🦊 Is it time to ‘Change Signal’?

Ahoy friends, I have a small but important change to announce—a change from whence this signal comes.

My next email will have the words “Kindred Spirits” in the subject line. And by golly, it’s a good one. You won’t want to miss it. Especially if you want to eavesdrop on two friends talking shop (sans AI slop). Hilarium on a stick. Quite the trick.

So—if you don’t see anything from me in the next day or so, please check your spam or ‘promotions’ folder and rescue the email from there.

Help my ravens find you

The museletter is sent to you via “The Unkindness” (the collective noun for a conspiracy* of nearly 10,000 ravens I have befriended over the years).

* Another collective noun for ravens, icydk.

These ravens deliver my musings to you, all through the interwebs. They’re actually very friendly, and will let you pat them. But I’m worried they might soon lose their way—and that you may never hear from me again.

Adding ‘fox@foxwizard.com’ to your favourite email addresses will help.

You can also send an email directly to fox@foxwizard.com—I would love to hear from you. Even if you want to just say a quick hello, please do.

In fact, if you do this before I send the next email tomorrow, it’ll tremendously boost the chances of my letters reaching you.

I’ll also begin removing cold subscribers, too. So... if you haven’t opened my museletters in a while then, ha, well—you wouldn’t know. 😅

Savvy? Ace. Now—load up this episode from Change Signal with Michael Bungay Stanier (apple, spotify)

🎧 Change Signal

“If you’re leading change in organisations, this will be your favourite podcast.”

I share a deep friendship with Michael Bungay Stanier (MBS)—yes, the multi-trillion times bestselling author of The Coaching Habit (and many other brilliant books), Rhode Scholar, speaker, and fellow fox-like trickster.

Eight or so years ago I met with MBS in Toronto after speaking to an audience of many thousands for the Human Resources Professional Association’s bi-annual event. It was a frigid evening, and I wasn’t feeling particularly sociable. I didn’t really know MBS back then, other than by his wonderful book Do More Great Work (which played a part in inspiring The Game Changer).

But I rallied myself. Of course—mere seconds after meeting Michael—I was enlivened, brimming with mutual effervescence and kindred rapport.

There’s a Zen proverb:

“When two Zen Masters meet each other on the road, they need no introduction. Thieves recognise each other instantaneously.”

I’m no ‘Zen Master’—that probably goes without saying—but there’s something to be said about recognising the glint within a fellow infinite player’s eyes. That construct-aware knowingness; the hint of mischief.

It is, I suspect, why MBS and I hit it off so well, and have been close friends ever since.

This episode has MBS highlight elements from my episode 5 of the foxwizard podcast—the one where I talk of void hunting and strategy development. I also talked of anitimemetics, too—ideas that resist awareness and actively self-conceal. With some irony, MBS didn’t cover those aspects in the podcast, but I love how he has the wit to know it.

Change Signal is a brilliant podcast, so artful in its distillation. MBS is so deft at surfacing insight and ensuring the audience is all aboard. He also somehow makes the points I make shine brighter, despite my requisite loquacious periphrasis.

This podcast will resonate with seasoned executives and consultants who have an appreciation for being effective amidst complexity. In such domains, the pathway to meaningful change is non-linear and often non-obvious. It requires wit, wisdom and wiles, and a kind of post-heroic canny to see such through. Particularly if we are looking to dance with emergence.

Or, put more simply: this podcast episode speaks to those who lead or consult in messy, unpredictable systems—who know that lasting change takes more than plans. It takes cleverness, humility, timing, and the grace to navigate ambiguity with artistry. (thanks, shoggoth!)

Here’s the official description.

In this episode: Navigating uncertainty versus ambiguity, treating strategy as a living conversation, and looking beyond the obvious for weak signals.

Dr. Jason Fox challenges conventional notions of change management by urging us to develop sensibilities rather than just skills. He argues that traditional scenario planning creates an illusion of control that fails when contexts shift radically.

We’re both deeply skeptical of outsourcing strategy to consultants with impressive PowerPoint decks. Rather, Jason suggests cultivating in-house intelligence and attunement to what's emerging. "Strategy emerges from relationality," he explains, emphasizing the importance of collective sense-making.

Perhaps most provocatively, he warns against fixating on the bright, shiny trends everyone's talking about. "When you fixate upon something that's shining bright, it means that it's harder to see what exists in the penumbra," Fox notes — encouraging leaders to develop curiosity, empathy, and attunement to weak signals.

Whether you're leading transformation or just trying to stay ahead of disruption, Dr Jason Fox's perspectives offer a refreshing alternative to business-as-usual approaches.

Change Signal. Cut through the blather, the BS, and the noise to find the good stuff that works in change management. 

🎧 New episodes every two weeks. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter at thechangesignal.com

Enjoy the episode on apple and/or spotify.

Speaking of kindred spirits...

I had a very similar moment of recognising the glint in the eyes of a fellow infinite player. This happened to be at a dinner with MBS and friends (thanks, Leanne!), and it led to the swift blossoming of a new friendship. And then—a new popup podcast we’re calling Kindred Spirits.

I’ll let you know when the episode is live (this week) in my next museletter. Keep an eye out for “Kindred Spirits” from fox@foxwizard.com 🦊🪽

Let’s hope it reaches you! 🤞

And now I am off to tinker with the DNS Records and potentially ruin the sending reputation of this nearly 15-year-old museletter.

Warmth,
—fw

PS: If you are leading change within an enterprise, and need a wizard-accomplice, deft amidst complexity, ambiguity and emergence—I might know a guy. Reach out and let’s see what magic we can weave. ✨