MSLOC Webinar - Leading Change Without Authority: A Conversation with Phil Gilbert

What does it take to change how nearly 400,000 people work — across 180 countries — when not one of them reports to you?

In 2012, Phil Gilbert was asked to help IBM rethink how its teams tackled complex problems. What began as a one-year assignment turned into a decade-long transformation effort, one that would eventually reshape how the entire company approached work itself. As IBM's General Manager of Design, Gilbert led an ambitious cultural transformation — an effort detailed in his book, Irresistible Change: A Blueprint for Earning Buy-In and Breakout Success.

Join Ryan Smerek, Associate Professor in Northwestern's Master of Science in Learning and Organizational Change (MSLOC) program, for a candid conversation with Gilbert about what it really takes to drive change without formal authority. Together, they'll explore why the biggest obstacle to transformation isn't resistance — it's treating change as inevitable rather than something worth getting excited about. They'll also dig into how to approach change as a "product," deserving the same investment, discipline, and design rigor as a company's top-performing business line.

This conversation brings to life many of the core principles taught throughout MSLOC — from design thinking and organizational change strategy to building buy-in across complex systems. Whether you're considering the program or simply curious how real-world leaders navigate large-scale transformation, this discussion offers a rare, firsthand look inside a transformation effort that reshaped how one of the world's largest companies works.

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