THE INSIDE STORY OF TRANSFORMATION AT SCALE
Most leaders don’t struggle to define change.
They struggle to make it stick.
In 2012, Phil Gilbert was asked to help transform how IBM’s teams worked—across nearly 400,000 people in 180 countries. Instead of relying on authority, or mandates accompanied by compliance theater, the work succeeded by treating change as something that must be designed to earn buy-in.
That idea—change as a product people choose to adopt—became the model Phil calls Irresistible Change®, and this book is its blueprint. It is a field-tested guide to leading transformation at scale—based on Phil Gilbert’s experience helping IBM and others achieve lasting culture change, at scale.
Today’s transformations are no different from those of preceding eras. Integrating AI, speed and quality into your organization’s operations requires more than technology and process, it requires cultural adaptation at pace and scale. The ideas and practices included in this book will help.
Irresistible Change: A Blueprint For Earning Buy-In and Breakout Success
(John Wiley & Sons | 2025)
“Real, practical outcomes. Phil Gilbert shows leaders how to drive change not by decree, but by earning commitment. This is essential reading for anyone leading transformation today.”
Doug McMillon
Former President and CEO, Walmart
“Anyone with ambition should take careful notes. Phil Gilbert helps us truly understand what it takes to drive large scale cultural change through design thinking.”
Tim Brown
Chair Emeritus of IDEO, and bestselling author of Change By Design
WHO THIS BOOK IS FOR
Irresistible Change is written for:
CEOs and executive leadership teams
Leaders responsible for culture, operating-model, or AI-era transformation
Design, product, and technology organizations working across silos
Anyone tasked with delivering change without the luxury of mandate
If your success depends on people choosing to act differently—this book is for you.