Chapter 1, The Space Between — Author Read | Pivoting to Technology Adoption: Mind the Gap

It was never the technology. In this solo author read, host Donna P. Mitchell reads Chapter 1 of her book Pivoting to Technology Adoption: Mind the Gap — the case for why 70% of technology transformations fail, and what the 30% do differently.

Deployment is an event. Adoption is a process. The distance between them is where organizations lose millions and billions of dollars every year. Drawing on 49 years across five industries — from the Bell System to US Airways to Johnson & Johnson — Donna names the gap between what leadership thinks is happening and what actually happens on the floor.

TOPICS COVERED

- Why most digital transformations fail — and why it was never the technology

- The difference between deployment and adoption

- Allen Martinez’s "shadow ledger" and why 84% of AI failures trace to leadership

- The $31M IVR lesson: design for real behavior, not assumed behavior

- Why AI is restructuring every industry at once in 2026

- The human cost of the adoption gap — careers, livelihoods, and trust

CHAPTERS (parentheses for Spotify clickability)

(00:00) Welcome and series introduction

(00:34) Dedication: it was never the technology