“People are so concerned with this innovation piece, this collaboration piece. How are we going to get more products out the door? How are we going to serve more people? How are we going to be CX/UX design premier to make sure we meet people where they're at and our customers are satisfied? But if your workforce can't even speak up, or feel comfortable or don't feel like there's that psychological safety where they can voice concerns or they see a red flag they're able to speak about it, it will affect your bottom line.” - Mika Cross

In this episode of Control the Room, I had the pleasure of speaking with Mika Cross about her journey helping both private and public sector transform the workplace.  She starts with reflections on how her time in the military helped shape her perspective on workplace transformation.  Later, Mika shares why she fell in love with people, process, culture, and performance consulting.   We also discuss simple tips for improving psychological safety in large bureaucratic organizations.  Listen in for thoughts on how and why companies need to invest in workplace culture.

“So we know that, that's how we create our shows at Second City. We have a 12 week process, we develop in front of the audience, and we know the first four weeks there's going to be a lot of seemingly garbage, but we allow that seemingly garbage to surface because there might be a gem actually inside there, especially when sort of looked at a different way.” - Kelly Leonard

In this episode of Control the Room, I had the pleasure of speaking with Kelly Leonard about his three plus decades managing the legendary sketch comedy group The Second City.  He begins with reflections on the shared origins of team improvisation and social work.  Later, Kelly explores self verification theory and how it can lead to stronger relationships faster.   We also discuss group brainstorming and breaking down silos.  Listen in for a plan to save the world by improving listening skills.

“I think it's really important to understand the difference between safety and trust. So safety is actually a state of our nervous system. It's a neurobiologic process that happens for human beings. Trust on the other hand is how we relate to each other. It's a way to have relationship. So I can trust you maybe to complete your work and say you're going to do what you said you're going to do, and the extend that I trust to you, that's a way to relate to you. Safety is I feel I can have vulnerability with you, I can be vulnerable around you. I don't feel defensive, I don't feel shut down around you. And all of that is actually stemming from a biological process that is happening in my body versus a more emotional or even mental process like extending trust to someone.” - Alla Weinberg

In this episode of Control the Room, I had the pleasure of speaking with Alla Weinberg about her career as a UX Designer turned Culture Designer and thought leader.  She starts with reflections on why she became a Culture Designer.  Later, Alla discusses the differences of safety and trust.  We also discuss the relationship between psychological safety and the state of the nervous system.  Listen in for insights into how to build better relationships and connection at work.  

“Yeah, he's been doing some amazing things in his organization. One is that he's been talking about personality as a place to welcome diversity, that everyone doesn't have to be nice all the time, that people who are fractious or have personalities that are annoying, that you can be actually radically inclusive of those personalities. I'm not talking about people who are racist or sexist or those kinds of things. I'm actually just talking about people who always are a little sour or who aren't particularly friendly or whatever it is. And he hasn't made any mandates or edicts. He's just introduced the idea that what if this is a way that one could be radically inclusive, that one could just be curious about not making that person conform to some norm or social standard. And I think it's a fascinating thought as we grapple with ED&I, and equity, diversity and inclusion, and broaden our scope of inclusion to include people who are different in a variety of ways.” - Melanie Parish

In this episode of Control the Room, I had the pleasure of speaking with Melanie Parish about her long career as a Leadership Coach.  She starts with reflections on her approach to coaching which prioritizes experimentation.  Later, Melanie talks about radical inclusion and the reframe she uses to help others broaden the range of topics they can discuss.  We also discuss the importance of feedback cultures and personal wellness.  Listen in for insights into leadership essentials.

“Well, I do think the first step is for Managers to understand change management, because everybody's talking about this and it may seem too difficult to apply, so they can be resistant about what is change management, but the first step would be educate them about the whole theme.  And we act as coaches, as partners of the leaders on those projects, because of course they will go through the situations and we'll have to best support them. And often I offer myself just to be there with them, just to analyze what is going on, and then we can have a chat and some feedback and how can we improve together? I don't think we have a recipe for that, but being close and make them to understand what change management really is, that will be the first things you'll do with a leader in any kind of transformation.” - Taina Carvalho

In this episode of Control the Room, I had the pleasure of speaking with Taina Carvalho about her career as a Brand Manager turned Change Management thought leader.  She starts with reflections on the experience she gained early in her career that still serves her today.  Later, Taina discusses the importance of meeting her clients where they are when supporting Change Initiatives.  We also discuss how starting with a clear why, creating a culture of feedback, establishing metrics, and retrospectives are so important during change.  Listen in for insights into finding balance between cultures of experimentation and playing it safe.

“There's this old phrase, 'Culture eats strategy for breakfast.' I'm a firm believer in that one. I learned it the hard way. When I first started my career, I was a consultant. When I jumped off into startups, I honestly really struggled. The first couple years were pretty bad, because I was not a very good manager. It took a while to realize that the needs of people from different backgrounds and different skill sets, even different functions, were vastly different, and that if I wanted my startup to survive and thrive, during some really hard times, it was going to be all about whether or not I could not only get of buy in on the direction we were going, but I could get people understanding why this was beneficial for them and find ways to help people see and understand each other better so that we can make the trade offs we need to make together as a team. That's what builds real loyalty to an organization, but it's also what builds better outcomes. Honestly, it makes people's lives better.” - Brian Elliott

In this episode of Control the Room, I had the pleasure of speaking with Brian Elliott about his career as an Executive and Future Of Work thought leader.  He starts with reflections on how he’d like to influence the future of work.  Later, Brian discusses the importance of building a source of understanding between people.  We also discuss how somewhere in every organization there’s a pocket of people doing things differently and getting better results.  Listen in for insights like why we should look at the principles by which we’d like to behave and start from there before change redesign.

“We need more people being of service. And it's not just the appointed tech host, it's their responsibility. You could have teams of people where they know all of these skills, they're going to function better as a team because they know how to behave this way. But I think still there aren't enough tech hosts or service-minded people in these meetings to be able to do that.” - Heather Martinez

In this episode of Control the Room, I had the pleasure of speaking with Heather Martinez about her career serving clients with graphic recording and facilitation tech help.  She starts with how her experience graphic recording led to her new business.  Later, Heather discusses why it’s important to create your own graphic style.  We then discuss how our views have an impact on how wwe show up in the world.  Listen in for tips you can learn from calligraphers, sign painters, and graphic artists.  

“Winston Environments tell us how to behave. Others in the environment reinforce the messages given by the physical space.” -Rob Evans

In this episode of Control the Room, I had the pleasure of speaking with Howard Kincaide about his long career in Product Leadership.  He starts with how his nature to always be making things served him throughout his career.  Later, Howard discusses his long journey introducing teams to Lean Product Development Methods.  We then discuss using cultural values to create high performing teams.  Listen in for more tips on how to create change within any organization.

“Winston Churchill said something like, "We create our buildings and then our buildings create us." So we are deeply influenced by our environment. This species didn't evolve except by paying very careful attention to what's going on around us. Because we're not that fast, we don't have good teeth, we had to be pretty attentive to our environment to even survive. Well, we're still those creatures. We're still very attentive to even subtle cues in our environment. Environments tell us how to behave. Others in the environment, reinforce the messages given by the physical space.” -Rob Evans

In this episode of Control the Room, I had the pleasure of speaking with Rob Evans about his experience designing and leading collaborative workshops to help leaders align and mobilize their teams to successfully tackle complex challenges.  He starts with how a his background at studying at the Harvard Divinity School led to management counsulting.  Later, Rob discusses the importance of where we work and how it influences how we work.  We then discuss collaboration at scale.  Listen in for more tips in how to teach design collaboration at scale.

“When you look at what's happening with the population, boomers aren't getting any younger and they've got plenty of discretionary income and a lot of the solutions that are out there aren't very friendly feeling to that population. And it's hard to design for a group that you've never been a part of or that you don't know anything about. It became really important to me to be part of teams where there was a wide variety, not just of backgrounds and races and genders and that sort of thing, but also across the age spectrum that you had people who had lived experience of all of the customers that we might be facing, not just the ones who looked like us.” -Jennifer Houlihan

In this episode of Control the Room, I had the pleasure of speaking with Jennifer Houlihan about her experience transitioning into the UX Design industry later in her career and teaching other adult learners.  She starts with how a project working at a local Non Profit exposed her up to UX Design.  Later, Jennifer discusses the importance of lifelong learning and keeping a beginners mindset.  We then discuss how and why to include play at work and while learning.  Listen in for tips on how to activate different learning models for your students and yourself.