Inside the Messy Middle is a special series from The Inner Game of Change

This fortnightly short series is for people who carry responsibility inside complexity.
Between strategy and delivery. Between intent and impact. Between what was imagined and what must now be made real.

These episodes are not about tools or frameworks. They are reflections on judgement, dignity, and the human cost of change as it is actually lived.

Episode One

When you are asked to lead change you did not design

Change often arrives already in motion.

The decision has been made. The direction is set. And somehow, you are now responsible for carrying it.

In this opening episode, I reflects on what it means to lead change you did not design, and why the messy middle is not a failure of leadership, but where judgement and dignity matter most.

This episode invites you to pause, notice the moment you are standing in, and recognise that certainty is not the work. Judgement is.

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Ali Juma
@The Inner Game of Change podcast

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Welcome to The Inner Game of Change. where we explore the thinking that shapes how change really happens.

And this feels like a perfect way to start 2026.

Today I am joined by someone who represents the very best of what technology leadership can be. Lev Gonic is the Enterprise Chief Information Officer at Arizona State University, but that title only hints at who he really is.

About six months ago, I had the privilege of meeting Lev in person. It was one of those encounters that stays with you. Now I am sitting with him in conversation, and that feels genuinely special.

Lev works at the intersection of education, design, and public purpose. He does not speak about technology as something to impress, but as something we are entrusted to use wisely, always in the service of others. And in a world that is becoming increasingly agent driven, he keeps returning to one simple question. How do we stay deeply human while building the future.

This conversation is not about systems or platforms. It is about designing change with care, with responsibility, and with people at the centre.

I am grateful to have Lev chatting with me today.

About Lev

As the Enterprise Chief Information Officer at Arizona State University, I lead the design and agile management of all enterprise infrastructure, applications, products, services, and analytics at the nation's largest and most innovative university. I have over 30 years of experience in education, technology, and smart city architecture, and I am passionate about enabling and celebrating innovation, collaboration, and productivity through the broadest possible access and utilization of next-generation technologies, including AI, XR, quantum, and broadband networks.

I also chair the Sun Corridor Network, Arizona's Research and Education Network, and serve on the Board of Advisors of the Coalition for Local Internet Choice, a national organization that advocates for local self-reliance and accountability in broadband Internet infrastructure. In 2023, I received the ORBIE Award as Arizona's top large Enterprise CIO, and in 2022, EdScoop named me as one of the Top 50 Educational Technology influencers and leaders. I am proud to be part of ASU's vision to be a comprehensive public research university that is measured not by whom it excludes, but by whom it includes and how they succeed.

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Ali Juma
@The Inner Game of Change podcast

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What Do I Want This Change To Leave With Me?

Every change leaves something behind.
A lesson.
A trace.
A quieter understanding of who we are becoming.

In this final episode of A Change Question, Ali invites you to pause and reflect on one last question:
What do I want this change to leave with me?

Drawing on Viktor Frankl, T S Eliot, Maya Angelou, and a closing reading from Rainer Maria Rilke, this episode explores how meaning settles after change, and how we can carry learning forward with care.

This is not advice.
It is a gentle ending.
A moment to honour what has shaped you, and to stay close to the questions that will continue to guide you.

A reflective close to the A Change Question mini-series from The Inner Game of Change.

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Ali Juma
@The Inner Game of Change podcast

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