“... developing a model around strategic conversation, which answers two critical questions of strategy, where are we going? And how will we get there? And constantly focusing on those two questions and understanding that. Within about 10 years, I learned that there was an underlying structure to these conversations. That there's an underlying predictable structure to the conversations. They're first divergent, then they're convergent, and then they're recurrent. They're iterative. And so, if you understand that there's an underlying structure to it, as a leader, if you understand that, then you can design and guide these conversations by asking questions.”

Ed Morrison is the Director of the Agile Strategy Lab in North Alabama University, and the author of Strategic Doing. His years of experience with international and domestic problem solving at the intersection of rapidly shifting technological landscapes, endow him with a sharp mind and a dynamic worldview.

In this episode of Control the Room, I speak with Ed about team-based communication models, Strategic Doing, and transformative thinking for hopeless, uncertain futures. Listen in to hear Ed guide us through the questions, processes, and frameworks that will help in making the most of complex environments.

“That playbook is completely outdated, and it's dangerous. If you applied a 20th century mindset to a 21st century world, we're going to be much more hurt. How can we think about a way in which business and society can thrive together? We have to exist in a place of constant learning, a place of much more caring, and a place where we think about long-term value creation as opposed to short-term profitability growth”

Nancy Giordano is a strategic futurist, an author, and the founder of Play Big Inc. Her focus and vision bleed into PBI’s own initiatives, where they focus on helping enterprise leaders meet the escalating expectations of a fast changing world.

In this episode of Control the Room, I speak with Nancy about updating strategic efforts, machine learning, and the tools meeting planners have at their disposal in bettering their teams’ success. Listen in to hear Nancy break down the importance of bringing a relevant strategy to multi-faceted, complex teams.

“... part of what we're looking at is what you're describing with meeting airtime and inclusivity. There's also a whole other element to how AI can support the right behaviors in meetings and be able to, for example, not only take in information around who's talking, but things like voice level. When people are getting heated, when their body level changes, they shift from leaning in, to sitting back. Even temperature in the room, is it starting to literally get heated? We talk about conversations getting heated, but that actually has an impact on the temperature in the room that you're sitting in.”

Nicole Baer is the Global Head of Marketing for Logitech’s Video Collaboration Business. She’s well versed in non-verbal communication and perception with regards to connection in meetings. Perceptive and empathetic, Nicole brings humility and awareness to every conversation, and invites other facilitators to do the same.

In this episode of Control the Room, I speak with Nicole about AI personal assistants, fighting the daily burden of cognitive load, and interjecting levity into the mundane. Listen in to see how she showcases the necessity of including aspects of normal social dynamics into our virtual environments.

“Sometimes we're blinkered. We think we know what our project should be, and we think we know why we're doing it, but we miss out on a whole area of opportunity simply because we're just too blinkered to see it. So giving people that ‘get out of jail free’ card can open ourselves up to some opportunities that we might not otherwise realize.”

Ben Aston is a digital project manager and founder of both Black & White Zebra and The Digital Project Manager. He is passionate about understanding customer needs through design research, identifying opportunities based on those insights, and empowering designers and technologists to create solutions. Ben is driven to develop and uncover new opportunities for clients, establishing strong connections with their customers through product solutions that create lasting value.

In this episode of Control the Room, Douglas speaks with Ben about improving meetings through connection, bringing back lost momentum, and unlocking opportunities we may not yet see ourselves. Listen in to hear the key questions Ben asks his team to create positive, impactful outcomes and uncover opportunities for his clients and customers. 

“People are feeling really overwhelmed and, of course, moving between Zoom meetings, and feel like they’re not having those opportunities between meetings to really connect with each other. And so when you're saying, and I love the mantra, "Get the work done in the meeting," work is social and work is playful, and so you need to have opportunities for that in the meeting.”

Hailey Temple is the Learning Experience Lead at MURAL. She’s involved herself in on-side corporate design, and has  Enthusiastic and compassionate, Hailey challenges facilitators to approach meetings and constituents with honesty and authenticity.

In this episode of Control the Room, I had the pleasure of speaking with Hailey about injecting humanity into our meetings, widening the boundaries of your understanding and creating spaces for all to flourish. Listen in to see how her unique experiences in learning create avenues of breakthrough and change for herself, and those around her.

“I've always loved how do you do things, very tool or method-oriented person. Getting there, I think the accomplishments or the path toward it was always kindling, always maintaining that curiosity about what is it that helps people shape their future strategically with others...I think it's that if there was any one thing, it's following a thread, following a hunch from the very first position I had and an interest in strategy and shaping the future.”

Keith McCandless, co-developer of Liberating Structures, specializes in working with groups to unleash creativity, discover opportunities, and build on momentum. He calls himself a structured improvisationalist.

In this episode of Control the Room, Douglas speaks with Keith about goat rodeos, grief walking, and prototyping responses to unsafe behaviors. Listen in to find out what’s giving Keith hope right now.

“The moment I became conscience that I was operating from a certain script, being the instrumental script, I started my own developmental journey, both in the domain of social-emotional intelligence and maturity and on the other side in looking at thought structures in teams and in groups and seeing how the scripts that I was using implicitly and the maps that allowed me to take perspectives, to integrate perspectives in teams and in all kinds of communications, hindered me and how I could break out of those patterns.”

Jan DeVisch is an executive professor at Flanders Business School, where he teaches organizational development and human capital design. He is also managing director at Connect and Transform, where he helps teams and organizations cope with increasing complexity.

In this episode of Control the Room, Douglas speaks with Jan about reducing reality into logical categories, software that can help facilitators pre-assess a team’s communication patterns, and resistance as a concept invented by the facilitator. Listen in to find out how to level up your facilitation skills through scientific research in the field of adult development.

“I think [the students] have found some ownership in taking charge of their education. I think students right now are showing up and saying, I need X, Y, and Z in order to succeed. And they're really finding their voice. I think they're able to find their voice and say, this is my education. This is my future on the line. I'm having to deal with X, Y, and Z at home, but I still need to continue to thrive academically.”

Kristin Fulton is the Development and Operations Manager for Schools That Can, a national education nonprofit that is building an education to employment pathway for students in low-income schools.

In episode 24 of Control the Room, Douglas speaks with Kristin about closing the opportunity and skills gap, teaching confidence, and the tipping point at which students become leaders. Listen in to find out how Kristin utilizes her MFA in Acting in her work with Schools That Can.

“And it seemed to me that so many of the problems and issues that we face in the world were down to this increasing connectivity, increasing complexity that we weren't really suited to deal with. And so it dawned on me that conversation was the tool that we could use to make better sense of the world.”

David Gurteen, director of Gurteen Knowledge, is best known as the creator of the Knowledge Café – a versatile conversational process to bring a group of people together to learn from each other, share experiences, and make better sense of a rapidly changing, less predictable world.

In this episode of Control the Room, Douglas speaks with David about street epistemology, virtual knowledge cafes, and David’s interest in astrophysics. Listen in to find out how conversation can help us make better sense of the world.

“What we need to figure out though, is what is our relationship to these boxes on our computer that we're locked into for so many hours a day. I think it's time for us to just acknowledge that no human being should be in front of a screen for eight to 10 hours a day, that's just not healthy.”

Christina Wodtke is the author of the best-seller Radical Focus, which uses the power of story to build a new approach to OKRs, as well as The Team that Managed Itself and Pencil Me In. Christina currently teaches at Stanford in the HCI program in Computer Science. She speaks worldwide about humanity, teamwork, and the journey to excellence.

I had the pleasure of having Christina as a guest on this episode of the Control the Room podcast. We speak about influencing the influencers, psychological safety online, and re-evaluating our relationship with our computers. Listen in to find out why it’s okay to miss your OKR’s.