In this episode, Anna, Stuart, and guest Crystal Danbury tackle a challenge many professionals will recognise:
“Dear Aunty Treacle, I’m struggling to drive change in an organisation that seems deeply resistant to it. I have ideas to improve safety and even have support from colleagues, but senior operational leaders won’t listen. They’re not open to experimenting, even with low-risk suggestions. I keep hitting a wall and it’s wearing me down. How do I influence change when the resistance is coming from powerful leaders? How do I keep going, or is this a sign I should stop trying?”
Crystal brings honesty and hard-won experience from complex, high-stakes environments to explore how to build influence, create momentum and protect your energy when the door won’t budge (yet). Together, they unpack practical ways to connect your ideas to what the business cares about, and when to persist, pivot or pause.
Key Topics Covered:
- Conscious vs. unconscious change - creating want/need and shifting language, not just launching projects
- Start with their win - link your proposal to the organisation’s mission, metrics and pain points
- Stakeholder conversations that land - ask what success looks like for them and map the change curve
- Change your approach, not your purpose - adapt pace and style without losing who you are
- From resistance to curiosity - exploring fear, fatigue, timing and trade-offs beneath a “no”
- Micro-experiments - small, low-risk trials (and when to ask forgiveness, not permission)
- Metrics that matter - brief, human-centred reporting (harm and care over pages of data)
- Go where you’re celebrated (not tolerated) - know when to move on
Resources & References:- How to Be More Pirate – Sam Conniff (principled, practical rebellion)
- Change curve models for leaders and teams
- Stakeholder interview prompts (purpose, success, constraints, timing)
- Language reframes for reporting (harm, care, recoverable vs. life-changing injuries)
We’d Love Your Feedback!Tried a micro-experiment that worked, or hit a wall? Tell us at
ask@auntytreacle.com or tag us on socials.
Next Episode Teaser: Season 1 Wrap-Up (Hosts’ Special) - the stickiest lessons, favourite Spoonfuls, and what’s coming next.
