Magic in The Room #4: Intentional Change Theory (ICT)

March 13, 2020

In this week’s episode, Luke, Hannah, and Chris talk about moving from A to B. They offer an exploration of Richard Boyatzis’ work on intentional change and Leon Festinger’s concept of cognitive dissonance.

How many times have you tried to change something about yourself or your life and quickly find yourself slipping back into old habits? Achieving manageable and meaningful change is never easy. For example, we have all asked ourselves at some stage, what do I need to change? Should I change the belief, or should I change my behavior?

It can then turn into further questions about what’s the belief and what’s the wish. For example, do I wish to be 200 lbs? Or do I believe that I have the power to be the person that can meet that goal? These deep-seated beliefs reveal a few things about our self-image that are and often what is lurking underneath.

The intentional change theory was developed by Richard Boyatzis, Ph.D., and outlined five common-sense steps to enable anyone to make a lasting change within one’s self. In today’s episode, we discuss this theory and try to understand how we move from A to B in the most intentional way.

We also explore Leon Festinger’s cognitive dissonance theory that suggests that we have an inner drive to hold our attitudes and behavior in harmony and avoid dissonance. But how should we tackle the inconsistency between our attitudes or behaviors? What must change to eliminate the dissonance?

We explore different ways of driving change and moving away from just letting life happen to you. We debate how taking incremental action through the practice of new skills can become a habit that reinforces a new belief around intentional change. But our success will always be correlated to our level of intent.

From a leadership point of view, Luke, Hannah, and Chris also discuss how you can reinforce and celebrate these positive behaviors when people are beginning to show them and creating a culture where it’s okay to experiment.

If you want to create this kind of environment where you’re able to go from point A to point B and have your entire team and an organization with you, it has to be okay to try new things and to have them not succeed the first time, right? Otherwise, how will we learn? The only way we learn is to try something different.

Most people would agree that you can only improve what you can measure. Introducing new ideas and improvements incrementally while monitoring along with the way will help leaders determine what worked well and what didn’t to make data-driven decisions.

After listening to this podcast episode, we invite you to share your experiences and insights on the intentional change theory (ICT) by commenting below.

Magic in the Room #199: The Power of Mattering

By Sarah Whitfield • April 7, 2026
In this episode of Magic in the Room, Luke Freeman, Hannah Bratterud, and Chris Province dive into the concept of “mattering,” inspired by Zach Mercurio’s work, and explore why it is a foundational driver of engagement, performance, and culture in organizations. They challenge leaders to move beyond assuming people matter to actively ensuring individuals feel that they matter by being valued and by contributing value to a shared purpose. The conversation highlights how mattering differs from belonging, why it cannot be replaced by perks or efficiency, and how leadership behaviors like attention, recognition, and presence directly shape whether people feel seen, heard, and understood. Through examples ranging from workplace dynamics to broader societal trends like social disconnection, they argue that disengagement, conflict, and even poor performance are symptoms of a mattering deficit. Ultimately, they position mattering not as a soft concept, but as a measurable, actionable leadership responsibility that underpins trust, resilience, and long-term success.

Magic in the Room #198: The GUEST Experience

By Sarah Whitfield • March 3, 2026
In this episode of Magic in the Room, Luke, Hannah, and Chris explore how the concept of mattering transforms customer experience through their practical GUEST framework. Building on the idea that people thrive when they feel noticed, affirmed, and valued, they argue that exceptional service is not just about efficiency or technical competence, but about intentionally designing experiences where guests truly feel significant. They unpack the five elements of the GUEST model: Greet with empathy, Uncover needs, Express gratitude, Share names, and Teach benefits. They show how each step reinforces belonging and loyalty, whether in a 30-second interaction or a 30-year relationship. The conversation highlights the difference between service and hospitality, the power of recovery when mistakes occur, and the leadership responsibility to embed mattering into culture rather than leaving it to chance.
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