Insights & Events / Aug 11, 2026

Let Go of Sameness as Culture Fit: Why It Isn't a Strength

Peter Mann

Peter Mann, CEO and Founder of Oransi and author of the forthcoming book, The Perception Revolution, joins Maril to explore why moving beyond “culture fit” can unlock innovation. Diagnosed autistic at 55 after nearly four decades in leadership, including as a Navy combat veteran and two-time Fortune 100 board director, Peter shares how to support highly perceptive thinkers. Peter and Maril also dive into how to use his SHIELD framework to create environments where cognitive diversity and psychological safety are built into the way work gets done.

About Let Go & Lead

Let Go & Lead is a leadership platform created by Maril MacDonald, founder and CEO of Gagen MacDonald. Maril brings together provocateurs, pioneers, thought leaders and those leading the conversation around culture, transformation and change. Over the course of the past 14 years, Let Go & Lead has existed in many forms, from video interviews to resource guides to its current iteration as a podcast. At its core, it remains a place where people can access a diversity of perspectives on interdisciplinary approaches to leadership. 

Maril has interviewed over 140 leaders—from business to academia and nonprofits to the arts—through the years. In each conversation, from personal anecdotes to ground-breaking scientific analysis, she has probed the lessons learned in leadership. From these conversations, the Let Go & Lead framework has emerged. It is both a personal and organizational resource that aims to serve the individual leader or leadership at scale.

Full episodes are also available on YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

About Gagen MacDonald

At Gagen MacDonald, we are dedicated to helping organizations navigate the human struggle of change. We are a people-focused consulting firm and our passion is improving the employee experience—for everyone. For more than 25 years, we have been working with companies to create clarity from chaos by uniting employees across all levels around a single vision so they can achieve results and realize their future.

We have been a pioneer in bringing humanity to strategy execution, leading in areas such as organizational communication, culture, leadership and employee engagement. Our Vision is to lift all humanity by transforming the companies that transform the world.

Hosted by Maril Gagen MacDonald, Founder and CEO of Gagen MacDonald

Gagen MacDonald is a woman-owned, human-focused transformation consulting firm and trusted partner to the C-suite. We specialize in internal communications, employee engagement, culture change and leadership development. 

/ Jul 14, 2026

From Firefighting to Foresight: How Leaders Can Think Beyond the Crisis

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