52. Welcome to the Liminal Space (Buckle Up!)

**Sam Rothkopf** (0:00)
Building an ability to actually execute at pace is in itself a strategy in this Liminal Space. We aren't going to be able to set a three-year strategy.
We need to be setting a three-month strategy, figuring out and discerning the right information to actually execute on.

**Rodney Evans** (0:26)
Welcome back to At Work with The Ready. For 10 years, we have been helping organizations change. Over those 10 years, we've learned a lot about what makes change work, what makes it stick, what's really challenging and ephemeral about it.
You've probably noticed in recent episodes that we've been making this nod to the fact that the world has changed, and our work has changed, and our clients, and our thinking have changed. But we haven't totally brought you guys up to speed on our new, improved, explicit theory of change, and of what this work means, and what organizations need now for this moment.
Today, we are going to close that gap, and we are going to make this journey very explicit and bring you all into it. To help me do that is someone who has been leading a lot of this work, actually architecting so much of how the ready is growing and delivering our business, and that is Sam Rothkopf, and she is here with me today. Say hi, Sam.

**Sam Rothkopf** (1:31)
Yay. Hi, Rodney. Very excited to be here. Long time listener, first time co-host, excited to step it in for this episode.

**Rodney Evans** (1:41)
Yeah, absolutely. You guys are going to hear about Sam and what she's doing here, and all of the things. But first, we will check in, and Sam will lead it for us.

**Sam Rothkopf** (1:50)
Checking question for today is, what is something you've completely changed your mind about?

**Rodney Evans** (1:55)
I have changed my mind about changing my mind.
I used to feel like stewardship was so much about making clear decisions and holding the line on those things and sharing conviction and creating the same in others. What I now respect a lot more is people who can be much more psychologically flexible and who feel like when presented with new information or the rotation of the globe one more time, they can just do a 180 on something. I've changed my mind so much about so many things related to work, related to life in the last 18 months. And I used to feel away about that and feel like I had done something wrong or I had been wrong before. And now I'm like, life is just a series of corrections, it's fine. So I think my macro answer is I've changed my mind about changing my mind.

**Sam Rothkopf** (3:04)
Love that.

**Rodney Evans** (3:06)
What about you?

**Sam Rothkopf** (3:09)
Gosh, my answer is so different, but I really love yours.
So I've changed my mind, and like stick with me here on the story. I've changed my mind about my hair. So if you can't see me right now, I have like glorious curly hair. And it's a big part of my brand as Rodney knows me, if you know me for about three years, and it's just a big part of who I am. And until I was about 25, I absolutely hated my hair and I would straighten it every single day. And especially if I had client work or was deemed to be more professional one day, I would always show up, pin straight hair, suit, ready to rock. And I remember one day I had this like pivotal moment with a client, which was like in retrospect a little weird. They probably didn't need to say this to me. But you know, I showed up, it was my first time actually meeting their CEO, we'd been working together for six months. We had this like fabulous strategy that we were finally getting to the big guy.
And I showed up in my suit with my straight hair. And they were like, what are you doing? They're like, you look crazy. They're like, I didn't hire like the McKinsey consultant to come here looking like a McKinsey consultant. I'm like, you're Sam. And like that's what makes you special is like that you're not trying to be what everybody else is.
And which again, maybe wasn't the best thing to be said right before I go into this meeting.

**Rodney Evans** (4:36)
Right, like talk about giving them the yips, jeez.

**Sam Rothkopf** (4:40)
Uh-huh, they're a complicated character for sure. It's like probably an HR violation.
But I think the spirit of it was actually right and good, which is when you show up authentically, you always are better and more potent and interesting. And so, yeah, from then on out, I was like, all right, curly hair don't care.