Sense of agency
People resist change when they lose control.
Give them a say.
Every change has a dip. Most teams get stuck in it. I help them climb out.
I’m Marija Ivanović, a change management consultant.
I bring cognitive psychology into change, so teams get through the dip faster.
Change is scary, but it doesn’t have to be.
When people push back on change, there is usually a reason for it, even in teams that badly need the change. The things they relied on are moving away: their routine, the knowledge they built up, the feeling of being good at their job. And the brain prefers the familiar. It slips back to autopilot, the same pull that keeps us doom-scrolling instead of starting something new.
I take that seriously. I start by listening, then build the structure that makes the new way feel safe to try.
- 01
Your company lacks structure, and you need someone to bring it.
- 02
Your team needs sorting out, with clear roles and guidance.
- 03
Motivation in your team is low, and you don’t understand why.
- 04
A new tool is live, but people don’t use it.
- 05
Your team is going through a structural change, and you want to keep people on board.
- 06
Your people need new skills, but the training so far hasn’t stuck.
I listen before I fix.
1:1 conversations come first. The people doing the work usually know what is really going wrong.
I test the opposite view.
Before I trust my first explanation, I look for the one that contradicts it.
I measure what people do, not what they say.
Surveys and interviews show what people think. Behavior in the work shows what changed.
WarningWon’t stick to one theory.
Every team is different, so I look at a problem from more than one angle before I decide what’s going on.
Cognitive load
Too much to remember slows everyone down.
Put knowledge in one place.
Motivation
Self-determination theory
People need autonomy, competence and belonging.
Check which one is missing.
Psychological safety
People only raise problems when it feels safe to.
Start with 1:1 conversations.
Habits
A new way sticks when it’s repeated in the same place, at the same time.
Build it into routines the team already has.
Behavior over opinion
What people say and what they do are often different.
Measure what changes in the work.
Latest projects with Scalian Germany
Getting a stuck team moving again
A team of 60 people at Airbus Operations.
- Before
- Knowledge lived in people’s heads and scattered files. People stopped sharing, and the leader didn’t know why the team had lost its drive.
- What I brought
- 80+ interviews and workshops, 1:1 conversations with team members, a motivation diagnosis based on self-determination theory, a full process map, and a knowledge platform I built with Gemini and JavaScript.
- Impact
- One platform for process and team knowledge, used daily by about 60 people
- Root causes of low motivation found and named
- Clear guidance on how to lead the team from here
Psychology usedSelf-determination theory · Cognitive load
Onboarding 1000+ suppliers to a new ordering tool
An Airbus company for aircraft parts. Every supplier had to switch to a new ordering tool.
- Before
- There was no plan for how to tell, train or support internal stakeholders or suppliers.
- What I brought
- A strategic onboarding plan built from scratch on the ADKAR change model: stakeholder and change-impact analysis, step-by-step communication and training materials, and a feedback loop during rollout.
- Impact
- 1000+ suppliers onboarded in 6 months
- Onboarding target reached a month early
- 60% fewer support calls than a comparable project the year before
Psychology usedCognitive load · Behavioral measurement
Moving 70+ employees to a new site
An HR initiative to relocate 70+ employees.
- Before
- Resistance and concerns were high from the start, and it wasn’t clear what was driving them.
- What I brought
- Countermeasures designed with the employees, built on a stakeholder analysis, change personas and cards, 1:1 conversations with team leads, and alignment with HR and site managers.
- Impact
- Fewer than 5% of employees left the company after the move, against the 15–20% that usually leave after a relocation
- Employees helped design the solutions: a better workplace, on-site community initiatives and a one-year commuting allowance
Psychology usedSense of agency
Bringing focus back to an ART
An Agile Release Train (ART) of 4 teams, each with 4–6 people.
- Before
- Priorities were unclear, sprints were missed and work was spread across tools. Trust in agile was low.
- What I brought
- Coaching for Scrum Masters and Product Owners, retros and planning sessions built on psychological safety, one shared setup in Jira and Confluence, and Scrum and SAFe training for the teams.
- Impact
- Sprint goals met: from about 40% to 85%
- One backlog with clear priorities for the whole ART
- Problems raised early in dailies and retros, before they escalated
Psychology usedPsychological safety
About me
Forever curious, always learning.
I’m into sports. You can find me running in Hamburg’s Stadtpark, reading novels or visiting galleries. And I can talk a lot about life and philosophy.
Education
M.Sc. Neuro‑Cognitive Psychology
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
I speak
- English
- German
- Montenegrin
- Croatian
Hamburg, Germany
Central European Time
I finished the Hamburg Wasser World Triathlon in 2026.
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Let’s connect.
Whether it’s a new role, a project or an idea about change, I’m always happy to hear from you.