WorkCookie - Get Ahead with Industrial/Organizational Psychology in the Workplace

Every organization is in a race to adopt artificial intelligence. Few are asking the more important question: are our people ready to work alongside it? The organizations that will win the next decade are not the ones with the most advanced technology — they are the ones with the culture strong enough to absorb, adapt to, and leverage it.
 
AI does not fail because of the algorithm. It fails because of the humans around it — the ones who resist it, misuse it, or never trusted the organization enough to embrace it in the first place. Culture is what determines whether AI becomes a force multiplier or an expensive distraction. In this session, we will examine the relationship between organizational culture and AI adoption, and make the case that investing in culture is not the soft alternative to investing in technology — it is the prerequisite.
 
In this episode: Meagan Bond, Tom Bradshaw, Nic Kruegar, Rich Cruz, Dr. Emi Barresi, Imani Nakyanza
 
I/O Career Accelerator Course: https://www.seboc.com/job
Visit us https://www.seboc.com/
Follow us on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/sebocLI
Join an open-mic event: https://www.seboc.com/events
 
References:
 
Boston Consulting Group. (2024). AI at work: Friend and foe. Boston Consulting Group.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The "what" and "why" of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268.
Edmondson, A. C. (1999). Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), 350–383. https://doi.org/10.2307/2666999
Edmondson, A. C. (2018). The fearless organization: Creating psychological safety in the workplace for learning, innovation, and growth. Wiley.
G2. (2025). Global AI adoption statistics and trends 2025. G2 Research.
Hermann, E., Puntoni, S., & Morewedge, C. K. (2024). Humanizing artificial intelligence: Self-determination theory and AI adoption. Journal of Consumer Psychology.
McKinsey & Company. (2025). The state of AI: How organizations are rewiring to capture value. McKinsey & Company.
McManus, M. (2024). AI transformation is 70% people and 30% technology [Executive presentation]. Boston Consulting Group.
Mirbabaie, M., Stieglitz, S., et al. (2025). AI identity threats and reinforcement in organizations. In Proceedings of the 58th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
MIT Sloan Management Review, & Boston Consulting Group. (2025). The state of generative AI in the enterprise. MIT Sloan Management Review.
PwC. (2025). Global workforce hopes and fears survey 2025. PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Shonhe, L., & Min, K. (2025). Mitigating AI-induced professional identity threat and fostering adoption in the workplace. AI & Society.
World Economic Forum. (2025). The future of jobs report 2025. World Economic Forum.

Most organizations are extraordinarily good at activity and extraordinarily bad at progress. Meetings that produce more meetings. Initiatives launched before the last ones landed.

Leaders who are permanently busy and chronically stuck. This is not a strategy problem. It is a pattern problem, and patterns live in culture, not in org charts.

This episode examines the invisible cycles that keep organizations in motion without forward momentum: the norms, assumptions, and unspoken rules that make dysfunction feel like diligence. 

In this episode: Meagan Bond, Tom Bradshaw, LindaAnn Rogers, Nic Kruegar, Stacy Lee, Rich Cruz

I/O Career Accelerator Course: https://www.seboc.com/job
Visit us https://www.seboc.com/
Follow us on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/sebocLI
Join an open-mic event: https://www.seboc.com/events

References:

Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. Random House.

Edmondson, A. C. (1999). Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), 350–383. https://doi.org/10.2307/2666999

Edmondson, A. C. (2018). The fearless organization: Creating psychological safety in the workplace for learning, innovation, and growth. Wiley.

Gallup. (2025). State of the global workplace: 2025 report. Gallup.

Glassdoor. (2025). The hidden costs of layoffs: Workforce trust, engagement, and organizational performance. Glassdoor Economic Research.

Keller, S., & Aiken, C. (2009). The irrational side of change management. McKinsey Quarterly.

McKinsey & Company. (2021). The state of organizations 2021: Ten shifts transforming organizations. McKinsey & Company.

Overmier, J. B., & Seligman, M. E. P. (1967). Effects of inescapable shock upon subsequent escape and avoidance responding. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 63(1), 28–33. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0024166

Peterson, C., Maier, S. F., & Seligman, M. E. P. (1993). Learned helplessness: A theory for the age of personal control. Oxford University Press.

Russell Reynolds Associates. (2025). Global CEO turnover index: 2024 year in review. Russell Reynolds Associates.

Samuelson, W., & Zeckhauser, R. (1988). Status quo bias in decision making. Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 1(1), 7–59. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00055564

Society for Human Resource Management. (2019). The high cost of a toxic workplace culture: How culture impacts the workforce—and the bottom line. SHRM.

Society for Human Resource Management. (2024). SHRM Q4 2024 civility index: The state of workplace civility in the United States. SHRM.

Organizations spend billions on strategy, technology, and process redesign, and then wonder why results do not follow. The answer is almost always the same: culture was treated as an afterthought rather than the operating system beneath everything else. When culture is decorative, change is cosmetic.

 I/O Career Accelerator Course: https://www.seboc.com/job
Visit us https://www.seboc.com/
Follow us on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/sebocLI
Join an open-mic event: https://www.seboc.com/events

References:

Gallup (2025). State of the Global Workplace.

CultureCon & Fauna (2025). WorkPossible: Humanity at Work.

McKinsey & Company (2020). The Science Behind Successful Organizational Transformations.

Edmondson (1999). Psychological Safety and Learning Behavior in Work Teams.

Kotter & Heskett (1992). Corporate Culture and Performance.

Work Institute (2024). Retention Report.

SHRM (2022). Human Capital Benchmarking Report.

Why organizations investing in artificial intelligence without investing in human readiness are setting themselves up for failed adoption and wasted capital

In this episode: Dr. Heather Morton, Tom Bradshaw, LindaAnn Rodgers,  Nic Kruegar, Dr. Jagadesh Chander, Cynthia Cole

 

 

I/O Career Accelerator Course: https://www.seboc.com/job

Visit us https://www.seboc.com/

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/sebocLI

Join an open-mic event: https://www.seboc.com/events

 

References:

2026 Global Human Capital Trends. (2026). Retrieved from https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/topics/talent/human-capital-trends.html?id=us%3A2ps%3A3gl%3Achc26%3Aawa%3Agreendot%3Anonem%3AK0219492%3A041326%3Akwd-461493411780%3A196756941353%3A804670332474%3A%3A&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23331251908&gbraid=0AAAAADenGPBvHbAOgkq78Jysdo7i1C0lG

 

Crumley, B. (2026, February, 25). Businesses bet big on AI while cutting workers—economists say that’s produced ‘zero growth’. Inc.  https://www.inc.com/bruce-crumley/businesses-bet-big-on-ai-while-cutting-workers-economists-say-thats-produced-zero-growth/91307695

 

Daly, S. J., Wiewiora, A., & Hearn, G. (2025). Shifting attitudes and trust in AI: Influences on organizational AI adoption. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 215, 124108.

Lee, C. P., Lee, M. K., & Mutlu, B. (2026). Making the Invisible Visible: Understanding the Mismatch Between Organizational Goals and Worker Experiences in AI Adoption. arXiv preprint arXiv:2605.03078.

 

McKinsey & Company. (2025, January 2025). AI in the workplace. A report for 2025.  https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/tech-and-ai/our-insights/superagency-in-the-workplace-empowering-people-to-unlock-ais-full-potential-at-work

 

Ratanjee, V. (2026, February 14). The deficit reflex: Why change management keeps solving the wrong problem. Forbes.  https://www.forbes.com/sites/vibhasratanjee/2026/02/12/the-deficit-reflex-why-change-management-keeps-solving-the-wrong-problem/

We discussed what happens when different personalities collide at work, and how those moments of tension can either derail teams or drive growth.

We also explored the psychology behind conflict, communication breakdowns, and practical strategies for turning personality differences into stronger collaboration and better results.

In this episode: Nic Krueger, Tom Bradshaw, LindaAnn Rodgers, CT Sanders,  Lee Crowson
 
I/O Career Accelerator Course: https://www.seboc.com/job
Visit us https://www.seboc.com/
Follow us on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/sebocLI
Join an open-mic event: https://www.seboc.com/events
 
Reference

Vîrgă, D., Curşeu, P. L., Maricuţoiu, L., Sava, F. A., Macsinga, I., & Măgurean, S. (2014). Personality, relationship conflict, and teamwork-related mental models. PloS one, 9(11), e110223. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0110223