if any one is absent (zero) or low, then the product will be zero or low and therefore not capable of overcoming the resistance.

This episode of At The Table with Patrick Lencioni is brought to you by The Table Group: https://www.tablegroup.com. We teach leaders how to make work more effective and less dysfunctional. We also help their employees be more fulfilled and less miserable.

At The Table is a podcast that lives at the connection between work life, leadership, organizational health, and culture. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts (https://apple.co/4hJKKSL), Spotify (https://spoti.fi/4l1aop0), and YouTube (https://bit.ly/At-The-Table-YouTube).

Follow Pat Lencioni on https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-lencioni-orghealth, http://www.youtube.com/@PatrickLencioniOfficial, and https://x.com/patricklencioni.

Be sure to check out our other podcast, The Working Genius Podcast with Patrick Lencioni, on Apple Podcasts (https://apple.co/4iNz6Yn), Spotify (https://spoti.fi/4iGGm8u), and YouTube (https://bit.ly/Working-Genius-YouTube).

Let us know your feedback via [email protected].

This episode was produced by Story On Media: https://www.storyon.co.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	And when I saw it, I thought, oh, I can do that in seven minutes every day.
0:05.2	And I do.
0:06.6	And now I'm going to start adding, but that's my baseline.
0:10.0	But I've seen so many things that are totally too much.
0:14.0	It wasn't the first simple step.
0:15.6	It was the multiple difficult steps.
0:21.7	Welcome to At the Table, the podcast that lives at the intersection of leadership, teamwork,
0:26.3	organizational health, and culture.
0:28.2	I'm your host, Pat Linchony.
0:29.5	This is my co-host Cody Thompson.
0:31.6	How you doing, Cody?
0:32.5	I'm doing great, Pat.
0:33.8	Excited for today's topic.
0:35.9	And as you can see, for those people that watch this on YouTube, I have a whiteboard here because I'm going to write something down.
0:42.3	But for those people listening in their car or just on audio, I'm going to describe it.
0:47.3	I think you'll be just fine.
0:49.3	Just close your eyes and visualize it, right, Pat, if you're in the car.
0:52.3	That's right.
0:53.3	That's right. Just close your eyes. We know you have a self-driving car. By the way, I don't even think we came up with
1:00.4	a title today. I think it's the change equation, right? Okay, let's just call it that. Today we're
1:05.4	going to call it the change equation. Now, what's interesting about this, one, this is not our
1:09.5	material. Two, there's another
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Patrick Lencioni, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Patrick Lencioni and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.