Podcasts about stakeholders

Data and AI are everywhere right now, but most teams are still guessing where to start. In this episode, Cameran Hetrick, VP of Data and Insights at BetterUp, breaks down what actually works when you move from AI hype to real business impact. You will hear a practical way to choose AI and analytics projects, how to spot low risk wins, and why clean, governed data still decides what is possible. Cameran also shares a simple mindset shift, stop copying broken workflows, and start rethinking the outcome you are trying to create.Key Takeaways• AI is a catchall term right now, the best early wins usually come from “assist” use cases that boost speed and quality, not full replacement• Start with low context, low complexity work, then earn your way into higher context projects as data quality and governance mature• Pick use cases with an impact versus effort lens, quick wins create proof, buy in, and budget for bigger bets• Stakeholders often ask for a data point or feature, but the real value comes from digging into the goal, and redesigning the workflow• Data teams cannot stop at insights, adoption matters, if the next team cannot act on the output, the project stallsTimestamped Highlights00:40 BetterUp's mission, building a human transformation platform for peak performance01:57 AI as a “catchall,” where expectations are realistic, and where they are not05:19 A useful way to think about AI work, context versus complexity, and why “intern level” framing helps07:33 How to choose projects with an impact and level of effort calculator, and why trust in data is everything10:33 The hard part, translating stakeholder requests into real outcomes, and reimagining workflows instead of automating bad ones13:47 Systems thinking across handoffs, plus why teams need deeper business fluency, including P and L basics16:59 The last mile problem, if the next stakeholder cannot act, the value never lands20:27 The bottom line, AI does not change the fundamentals, it accelerates themA Line Worth Saving“AI is like an intern, it still needs direction from somebody who understands the mechanics of the business.” Practical Moves You Can Use• Run every idea through two quick questions, what business impact do we expect, and what level of effort will it take• Look for a win you can explain in one minute, then use it to fund the harder work• When someone asks for a metric or feature, ask why twice, then validate the workflow, then redesign the outcome• Invest in governed data early, untrusted outputs kill adoption fastCall to ActionIf this episode helped you think more clearly about AI in the real world, follow the show, leave a quick review, and share it with one operator who is trying to move from experiments to impact. You can also follow Amir on LinkedIn for more clips and practical notes from each episode.

THE ORIGINS OF CORPORATE RADICALIZATION AND STAKEHOLDER CAPITALISM Colleague Charles Gasparino, Fox Business correspondent and author of Go Woke, Go Broke. Gasparino discusses his book Go Woke, Go Broke, tracing the origins of corporate radicalization to the 2008 financial crisis and the rise of ESG and DEIinitiatives. He explains how asset managers like BlackRock's Larry Fink embraced "stakeholder capitalism" to enforce progressive changes while seeking profit and social adulation. NUMBER 1

Wenn das Kernprodukt der Sparkassen – das Girokonto – zur Commodity wird und Neo-Banken sich um die gleichen Neukunden bemühen, braucht es mehr als nur ein neues Feature. Es braucht echte Mehrwerte.Eine der größten strategischen Kooperationen im deutschen Markt – nicht mehr und nicht weniger sezieren Olli & Martin in dieser Folge gemeinsam mit: André Pallinger (S-Markt & Mehrwert – einer der zentralen Dienstleister der Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe) und Florian Wolfframm (PAYBACK). Es geht darum, wie zwei Giganten (rund 40 Mio. Sparkassen-Kund:innen und rund 35 Mio. Payback-Nutzer:innen) zusammenarbeiten, um Loyalty direkt auf die Bezahlkarte zu bringen – und zwar mit weniger technischen Hürden für User und Handel.Die vier diskutieren, wie man ein solches Monster-Projekt steuert: Von der technischen Standardsetzung auf der Girocard bis zur kulturellen Arbeit, hunderte unabhängige Institute nicht zu zwingen, sondern ihr freiwilliges Commitment zu bekommen. Ein Deep Dive in Plattform-Ökonomie, Change Management und den Kampf um die digitale Kundenschnittstelle.Themen unter anderem:(00:17:20) Kooperation: strategische Bedeutung(00:27:50) Komplexität: Stakeholder(00:38:50) Regionalität: Eigendynamik(00:43:10) Dezentralität als VorteilLinkedIn:→ André Pallinger→ Florian Wolfframm→ Olli Busch→ Martin Boeing-MessingKeywords: Multi-Partner-Bonusprogramm, Girocard-Standard, One-Step-Checkout, Terminal-Netzbetreiber, Händler-Onboarding, Plattformgeschäft, Vorteilsökonomie, Adoption-Strategie, Roadshow-Kommunikation, Change-Enablement, Local Commerce Enablement, U30-Gewinnung, Nutzungsrate, Registrierung, Mehrwertkonto Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Steve Martin: When a Distributed Team's Energy Vanishes into the Virtual Void Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes.   "They weren't a team, they were a group of individuals working on multiple different projects." - Vasco Duarte (describing Steve's team situation)   The infrastructure team looked promising on paper: Product Owner in Italy, hardware engineers in Budapest, software engineers in Bucharest, designers in the UK. The team started with energy and enthusiasm, but within a month, something shifted. People stopped showing up for daily stand-ups. Cameras went dark during meetings. Engagement in retrospectives withered. This wasn't just about being distributed—plenty of teams work across time zones successfully. The problem ran deeper. The Scrum Master had a conflict of interest, serving dual roles as both facilitator and engineer. Team members were simultaneously juggling three or four other projects, treating this work as just another item on an impossibly long list. Steve spent a couple of months watching the deterioration before recognizing the root cause: there was no leadership sponsorship or buy-in. Stakeholders weren't invested. The team wasn't actually a team—they were individuals happening to work on the same project. Steve considers this a failure because he couldn't solve it. Sometimes, the absence of organizational support creates an unsolvable puzzle. Without leadership commitment, even the most skilled Scrum Master can't manufacture the conditions for team success.   In this episode, we refer to The Phoenix Project by Gene Kim, a book about organizational culture disguised as a DevOps novel.   Self-reflection Question: Is your team truly dedicated to one mission, or are they a collection of individuals spread across competing priorities? Featured Book of the Week: The Phoenix Project by Gene Kim "There's a lot of good lightning bulb moments that go off." - Steve Martin   Steve describes The Phoenix Project as a book about culture, not just DevOps. Written like a novel following a mock company, it creates continuous light bulb moments for readers. The book resonated deeply with Steve because it exposed patterns he'd experienced firsthand—particularly the anti-pattern of single points of failure. Steve had worked with an engineer who would spend entire weekends doing releases, holding everything in his head, then burning out and taking three days off to recover. This engineer was the bottleneck, the single point of failure that put the entire system at risk. The Phoenix Project illuminates how knowledge hoarding and dependency on individuals creates organizational fragility. The solution isn't just technical—it's cultural. Teams need to share knowledge and understanding, deliberately de-risking the concentration of expertise in one person's mind. Steve recommends this book for anyone trying to understand why organizational transformation requires more than process changes—it demands a fundamental shift in how teams think about knowledge, risk, and collaboration.   [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

Part 1 of 2025's end-of-year special features Mark Fallon, President and CEO of the Berkshire Company, and Cathy Morrow Roberson, Founder at Logistics Trends & Insights. Mark Fallon discusses news from the US postal sector, including: The new USPS Postmaster General and his vision for the postal service Industry reaction to the new PMG Leveraging the USPS post office and last mile networks USPS Board of Governors update Letter volume trends Stakeholder resources Cathy Morrow Roberson discusses developments in heavy and bulk last mile delivery: Trends in outsourcing vs insourcing of delivery Value added services Case studies of Tractor Supply, Costco, Wayfair Big and bulky returns  

Listen now on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube.—Wolfram is a Senior UX Designer and Researcher and has been working at TeamViewer for eight years.He has been driving and advancing UX Research at the company for nearly two years, developing it further together with a young but highly talented and motivated team. He has been deeply involved with Jobs-to-Be-Done for over a decade and considers himself a pragmatic JTBD practitioner.Before joining TeamViewer, he spent almost ten years in the Enterprise Content Management space and have been focusing on Multi-Device Experiences since the mid-2010s. He is the author of “Multiscreen UX Design” and has been passionately engaged in UX and design for around 25 years. His expertise lies in Jobs-to-Be-Done, hands-on and pragmatic UX research, as well as content design and content management. He regularly and enthusiastically participates in webinars, meetups, and conferences.Beyond UX and design, he enjoys photography, particularly nature and bird photography, and loves spending time with his family. In the past, he was an avid groundhopper, traveling across Europe with friends to attend football matches.In our conversation, we discuss:* Why it helps to think of every user action as a “job” with a real outcome, not just a task or step.* The messy overlap between jobs, goals, use cases, and what stakeholders think they want.* Why most teams start in the solution space and how to bring Jobs thinking in without derailing the train.* What an actual “job” sounds like in the wild, and how to spot one inside complaints, workarounds, and feature requests.* Why Wolfram keeps outcome-driven language like “minimize the time it takes to…” as a rule and how it makes your findings way more usable.Some takeaways:* Jobs to Be Done is a lens. Wolfram doesn't wait for permission to use JTBD thinking. Whether he's asked for a usability test or feedback on a feature, he still pulls out the job behind it. Why? Because understanding the job gives you reusable insights that don't die with the feature.* Stop obsessing over the perfect term. Stakeholders just need to get it. Wolfram avoids technical jargon like “JTBD” when introducing the concept. He uses terms they already know, like “use cases” or “problems,” so they're not thrown off. The focus is clarity, not vocabulary.* Your users are already giving you jobs, you just have to listen for them. Complaints, feature requests, emails, even rants. All of these hold clues about what someone was trying to do. If you dig in with curiosity (and a few “tell me more”s), you can usually find the real goal underneath the noise.* Do it late if you must but do it anyway. Sometimes research doesn't happen until the build is already underway. That doesn't mean you skip the problem space. Wolfram brings in JTBD insights midstream, not to stop the train, but to nudge it toward stronger value delivery and set up better decisions next time.* Your feature might flop but your jobs research won't go to waste. If the solution turns out to be unworkable or doesn't land, you don't have to throw away the research. JTBD insights stay valid. They're reusable, solution-agnostic, and can fuel the next iteration or a totally new idea.Where to find Wolfram:* Multiscreen UX Design (book)* Website* LinkedIn* Twitter/XStop piecing it together. Start leading the work.The Everything UXR Bundle is for researchers who are tired of duct-taping free templates and second-guessing what good looks like.You get my complete set of toolkits, templates, and strategy guides. used by teams across Google, Spotify, , to run credible research, influence decisions, and actually grow in your role.It's built to save you time, raise your game, and make you the person people turn to—not around.→ Save 140+ hours a year with ready-to-use templates and frameworks→ Boost productivity by 40% with tools that cut admin and sharpen your focus→ Increase research adoption by 50% through clearer, faster, more strategic deliveryInterested in sponsoring the podcast?Interested in sponsoring or advertising on this podcast? I'm always looking to partner with brands and businesses that align with my audience. Book a call or email me at nikki@userresearchacademy.com to learn more about sponsorship opportunities!The views and opinions expressed by the guests on this podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views, positions, or policies of the host, the podcast, or any affiliated organizations or sponsors. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.userresearchstrategist.com/subscribe

Today, we’re looking at the data behind the headlines. David Widmar, managing partner at Agricultural Economic Insights, breaks down trends in the farm economy to help producers and others in the industry align with the current market conditions. One of the headlines we discuss today: How do data centers or renewable energy arrays fit in the ag landscape? The U.S. agricultural land market is entering a period of “cooling,” Widmar explains. While land values remain stable for now, he warns that a combination of high interest rates and tightening profit margins may soon force a market adjustment. Stakeholders weigh the rising demand for renewable energy against shifting economic realities.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Christian Horner is set to become Alpine's major stakeholder and leader of the team, according to the normally very reliable Auto Motor und Sport. Horner leads a consortium of investors that will purchase a majority stake in Alpine for almost 800 million euro's in the coming days, according to the report.

What if the real growth problem isn't strategy… but misalignment? In this episode, Frankie Russo, the Founder of The Growth Co and bestselling author of "Breaking Why",  breaks down what it takes to create growth that compounds—without relying on charisma, hustle, or a one-time "big moment" on stage. Frankie makes a clean distinction: a book is a platform, not the mission. Thought leadership is the movement behind the platforms—and the work is designing ideas that change behavior and drive measurable outcomes. A core idea he returns to is stakeholder-first growth. Customers, colleagues, and community aren't "nice-to-haves." They're the scoreboard. Frankie argues that great companies rise or fall based on one thing: how radically aligned they are to delivering their "collective genius" to those stakeholders. Then he gets tactical about scale. Keynotes can jolt people awake—an inflection point that "shakes them out of the trance." But the keynote is only the tip of the spear. The real lever is what happens after: systems people can use every day. Frankie walks through his Growth Operating System using a simple visual: an infinity loop built to replace the "stagnation spiral." Denial. Status quo. Silos. Rigid processes. Disengagement. His point is blunt: if growth isn't operationalized, it decays—so the work is building an engine for continuous inflection points, not a single heroic turnaround. And he's candid about the craft of thought leadership delivery. The hardest part of a great keynote isn't what you include. It's what you cut—so you can land the right ideas, in the right dose, and drive adoption after the applause. Three Key Takeaways: • A keynote is the spark, not the solution. The talk can create an inflection point, but the value comes from what you operationalize afterward—tools, habits, and routines people can actually use day-to-day. • Stakeholder-first alignment drives scalable growth. Frankie keeps coming back to aligning the organization's "collective genius" around delivering outcomes for stakeholders (customers, team, community). Misalignment is what creates drag and stalls momentum. • If growth isn't systemized, it decays. His "infinity loop" / Growth Operating System idea is about replacing the stagnation spiral (silos, rigid processes, disengagement) with a repeatable engine for continuous improvement and ongoing inflection points. If Frankie Russo's message hit home—growth needs an operating system, not a motivational moment—your next listen is "Creating Alignment Between Marketing and Sales" with Winston Henderson. It's the same fight against silos, just aimed at the part of the business where misalignment quietly kills revenue: the handoff between marketing and sales. Listen to Winston right after this episode and you'll connect the dots between alignment as a leadership principle and alignment as a revenue discipline. Frankie gives you the "why" and the operating rhythm for sustainable growth. Winston gives you the "how" to make that rhythm real across teams—shared language, shared priorities, and shared measures—so your thought leadership doesn't just inspire… it converts.

Rebranding a company is rarely neat, and James Clark makes that clear in this conversation. He talks through the pressure of changing a long established name, the internal tension that came with it and the need to build something that reflects future ambition rather than past comfort. His breakdown of stakeholder alignment, intellectual coherence and disciplined decision making gives founders a practical view of how to manage identity change at scale. It is a calm and honest look at the work behind a brand that now represents a fast growing venture capital firm with global reach.Guest note:James Clark is the Marketing Director at Molten Ventures, known for leading one of the most complex rebrands in European venture capital.Key TakeawaysA rebrand must reflect where the organisation is going, not where it has been.Stakeholder alignment matters more than visual design.Intellectual coherence gives a brand long term strength.Risk is part of the process but it must be managed with structure and clarity.

In dieser Folge zeigt Gabriele Trachsel, warum Führungsfehler im Projekt selten Zufall sind – und oft genau dort entstehen, wo Klarheit fehlt.Sie nimmt Sie mit in typische Situationen: unklare Erwartungen, unausgesprochene Konflikte, Mikromanagement, fehlendes Feedback und Stakeholder, die zu spät eingebunden werden.Sie erfahren:

In this launch episode of What's at Stake, partner Andrea Christianson sits down with Penta colleagues Dan La Russo, Lauren Wolfson, and Lloyd Miller to debut Penta AI, the firm's new practice built to help organizations understand, anticipate, and act in an era reshaped by artificial intelligence. Together, they unpack why Penta created this Practice, what makes its approach different, and how AI is transforming the way organizations manage reputation, govern emerging technologies, and scale their engagement strategies. They also preview some of the early tools coming out of Penta's Innovation & Build Lab, including work in agentic systems, synthetic message testing, and Penta's GenAI Reputation Audit. The conversation offers an inside look at how Penta is blending stakeholder intelligence, active learning systems, and applied AI to help leaders succeed in a rapidly shifting environment.

Ziel dieser Präsentation ist es, die Entwicklung der vergangenen 18 Jahre strukturiert zu reflektieren, zentrale Meilensteine und Ergebnisse zu dokumentieren sowie wesentliche Herausforderungen und daraus abgeleitete Erkenntnisse darzustellen. Auf dieser Basis wird ein kurzer Ausblick auf die strategische Ausrichtung der kommenden Jahre gegeben. Die Inhalte sind entlang einer klaren Agenda aufgebaut und dienen der einheitlichen Transparenz für alle relevanten Stakeholder. Mitschnitt von unserer Jubiläumsparty am 29. März 2025. Wenn Euer Podcatcher das kann, könnt ihr die Folien beim Hören sehen.

The NDP government tried to throttle opposition to a drug use site slated for the North Logan neighbourhood by scheduling only one in-person meet-up. Episode 59 explains what they heard at two more hastily-added sessions this week. (Sorry for the blizzard delay!)Part 1- In November, Winnipeg Free Press columnist Dan Lett criticized neighborhood opposition to the first proposed location for a safe consumption site east of Main Street because "they make them safer and cleaner." His uninformed opinion clearly failed to sway the residents and businesses west of Main Street, who have voiced significant concern about the unsafe conditions already tolerated by elected officials and police around 366 Henry Avenue, where Wab Kinew now wants to open an SCS. In fact, the experiences they described last week and again this week demonstrate how proponents of enabling users of drugs like fentanyl and meth are killing the viability of Winnipeg's core area with suicidal empathy. At Monday night's public meeting, Housing and Addictions Minister Bernadette Smith- who is MLA for the area- showed how disconnected she is from the reality her constituents live with, as she claimed "We are focused on safety and security in the community. Police will be there to make sure enforcement is happening." Ed Gallos, owner of the roofing company next door to the proposed SCS, rebuked her: "I'm not very confident in the Winnipeg Police Service... we have to barricade our business, we look like a bunker from the Second World War."You'll hear the comments and questions voiced at the Chinese Cultural Centre by people who have suffered repeated serious violent incidents with no meaningful response by Winnipeg Police or the Winnipeg Police Board. 13.40 Part 2- The North Logan community held their own meeting on Tuesday night at Pampanga Hall across from 366 Henry. Stakeholders, which includes industrial, food services, and child program facilities, continued to press Smith and project operators, the Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre, for substantive answers to their safety concerns. This isn't 'NIMBYism' as Kate Kehler of the ultra-leftist Social Planning Council insinuated- it's democracy.17.30-Listen to Bernadette Smith tell the meeting "this is meant to bring the crime levels down." Yet a businessman pointed out that as Siloam Mission has expanded and line-ups outside have quadrupled, social disorder has not been addressed, with officials not even ensuring there are bathroom facilities for the indigent. Instead, cleaning up the human waste left in nearby doorways and on properties became the responsibility of the affected private citizens. The resulting tensions have community members who confront the derelicts wandering through their yards and using it as a toilet fearing for their safety. There's only so much mayhem and disorder that can be inflicted on a neighborhood. Somehow, despite being their MLA, Smith had nothing to offer aside from "I'm sorry." 27.50 - Unreported by the media in attendance, WPS Inspector Helen Peters answered a question about her opinion if the SCS "will make the area safer." We have the audio of her shocking reply, which no doubt ruined Dan Lett's Xmas. ******Catch up on Marty Gold's columns in the Winnipeg Sun- Dec 10- North Logan neighborhood demands answers to safe consumption site concerns   https://www.winnipegsun.com/opinion/gold-north-logan-neighbourhood-demands-answers-to-safe-consumption-site-concerns/article_32e5e23b-dce4-46a8-b811-c1b4800f590b.htmlDec 14- Survey says Winnipeg Metropolitan Region fumbleslatest public pollhttps://www.winnipegsun.com/gold-survey-says-winnipeg-metropolitan-region-fumbles-latest-public-poll/article_c8fd78eb-0d97-47d9-af04-1edafcf2b6cb.htmlDec 17- Anhart's big plans for affordablehousing in Winnipeghttps://www.winnipegsun.com/opinion/gold-anharts-big-plans-for-affordable-housing-in-winnipeg/article_42efee06-df8d-49f0-9ee8-d161b68f26a2.html

Expert Topic: A way forward for weed: Stakeholders unveil blueprint to fix SA's cannabis chaos - Guest: Albertus van Jaarsveldt: Spokesperson, South African Cannabis Club Alliance

Greenhushing, Communication, and Stakeholder Engagement for Endowments with Lane Jost In this crossover episode of The Future of Finance and Beyond Carbon, hosts Georges Dyer and Chris Ito sit down with Lane Jost, Head of Sustainability & Governance Advisory at Edelman Smithfield, for a candid conversation about the evolving ESG and sustainable investing landscape. Lane traces the arc of ESG from its “1.0” early days to today's politically charged environment, unpacking the dynamics of greenwashing, greenhushing, regulatory risk, and the often-confusing language that shapes public perception. They examine what this moment means for endowments, asset managers, and campus stakeholders, and discuss Edelman Smithfield's work with endowments on strategic communications strategies. Ultimately, the episode balances realism about political headwinds with optimism about market innovation, improved governance, and the long-term trajectory toward resilience and value creation. Guest Lane Jost – Head of Sustainability & Governance Advisory at Edelman Smithfield Background Lane Jost leads the Sustainability & Governance Advisory Practice at Edelman Smithfield, bringing 16 years of sustainability leadership across facilities management, financial services, and consulting. Previously, he served on PwC's national Responsible Business Leadership team, contributing to the firm's global net zero strategy. Lane has held senior ESG roles at Santander US and Sodexo USA, developing sustainability strategies and managing significant grant portfolios. He holds degrees from UC San Diego and Kenyon College. Conversation Green Hushing May Actually Be Beneficial - The pullback from aggressive ESG marketing forces organizations to focus on substance over rhetoric, emphasizing rigorous processes and how ESG factors genuinely drive value and risk management. ESG Terminology Will Evolve, But Core Principles Remain - While "ESG" may fade within 3-5 years, evaluating material environmental, social, and governance factors remains fundamental to investment decisions regardless of political climate or terminology changes. Communications Must Align With Portfolio Management Reality - Strategic communications should be conservative, transparent, and grounded in fiduciary stewardship. Avoid making unvalidated claims, particularly given emerging regulatory risks around greenwashing in multiple jurisdictions. Context Matters: One Size Doesn't Fit All - Appropriate approaches vary by institution. Small liberal arts colleges have more latitude for impact investing, while large state universities face greater scrutiny. Mission and stakeholder context determine strategy. Educational Institutions Have Unique Teaching Opportunities - Universities should engage students in real-world discussions about balancing financial constraints, stakeholder pressures, climate risks, and portfolio construction—providing invaluable practical experience beyond traditional classroom learning.  

Phil Walker CBE is Chair of Council at the University of Roehampton and member of the England & Wales Cricket Board. Formerly, he was COO at Capgemini. Tune in to hear his thoughts on: Phil's journey into the boardroom (02:02) How university governance differs from corporate (03:15) Key stakeholders for higher education boards (04:23) Heuristics Phil uses to understand university boards (05:30) Key data points every education board should look at (07:45) Three defining moments that most shape how Phil operates as a board member (11:25) Lessons in crisis management from Covid (15:08) The role of summation in effective chairing (16:56) Why Phil thinks boards need to become less formal and more human (21:19) The board's role in ethical decisions - why Roehampton banned fossil fuel companies from career fairs (26:04) How Phil's thinking about AI (32:06) Advice for university board candidates (34:58)  How Phil thinks about board composition (36:40)⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(38:10)Host: Oliver Cummings Producer: Will Felton Editor: Penelope Coumau Music: Kate Mac Audio: Nick Kold Email: podcast@nurole.com Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

TLDR: It was Claude :-)When I set out to compare ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, and ChatPRD for writing Product Requirement Documents, I figured they'd all be roughly equivalent. Maybe some subtle variations in tone or structure, but nothing earth-shattering. They're all built on similar transformer architectures, trained on massive datasets, and marketed as capable of handling complex business writing.What I discovered over 45 minutes of hands-on testing revealed not just which tools are better for PRD creation, but why they're better, and more importantly, how you should actually be using AI to accelerate your product work without sacrificing quality or strategic thinking.If you're an early or mid-career PM in Silicon Valley, this matters to you. Because here's the uncomfortable truth: your peers are already using AI to write PRDs, analyze features, and generate documentation. The question isn't whether to use these tools. The question is whether you're using the right ones most effectively.So let me walk you through exactly what I did, what I learned, and what you should do differently.The Setup: A Real-World Test CaseHere's how I structured the experiment. As I said at the beginning of my recording, “We are back in the Fireside PM podcast and I did that review of the ChatGPT browser and people seemed to like it and then I asked, uh, in a poll, I think it was a LinkedIn poll maybe, what should my next PM product review be? And, people asked for ChatPRD.”So I had my marching orders from the audience. But I wanted to make this more comprehensive than just testing ChatPRD in isolation. I opened up five tabs: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, and ChatPRD.For the test case, I chose something realistic and relevant: an AI-powered tutor for high school students. Think KhanAmigo or similar edtech platforms. This gave me a concrete product scenario that's complex enough to stress-test these tools but straightforward enough that I could iterate quickly.But here's the critical part that too many PMs get wrong when they start using AI for product work: I didn't just throw a single sentence at these tools and expect magic.The “Back of the Napkin” Approach: Why You Still Need to Think“I presume everybody agrees that you should have some formulated thinking before you dump it into the chatbot for your PRD,” I noted early in my experiment. “I suppose in the future maybe you could just do, like, a one-sentence prompt and come out with the perfect PRD because it would just know everything about you and your company in the context, but for now we're gonna do this more, a little old-school AI approach where we're gonna do some original human thinking.”This is crucial. I see so many PMs, especially those newer to the field, treat AI like a magic oracle. They type in “Write me a PRD for a social feature” and then wonder why the output is generic, unfocused, and useless.Your job as a PM isn't to become obsolete. It's to become more effective. And that means doing the strategic thinking work that AI cannot do for you.So I started in Google Docs with what I call a “back of the napkin” PRD structure. Here's what I included:Why: The strategic rationale. In this case: “Want to complement our existing edtech business with a personalized AI tutor, uh, want to maintain position industry, and grow through innovation. on mission for learners.”Target User: Who are we building for? “High school students interested in improving their grades and fundamentals. Fundamental knowledge topics. Specifically science and math. Students who are not in the top ten percent, nor in the bottom ten percent.”This is key—I got specific. Not just “students,” but students in the middle 80%. Not just “any subject,” but science and math. This specificity is what separates useful AI output from garbage.Problem to Solve: What's broken? “Students want better grades. Students are impatient. Students currently use AI just for finding the answers and less to, uh, understand concepts and practice using them.”Key Elements: The feature set and approach.Success Metrics: How we'd measure success.Now, was this a perfectly polished PRD outline? Hell no. As you can see from my transcript, I was literally thinking out loud, making typos, restructuring on the fly. But that's exactly the point. I put in maybe 10-15 minutes of human strategic thinking. That's all it took to create a foundation that would dramatically improve what came out of the AI tools.Round One: Generating the Full PRDWith my back-of-the-napkin outline ready, I copied it into each tool with a simple prompt asking them to expand it into a more complete PRD.ChatGPT: The Reliable GeneralistChatGPT gave me something that was... fine. Competent. Professional. But also deeply uninspiring.The document it produced checked all the boxes. It had the sections you'd expect. The writing was clear. But when I read it, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was reading something that could have been written for literally any product in any company. It felt like “an average of everything out there,” as I noted in my evaluation.Here's what ChatGPT did well: It understood the basic structure of a PRD. It generated appropriate sections. The grammar and formatting were clean. If you needed to hand something in by EOD and had literally no time for refinement, ChatGPT would save you from complete embarrassment.But here's what it lacked: Depth. Nuance. Strategic thinking that felt connected to real product decisions. When it described the target user, it used phrases that could apply to any edtech product. When it outlined success metrics, they were the obvious ones (engagement, retention, test scores) without any interesting thinking about leading indicators or proxy metrics.The problem with generic output isn't that it's wrong, it's that it's invisible. When you're trying to get buy-in from leadership or alignment from engineering, you need your PRD to feel specific, considered, and connected to your company's actual strategy. ChatGPT's output felt like it was written by someone who'd read a lot of PRDs but never actually shipped a product.One specific example: When I asked for success metrics, ChatGPT gave me “Student engagement rate, Time spent on platform, Test score improvement.” These aren't wrong, but they're lazy. They don't show any thinking about what specifically matters for an AI tutor versus any other educational product. Compare that to Claude's output, which got more specific about things like “concept mastery rate” and “question-to-understanding ratio.”Actionable Insight: Use ChatGPT when you need fast, serviceable documentation that doesn't need to be exceptional. Think: internal updates, status reports, routine communications. Don't rely on it for strategic documents where differentiation matters. If you do use ChatGPT for important documents, treat its output as a starting point that needs significant human refinement to add strategic depth and company-specific context.Gemini: Better Than ExpectedGoogle's Gemini actually impressed me more than I anticipated. The structure was solid, and it had a nice balance of detail without being overwhelming.What Gemini got right: The writing had a nice flow to it. The document felt organized and logical. It did a better job than ChatGPT at providing specific examples and thinking through edge cases. For instance, when describing the target user, it went beyond demographics to consider behavioral characteristics and motivations.Gemini also showed some interesting strategic thinking. It considered competitive positioning more thoughtfully than ChatGPT and proposed some differentiation angles that weren't in my original outline. Good AI tools should add insight, not just regurgitate your input with better formatting.But here's where it fell short: the visual elements. When I asked for mockups, Gemini produced images that looked more like stock photos than actual product designs. They weren't terrible, but they weren't compelling either. They had that AI-generated sheen that makes it obvious they came from an image model rather than a designer's brain.For a PRD that you're going to use internally with a team that already understands the context, Gemini's output would work well. The text quality is strong enough, and if you're in the Google ecosystem (Docs, Sheets, Meet, etc.), the integration is seamless. You can paste Gemini's output directly into Google Docs and continue iterating there.But if you need to create something compelling enough to win over skeptics or secure budget, Gemini falls just short. It's good, but not great. It's the solid B+ student: reliably competent but rarely exceptional.Actionable Insight: Gemini is a strong choice if you're working in the Google ecosystem and need good integration with Docs, Sheets, and other Google Workspace tools. The quality is sufficient for most internal documentation needs. It's particularly good if you're working with cross-functional partners who are already in Google Workspace. You can share and collaborate on AI-generated drafts without friction. But don't expect visual mockups that will wow anyone, and plan to add your own strategic polish for high-stakes documents.Grok: Not Ready for Prime TimeLet's just say my expectations were low, and Grok still managed to underdeliver. The PRD felt thin, generic, and lacked the depth you need for real product work.“I don't have high expectations for grok, unfortunately,” I said before testing it. Spoiler alert: my low expectations were validated.Actionable Insight: Skip Grok for product documentation work right now. Maybe it'll improve, but as of my testing, it's simply not competitive with the other options. It felt like 1-2 years behind the others.ChatPRD: The Specialized ToolNow this was interesting. ChatPRD is purpose-built for PRDs, using foundational models underneath but with specific tuning and structure for product documentation.The result? The structure was logical, the depth was appropriate, and it included elements that showed understanding of what actually matters in a PRD. As I reflected: “Cause this one feels like, A human wrote this PRD.”The interface guides you through the process more deliberately than just dumping text into a general chat interface. It asks clarifying questions. It structures the output more thoughtfully.Actionable Insight: If you're a technical lead without a dedicated PM, or you're a PM who wants a more structured approach to using AI for PRDs, ChatPRD is worth the specialized focus. It's particularly good when you need something that feels authentic enough to share with stakeholders without heavy editing.Claude: The Clear WinnerBut the standout performer, and I'm ranking these, was Claude.“I think we know that for now, I'm gonna say Claude did the best job,” I concluded after all the testing. Claude produced the most comprehensive, thoughtful, and strategically sound PRD. But what really set it apart were the concept mocks.When I asked each tool to generate visual mockups of the product, Claude produced HTML prototypes that, while not fully functional, looked genuinely compelling. They had thoughtful UI design, clear information architecture, and felt like something that could actually guide development.“They were, like, closer to, like, what a Lovable would produce or something like that,” I noted, referring to the quality of low-fidelity prototypes that good designers create.The text quality was also superior: more nuanced, better structured, and with more strategic depth. It felt like Claude understood not just what a PRD should contain, but why it should contain those elements.Actionable Insight: For any PRD that matters, meaning anything you'll share with leadership, use to get buy-in, or guide actual product development, you might as well start with Claude. The quality difference is significant enough that it's worth using Claude even if you primarily use another tool for other tasks.Final Rankings: The Definitive HierarchyAfter testing all five tools on multiple dimensions: initial PRD generation, visual mockups, and even crafting a pitch paragraph for a skeptical VP of Engineering, here's my final ranking:* Claude - Best overall quality, most compelling mockups, strongest strategic thinking* ChatPRD - Best for structured PRD creation, feels most “human”* Gemini - Solid all-around performance, good Google integration* ChatGPT - Reliable but generic, lacks differentiation* Grok - Not competitive for this use case“I'd probably say Claude, then chat PRD, then Gemini, then chat GPT, and then Grock,” I concluded.The Deeper Lesson: Garbage In, Garbage Out (Still Applies)But here's what matters more than which tool wins: the realization that hit me partway through this experiment.“I think it really does come down to, like, you know, the quality of the prompt,” I observed. “So if our prompt were a little more detailed, all that were more thought-through, then I'm sure the output would have been better. But as you can see we didn't really put in brain trust prompting here. Just a little bit of, kind of hand-wavy prompting, but a little better than just one or two sentences.”And we still got pretty good results.This is the meta-insight that should change how you approach AI tools in your product work: The quality of your input determines the quality of your output, but the baseline quality of the tool determines the ceiling of what's possible.No amount of great prompting will make Grok produce Claude-level output. But even mediocre prompting with Claude will beat great prompting with lesser tools.So the dual strategy is:* Use the best tool available (currently Claude for PRDs)* Invest in improving your prompting skills ideally with as much original and insightful human, company aware, and context aware thinking as possible.Real-World Workflows: How to Actually Use This in Your Day-to-Day PM WorkTheory is great. Here's how to incorporate these insights into your actual product management workflows.The Weekly Sprint Planning WorkflowEvery PM I know spends hours each week preparing for sprint planning. You need to refine user stories, clarify acceptance criteria, anticipate engineering questions, and align with design and data science. AI can compress this work significantly.Here's an example workflow:Monday morning (30 minutes):* Review upcoming priorities and open your rough notes/outline in Google Docs* Open Claude and paste your outline with this prompt:“I'm preparing for sprint planning. Based on these priorities [paste notes], generate detailed user stories with acceptance criteria. Format each as: User story, Business context, Technical considerations, Acceptance criteria, Dependencies, Open questions.”Monday afternoon (20 minutes):* Review Claude's output critically* Identify gaps, unclear requirements, or missing context* Follow up with targeted prompts:“The user story about authentication is too vague. Break it down into separate stories for: social login, email/password, session management, and password reset. For each, specify security requirements and edge cases.”Tuesday morning (15 minutes):* Generate mockups for any UI-heavy stories:“Create an HTML mockup for the login flow showing: landing page, social login options, email/password form, error states, and success redirect.”* Even if the HTML doesn't work perfectly, it gives your designers a starting pointBefore sprint planning (10 minutes):* Ask Claude to anticipate engineering questions:“Review these user stories as if you're a senior engineer. What questions would you ask? What concerns would you raise about technical feasibility, dependencies, or edge cases?”* This preparation makes you look thoughtful and helps the meeting run smoothlyTotal time investment: ~75 minutes. Typical time saved: 3-4 hours compared to doing this manually.The Stakeholder Alignment WorkflowGetting alignment from multiple stakeholders (product leadership, engineering, design, data science, legal, marketing) is one of the hardest parts of PM work. AI can help you think through different stakeholder perspectives and craft compelling communications for each.Here's how:Step 1: Map your stakeholders (10 minutes)Create a quick table in a doc:Stakeholder | Primary Concern | Decision Criteria | Likely Objections VP Product | Strategic fit, ROI | Company OKRs, market opportunity | Resource allocation vs other priorities VP Eng | Technical risk, capacity | Engineering capacity, tech debt | Complexity, unclear requirements Design Lead | User experience | User research, design principles | Timeline doesn't allow proper design process Legal | Compliance, risk | Regulatory requirements | Data privacy, user consent flowsStep 2: Generate stakeholder-specific communications (20 minutes)For each key stakeholder, ask Claude:“I need to pitch this product idea to [Stakeholder]. Based on this PRD, create a 1-page brief addressing their primary concern of [concern from your table]. Open with the specific value for them, address their likely objection of [objection], and close with a clear ask. Tone should be [professional/technical/strategic] based on their role.”Then you'll have customized one-pagers for your pre-meetings with each stakeholder, dramatically increasing your alignment rate.Step 3: Synthesize feedback (15 minutes)After gathering stakeholder input, ask Claude to help you synthesize:“I got the following feedback from stakeholders: [paste feedback]. Identify: (1) Common themes, (2) Conflicting requirements, (3) Legitimate concerns vs organizational politics, (4) Recommended compromises that might satisfy multiple parties.”This pattern-matching across stakeholder feedback is something AI does really well and saves you hours of mental processing.The Quarterly Planning WorkflowQuarterly or annual planning is where product strategy gets real. You need to synthesize market trends, customer feedback, technical capabilities, and business objectives into a coherent roadmap. AI can accelerate this dramatically.Six weeks before planning:* Start collecting input (customer interviews, market research, competitive analysis, engineering feedback)* Don't wait until the last minuteFour weeks before planning:Dump everything into Claude with this structure:“I'm creating our Q2 roadmap. Context:* Business objectives: [paste from leadership]* Customer feedback themes: [paste synthesis]* Technical capabilities/constraints: [paste from engineering]* Competitive landscape: [paste analysis]* Current product gaps: [paste from your analysis]Generate 5 strategic themes that could anchor our Q2 roadmap. For each theme:* Strategic rationale (how it connects to business objectives)* Key initiatives (2-3 major features/projects)* Success metrics* Resource requirements (rough estimate)* Risks and mitigations* Customer segments addressed”This gives you a strategic framework to react to rather than starting from a blank page.Three weeks before planning:Iterate on the most promising themes:“Deep dive on Theme 3. Generate:* Detailed initiative breakdown* Dependencies on platform/infrastructure* Phasing options (MVP vs full build)* Go-to-market considerations* Data requirements* Open questions requiring research”Two weeks before planning:Pressure-test your thinking:“Play devil's advocate on this roadmap. What are the strongest arguments against each initiative? What am I likely missing? What failure modes should I plan for?”This adversarial prompting forces you to strengthen weak points before your leadership reviews it.One week before planning:Generate your presentation:“Create an executive presentation for this roadmap. Structure: (1) Market context and strategic imperative, (2) Q2 themes and initiatives, (3) Expected outcomes and metrics, (4) Resource requirements, (5) Key risks and mitigations, (6) Success criteria for decision. Make it compelling but data-driven. Tone: confident but not overselling.”Then add your company-specific context, visual brand, and personal voice.The Customer Research WorkflowAI can't replace talking to customers, but it can help you prepare better questions, analyze feedback more systematically, and identify patterns faster.Before customer interviews:“I'm interviewing customers about [topic]. Generate:* 10 open-ended questions that avoid leading the witness* 5 follow-up questions for each main question* Common cognitive biases I should watch for* A framework for categorizing responses”This prep work helps you conduct better interviews.After interviews:“I conducted 15 customer interviews. Here are the key quotes: [paste anonymized quotes]. Identify:* Recurring themes and patterns* Surprising insights that contradict our assumptions* Segments with different needs* Implied needs customers didn't articulate directly* Recommended next steps for validation”AI is excellent at pattern-matching across qualitative data at scale.The Crisis Management WorkflowSomething broke. The site is down. Data was lost. A feature shipped with a critical bug. You need to move fast.Immediate response (5 minutes):“Critical incident. Details: [brief description]. Generate:* Incident classification (Sev 1-4)* Immediate stakeholders to notify* Draft customer communication (honest, apologetic, specific about what happened and what we're doing)* Draft internal communication for leadership* Key questions to ask engineering during investigation”Having these drafted in 5 minutes lets you focus on coordination and decision-making rather than wordsmithing.Post-incident (30 minutes):“Write a post-mortem based on this incident timeline: [paste timeline]. Include:* What happened (technical details)* Root cause analysis* Impact quantification (users affected, revenue impact, time to resolution)* What went well in our response* What could have been better* Specific action items with owners and deadlines* Process changes to prevent recurrence Tone: Blameless, focused on learning and improvement.”This gives you a strong first draft to refine with your team.Common Pitfalls: What Not to Do with AI in Product ManagementNow let's talk about the mistakes I see PMs making with AI tools. Pitfall #1: Treating AI Output as FinalThe biggest mistake is copy-pasting AI output directly into your PRD, roadmap presentation, or stakeholder email without critical review.The result? Documents that are grammatically perfect but strategically shallow. Presentations that sound impressive but don't hold up under questioning. Emails that are professionally worded but miss the subtext of organizational politics.The fix: Always ask yourself:* Does this reflect my actual strategic thinking, or generic best practices?* Would my CEO/engineering lead/biggest customer find this compelling and specific?* Are there company-specific details, customer insights, or technical constraints that only I know?* Does this sound like me, or like a robot?Add those elements. That's where your value as a PM comes through.Pitfall #2: Using AI as a Crutch Instead of a ToolSome PMs use AI because they don't want to think deeply about the product. They're looking for AI to do the hard work of strategy, prioritization, and trade-off analysis.This never works. AI can help you think more systematically, but it can't replace thinking.If you find yourself using AI to avoid wrestling with hard questions (”Should we build X or Y?” “What's our actual competitive advantage?” “Why would customers switch from the incumbent?”), you're using it wrong.The fix: Use AI to explore options, not to make decisions. Generate three alternatives, pressure-test each one, then use your judgment to decide. The AI can help you think through implications, but you're still the one choosing.Pitfall #3: Not IteratingGetting mediocre AI output and just accepting it is a waste of the technology's potential.The PMs who get exceptional results from AI are the ones who iterate. They generate an initial response, identify what's weak or missing, and ask follow-up questions. They might go through 5-10 iterations on a key section of a PRD.Each iteration is quick (30 seconds to type a follow-up prompt, 30 seconds to read the response), but the cumulative effect is dramatically better output.The fix: Budget time for iteration. Don't try to generate a complete, polished PRD in one prompt. Instead, generate a rough draft, then spend 30 minutes iterating on specific sections that matter most.Pitfall #4: Ignoring the Political and Human ContextAI tools have no understanding of organizational politics, interpersonal relationships, or the specific humans you're working with.They don't know that your VP of Engineering is burned out and skeptical of any new initiatives. They don't know that your CEO has a personal obsession with a specific competitor. They don't know that your lead designer is sensitive about not being included early enough in the process.If you use AI-generated communications without layering in this human context, you'll create perfectly worded documents that land badly because they miss the subtext.The fix: After generating AI content, explicitly ask yourself: “What human context am I missing? What relationships do I need to consider? What political dynamics are in play?” Then modify the AI output accordingly.Pitfall #5: Over-Relying on a Single ToolDifferent AI tools have different strengths. Claude is great for strategic depth, ChatPRD is great for structure, Gemini integrates well with Google Workspace.If you only ever use one tool, you're missing opportunities to leverage different strengths for different tasks.The fix: Keep 2-3 tools in your toolkit. Use Claude for important PRDs and strategic documents. Use Gemini for quick internal documentation that needs to integrate with Google Docs. Use ChatPRD when you want more guided structure. Match the tool to the task.Pitfall #6: Not Fact-Checking AI OutputAI tools hallucinate. They make up statistics, misrepresent competitors, and confidently state things that aren't true. If you include those hallucinations in a PRD that goes to leadership, you look incompetent.The fix: Fact-check everything, especially:* Statistics and market data* Competitive feature claims* Technical capabilities and limitations* Regulatory and compliance requirementsIf the AI cites a number or makes a factual claim, verify it independently before including it in your document.The Meta-Skill: Prompt Engineering for PMsLet's zoom out and talk about the underlying skill that makes all of this work: prompt engineering.This is a real skill. The difference between a mediocre prompt and a great prompt can be 10x difference in output quality. And unlike coding or design, where there's a steep learning curve, prompt engineering is something you can get good at quickly.Principle 1: Provide Context Before InstructionsBad prompt:“Write a PRD for an AI tutor”Good prompt:“I'm a PM at an edtech company with 2M users, primarily high school students. We're exploring an AI tutor feature to complement our existing video content library and practice problems. Our main competitors are Khan Academy and Course Hero. Our differentiation is personalized learning paths based on student performance data.Write a PRD for an AI tutor feature targeting students in the middle 80% academically who struggle with science and math.”The second prompt gives Claude the context it needs to generate something specific and strategic rather than generic.Principle 2: Specify Format and ConstraintsBad prompt:“Generate success metrics”Good prompt:“Generate 5-7 success metrics for this feature. Include a mix of:* Leading indicators (early signals of success)* Lagging indicators (definitive success measures)* User behavior metrics* Business impact metricsFor each metric, specify: name, definition, target value, measurement method, and why it matters.”The structure you provide shapes the structure you get back.Principle 3: Ask for Multiple OptionsBad prompt:“What should our Q2 priorities be?”Good prompt:“Generate 3 different strategic approaches for Q2:* Option A: Focus on user acquisition* Option B: Focus on engagement and retention* Option C: Focus on monetizationFor each option, detail: key initiatives, expected outcomes, resource requirements, risks, and recommendation for or against.”Asking for multiple options forces the AI (and forces you) to think through trade-offs systematically.Principle 4: Specify Audience and ToneBad prompt:“Summarize this PRD”Good prompt:“Create a 1-paragraph summary of this PRD for our skeptical VP of Engineering. Tone: Technical, concise, addresses engineering concerns upfront. Focus on: technical architecture, resource requirements, risks, and expected engineering effort. Avoid marketing language.”The audience and tone specification ensures the output will actually work for your intended use.Principle 5: Use Iterative RefinementDon't try to get perfect output in one prompt. Instead:First prompt: Generate rough draft Second prompt: “This is too generic. Add specific examples from [our company context].” Third prompt: “The technical section is weak. Expand with architecture details and dependencies.” Fourth prompt: “Good. Now make it 30% more concise while keeping the key details.”Each iteration improves the output incrementally.Let me break down the prompting approach that worked in this experiment, because this is immediately actionable for your work tomorrow.Strategy 1: The Structured Outline ApproachDon't go from zero to full PRD in one prompt. Instead:* Start with strategic thinking - Spend 10-15 minutes outlining why you're building this, who it's for, and what problem it solves* Get specific - Don't say “users,” say “high school students in the middle 80% of academic performance”* Include constraints - Budget, timeline, technical limitations, competitive landscape* Dump your outline into the AI - Now ask it to expand into a full PRD* Iterate section by section - Don't try to perfect everything at onceThis is exactly what I did in my experiment, and even with my somewhat sloppy outline, the results were dramatically better than they would have been with a single-sentence prompt.Strategy 2: The Comparative Analysis PatternOne technique I used that worked particularly well: asking each tool to do the same specific task and comparing results.For example, I asked all five tools: “Please compose a one paragraph exact summary I can share over DM with a highly influential VP of engineering who is generally a skeptic but super smart.”This forced each tool to synthesize the entire PRD into a compelling pitch while accounting for a specific, challenging audience. The variation in quality was revealing—and it gave me multiple options to choose from or blend together.Actionable tip: When you need something critical (a pitch, an executive summary, a key decision framework), generate it with 2-3 different AI tools and take the best elements from each. This “ensemble approach” often produces better results than any single tool.Strategy 3: The Iterative Refinement LoopDon't treat the AI output as final. Use it as a first draft that you then refine through conversation with the AI.After getting the initial PRD, I could have asked follow-up questions like:* “What's missing from this PRD?”* “How would you strengthen the success metrics section?”* “Generate 3 alternative approaches to the core feature set”Each iteration improves the output and, more importantly, forces me to think more deeply about the product.What This Means for Your CareerIf you're an early or mid-career PM reading this, you might be thinking: “Great, so AI can write PRDs now. Am I becoming obsolete?”Absolutely not. But your role is evolving, and understanding that evolution is critical.The PMs who will thrive in the AI era are those who:* Excel at strategic thinking - AI can generate options, but you need to know which options align with company strategy, customer needs, and technical feasibility* Master the art of prompting - This is a genuine skill that separates mediocre AI users from exceptional ones* Know when to use AI and when not to - Some aspects of product work benefit enormously from AI. Others (user interviews, stakeholder negotiation, cross-functional relationship building) require human judgment and empathy* Can evaluate AI output critically - You need to spot the hallucinations, the generic fluff, and the strategic misalignments that AI inevitably producesThink of AI tools as incredibly capable interns. They can produce impressive work quickly, but they need direction, oversight, and strategic guidance. Your job is to provide that guidance while leveraging their speed and breadth.The Real-World Application: What to Do Monday MorningLet's get tactical. Here's exactly how to apply these insights to your actual product work:For Your Next PRD:* Block 30 minutes for strategic thinking - Write your back-of-the-napkin outline in Google Docs or your tool of choice* Open Claude (or ChatPRD if you want more structure)* Copy your outline with this prompt:“I'm a product manager at [company] working on [product area]. I need to create a comprehensive PRD based on this outline. Please expand this into a complete PRD with the following sections: [list your preferred sections]. Make it detailed enough for engineering to start breaking down into user stories, but concise enough for leadership to read in 15 minutes. [Paste your outline]”* Review the output critically - Look for generic statements, missing details, or strategic misalignments* Iterate on specific sections:“The success metrics section is too vague. Please provide 3-5 specific, measurable KPIs with target values and explanation of why these metrics matter.”* Generate supporting materials:“Create a visual mockup of the core user flow showing the key interaction points.”* Synthesize the best elements - Don't just copy-paste the AI output. Use it as raw material that you shape into your final documentFor Stakeholder Communication:When you need to pitch something to leadership or engineering:* Generate 3 versions of your pitch using different tools (Claude, ChatPRD, and one other)* Compare them for:* Clarity and conciseness* Strategic framing* Compelling value proposition* Addressing likely objections* Blend the best elements into your final version* Add your personal voice - This is crucial. AI output often lacks personality and specific company context. Add that yourself.For Feature Prioritization:AI tools can help you think through trade-offs more systematically:“I'm deciding between three features for our next release: [Feature A], [Feature B], and [Feature C]. For each feature, analyze: (1) Estimated engineering effort, (2) Expected user impact, (3) Strategic alignment with making our platform the go-to solution for [your market], (4) Risk factors. Then recommend a prioritization with rationale.”This doesn't replace your judgment, but it forces you to think through each dimension systematically and often surfaces considerations you hadn't thought of.The Uncomfortable Truth About AI and Product ManagementLet me be direct about something that makes many PMs uncomfortable: AI will make some PM skills less valuable while making others more valuable.Less valuable:* Writing boilerplate documentation* Creating standard frameworks and templates* Generating routine status updates* Synthesizing information from existing sourcesMore valuable:* Strategic product vision and roadmapping* Deep customer empathy and insight generation* Cross-functional leadership and influence* Critical evaluation of options and trade-offs* Creative problem-solving for novel situationsIf your PM role primarily involves the first category of tasks, you should be concerned. But if you're focused on the second category while leveraging AI for the first, you're going to be exponentially more effective than your peers who resist these tools.The PMs I see succeeding aren't those who can write the best PRD manually. They're those who can write the best PRD with AI assistance in one-tenth the time, then use the saved time to talk to more customers, think more deeply about strategy, and build stronger cross-functional relationships.Advanced Techniques: Beyond Basic PRD GenerationOnce you've mastered the basics, here are some advanced applications I've found valuable:Competitive Analysis at Scale“Research our top 5 competitors in [market]. For each one, analyze: their core value proposition, key features, pricing strategy, target customer, and likely product roadmap based on recent releases and job postings. Create a comparison matrix showing where we have advantages and gaps.”Then use web search tools in Claude or Perplexity to fact-check and expand the analysis.Scenario Planning“We're considering three strategic directions for our product: [Direction A], [Direction B], [Direction C]. For each direction, map out: likely customer adoption curve, required technical investments, competitive positioning in 12 months, and potential pivots if the hypothesis proves wrong. Then identify the highest-risk assumptions we should test first for each direction.”This kind of structured scenario thinking is exactly what AI excels at—generating multiple well-reasoned perspectives quickly.User Story GenerationAfter your PRD is solid:“Based on this PRD, generate a complete set of user stories following the format ‘As a [user type], I want to [action] so that [benefit].' Include acceptance criteria for each story. Organize them into epics by functional area.”This can save your engineering team hours of grooming meetings.The Tools Will Keep Evolving. Your Process Shouldn'tHere's something important to remember: by the time you read this, the specific rankings might have shifted. Maybe ChatGPT-5 has leapfrogged Claude. Maybe a new specialized tool has emerged.But the core principles won't change:* Do strategic thinking before touching AI* Use the best tool available for your specific task* Iterate and refine rather than accepting first outputs* Blend AI capabilities with human judgment* Focus your time on the uniquely human aspects of product managementThe specific tools matter less than your process for using them effectively.A Final Experiment: The Skeptical VP TestI want to share one more insight from my testing that I think is particularly relevant for early and mid-career PMs.Toward the end of my experiment, I gave each tool this prompt: “Please compose a one paragraph exact summary I can share over DM with a highly influential VP of engineering who is generally a skeptic but super smart.”This is such a realistic scenario. How many times have you needed to pitch an idea to a skeptical technical leader via Slack or email? Someone who's brilliant, who's seen a thousand product ideas fail, and who can spot b******t from a mile away?The quality variation in the responses was fascinating. ChatGPT gave me something that felt generic and safe. Gemini was better but still a bit too enthusiastic. Grok was... well, Grok.But Claude and ChatPRD both produced messages that felt authentic, technically credible, and appropriately confident without being overselling. They acknowledged the engineering challenges while framing the opportunity compellingly.The lesson: When the stakes are high and the audience is sophisticated, the quality of your AI tool matters even more. That skeptical VP can tell the difference between a carefully crafted message and AI-generated fluff. So can your CEO. So can your biggest customers.Use the best tools available, but more importantly, always add your own strategic thinking and authentic voice on top.Questions to Consider: A Framework for Your Own ExperimentsAs I wrapped up my Loom, I posed some questions to the audience that I'll pose to you:“Let me know in the comments, if you do your PRDs using AI differently, do you start with back of the envelope? Do you say, oh no, I just start with one sentence, and then I let the chatbot refine it with me? Or do you go way more detailed and then use the chatbot to kind of pressure test it?”These aren't rhetorical questions. Your answer reveals your approach to AI-augmented product work, and different approaches work for different people and contexts.For early-career PMs: I'd recommend starting with more detailed outlines. The discipline of thinking through your product strategy before touching AI will make you a stronger PM. You can always compress that process later as you get more experienced.For mid-career PMs: Experiment with different approaches for different types of documents. Maybe you do detailed outlines for major feature PRDs but use more iterative AI-assisted refinement for smaller features or updates. Find what optimizes your personal productivity while maintaining quality.For senior PMs and product leaders: Consider how AI changes what you should expect from your PM team. Should you be reviewing more AI-generated first drafts and spending more time on strategic guidance? Should you be training your team on effective AI usage? These are leadership questions worth grappling with.The Path Forward: Continuous ExperimentationMy experiment with these five AI tools took 45 minutes. But I'm not done experimenting.The field of AI-assisted product management is evolving rapidly. New tools launch monthly. Existing tools get smarter weekly. Prompting techniques that work today might be obsolete in three months.Your job, if you want to stay at the forefront of product management, is to continuously experiment. Try new tools. Share what works with your peers. Build a personal knowledge base of effective prompts and workflows. And be generous with what you learn. The PM community gets stronger when we share insights rather than hoarding them.That's why I created this Loom and why I'm writing this post. Not because I have all the answers, but because I'm figuring it out in real-time and want to share the journey.A Personal Note on Coaching and ConsultingIf this kind of practical advice resonates with you, I'm happy to work with you directly.Through my pm coaching practice, I offer 1:1 executive, career, and product coaching for PMs and product leaders. We can dig into your specific challenges: whether that's leveling up your AI workflows, navigating a career transition, or developing your strategic product thinking.I also work with companies (usually startups or incubation teams) on product strategy, helping teams figure out PMF for new explorations and improving their product management function.The format is flexible. Some clients want ongoing coaching, others prefer project-based consulting, and some just want a strategic sounding board for a specific decision. Whatever works for you.Reach out through tomleungcoaching.com if you're interested in working together.OK. Enough pontificating. Let's ship greatness. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit firesidepm.substack.com

Send us a textIn this quick tip episode Brandon dives into the critical strategies for empowering your change management stakeholders. From patients and employees to vendors and family members, every stakeholder plays a vital role in driving meaningful change within your practice.Brandon shares proven techniques for involving stakeholders early in the process, equipping them with the tools and training they need to succeed, and celebrating their contributions. He introduces innovative ideas like creating stakeholder vision boards, gamifying the change process, and fostering peer mentoring to boost engagement and ensure long-term success.This episode is packed with actionable tips to help you build a culture of collaboration, minimize resistance, and align your team with your practice's core values. Tune in now to learn how to empower your stakeholders and create lasting change in your practice!Welcome to Private Practice Survival Guide Podcast hosted by Brandon Seigel! Brandon Seigel, President of Wellness Works Management Partners, is an internationally known private practice consultant with over fifteen years of executive leadership experience. Seigel's book "The Private Practice Survival Guide" takes private practice entrepreneurs on a journey to unlocking key strategies for surviving―and thriving―in today's business environment. Now Brandon Seigel goes beyond the book and brings the same great tips, tricks, and anecdotes to improve your private practice in this companion podcast. Get In Touch With MePodcast Website: https://www.privatepracticesurvivalguide.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonseigel/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brandonseigel/https://wellnessworksmedicalbilling.com/Private Practice Survival Guide Book

278. In The Weeds with Mike and Trev. General Industry View on the Heavy Vehicle (Mass, Dimension and Loading) National Amendment Regulation 2025The 2025 amendments to the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL), including the specific updates to mass, dimension, and loading rules under the accompanying regulations, have elicited a cautiously positive but predominantly disappointed response from the Australian trucking and road freight industry. Stakeholders, including major bodies like the Australian Trucking Association (ATA) and the National Road Transport Association (NatRoad), view the package as a modest step forward in simplifying compliance and enhancing safety, but criticize it for falling short of the "first principles" reform promised after the six-year review process that began in 2018. The changes—such as slight increases to general mass limits, easier Higher Mass Limits (HML) declarations, and more flexible loading via Safety Management Systems (SMS)—are seen as productivity boosters, yet the overall package is lambasted for lacking ambition, particularly on access reforms and fatigue management flexibility. Key Issues the Industry Has with the 2025 HVNL Amendments(Mass, Dimension & Loading + broader package)# Issue What the industry says 1 Lack of ambition / watered-down reform After 7 years of review, the final package is seen as “incremental tinkering” rather than the promised “first-principles rewrite”. Many big ideas from 2018–2024 consultations were dropped or heavily diluted. 2 Productivity gains are too small Minor mass/dimension increases are welcomed but described as “barely noticeable”. No meaningful lift in general-access limits or widespread Higher Productivity Vehicle rollout. 3 Access reform largely abandoned The original goal of eliminating 90 % of permits by 2028 is gone. Operators still face slow, inconsistent permit processes across councils and states. 4 Fatigue management flexibility removed Plans to reduce the number of work/rest options and give more genuine flexibility were scrapped late in the process, leaving the old rigid hours largely intact. 5 Accreditation & SMS changes risk more red tape The new “alternative compliance” and mandatory SMS requirements are complex and costly for small operators; many fear it will add paperwork rather than reduce it. 6 Regulations still not finalised The primary law has passed, but the detailed mass, dimension, loading and fatigue regulations are still being drafted. Industry is nervous about last-minute surprises and insufficient consultation time (some want minimum 42 days). 7 Implementation timeline too tight Mid-2026 start with staged rollout leaves only ~6–12 months for fleets to retrain drivers, update systems, and renegotiate contracts. 8 No clear accountability or KPIs No legislated forward work program or measurable targets (e.g., permit reduction, safety outcomes), so industry doubts further improvements will actually happen.

Erik Sena, Copy Manager at Refine Labs, shares his creative journey and how AI is reshaping the modern copywriter's toolkit. This honest and insightful discussion explores the human side of marketing innovation and the future of creative work.Speakers and RolesErik Sena – Copy Manager at Refine Labs; leads brand voice efforts internally and across client accounts, overseeing multiple writers and creative outputSteph Crugnola– Host of Stacking Growth: Called to ActionEvan Hughes – Co-host; provides perspective on marketing leadership and AI pressuresTopics CoveredEric's path into copywriting via creativity and pop culture inspirationEarly perceptions and hesitations around AI in creative rolesEvolving use of ChatGPT for creative brainstorming and brand alignmentInternal and external pressures driving AI adoption in marketingHuman vs AI: identifying what remains uniquely human in creative outputUsing tools like creative scorecards to evaluate tone and brand matchPredictions for a more human-centric creative futurePersonal growth and reflection in a rapidly changing industryQuestions This Video Helps AnswerHow can marketing creatives embrace AI without losing their voice?What are effective ways to use ChatGPT in a brand copywriting role?How do you balance human creativity with AI-enhanced workflows?What does it mean to stay human-first in a tech-heavy marketing world?What trends are shaping the future of creativity in marketing?Jobs, Roles, and Responsibilities MentionedCopywriter, Copy Manager, Creative Director, Designer, Art Director, Screenwriter, Marketing Leader, AI Prompt Engineer (implied use), Content Reviewer, Stakeholder (internal and client-side)Key TakeawaysAI is best used as a tool for efficiency and ideation, not replacementHuman creativity, emotion, and intuition remain irreplaceable in brand messagingPressure to adopt AI stems from both time constraints and industry evolutionCreative scorecards using AI can help align content with brand toneStaying proactive and adaptable is essential in modern marketing careersTimestamps[0:01:01] Eric shares his early love for storytelling and creativity[0:02:14] Inspiration from Mad Men leads to a career pivot into advertising[0:04:33] Eric's first real encounter with AI during the MidJourney/DALL-E rise[0:06:25] Why pressure (internal and external) pushed him to embrace AI[0:07:29] Tools used: ChatGPT as a creative partner and editing assistant[0:11:30] Use case: Creative scorecard to measure brand tone alignment[0:14:28] Coping with imposter syndrome and AI fear as a creative[0:19:42] Reflections on being a “multi-hyphenate” creative[0:23:03] Prediction: A return to human-first creativity in the next era[0:25:17] Career advice for new marketers: be proactive, think 10 steps aheadFrameworks and Concepts MentionedCreative Scorecard (internal framework to assess brand tone fit)Human-first marketing (ethos vs automation-heavy workflows)Multi-hyphenate creatives (embracing multiple creative roles)"Iron sharpens iron" mindset in creative improvementAI as thought partner vs AI as creator

The American economy is a numbers game and those numbers are becoming more and more unfair. “30 years ago, if you were born in the bottom 25th percentile of wealth, you had about a 25% chance of dying in the top 25th percentile.” notes the venture capitalist Seth Levine. “Today you've got a 5% chance.” So what to do? What Levine wants is more rather than less capitalism. As he argues in his new co-authored (with Elizabeth MacBride) book, Capital Evolution, “if we want more people to have a stake in the economy, more people have to have a stake in the economy.” Thus the case for what he calls stakeholder capitalism. Only capitalism can save capitalism, Levine argues. Whether that's Davos-style tautology or the way to right the wrongs of American capitalism is a more complicated question. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

Great sellers don't leave success to chance - they master sales operations planning long before a deal appears. In this episode, we break down how disciplined planning, stakeholder orchestration, and early executive engagement turn enterprise complexity into strategic clarity and predictable outcomes. Harry Kendlbacher sits down with Ludovic Neveu, SVP of Sales at Tricentis, to unpack the unseen systems behind consistent enterprise performance. From strategic selling to stakeholder management, sales process optimization, and cultural nuances in global engagement, Ludovic shares a blueprint for leaders who want to build teams that win with intention, not luck.

Send us a textIn this engaging episode of "Business Growth Talks," host Mark Hayward delves into the intricacies of scaling a business with seasoned entrepreneur and Dragons' Den alum, Solvej Biddle. Known for her acumen in stakeholder management, Solvej elaborates on the often-overlooked "people dynamic" that plays a crucial role once a business moves past product validation into scaling. She discusses how mastering stakeholder influence can convert business potential into tangible growth, transcending geographical boundaries and organizational barriers.As the conversation unfolds, Solvej shares vital insights into preparing for scale-up challenges, from securing international partnerships to strategically managing multiple stakeholders like investors, partners, and board members. The discussion is rich with actionable strategies that emphasize the importance of reading interpersonal signals and understanding stakeholder interests. With genuine anecdotes from her Dragons' Den experience and her current work with Tech Nordic Advocates, Solvej illustrates the essential skills needed to influence high-stakes business environments successfully.Key Takeaways:Scaling a business involves managing a vast network of stakeholders beyond product development, emphasizing the need for strong interpersonal skills.Effective stakeholder management involves preparation, active listening, and understanding stakeholder interests to foster meaningful engagements.Confidence, humility, and the ability to read the room are crucial when pitching to investors or negotiating in high-stakes situations.Career-long skills like stakeholder engagement are not only applicable in business environments but are invaluable in everyday interactions.Emerging entrepreneurs, particularly in tech sectors, can benefit significantly by refining their influence and persuasion skills, particularly when expanding across borders.SPONSORSGet a professional website built fast with Up in a Day, then book a call and see how easily you can elevate your online presence. https://upinaday.co/book-mark-haywardResources:Connect with Solvej Biddle via LinkedInLearn more about the Engage Method: engagemethod.co (Note: URL imagined, as it wasn't directly mentioned)Discover Tech Nordic Advocates Website (Note: URL imagined, as it wasn't directly mentioned)Dive deeper into the strategies and insights shared by Solvej Biddle by listening to the full episode. Stay tuned for more episodes of "Business Growth Talks," where we explore the complex but rewarding journey of scaling a business from those who have been therSupport the showIf you want to watch the full video of this episode go to:https://www.youtube.com/@markhayward-BizGrowthTalksDo you want to be a guest on multiple podcasts as a service go to:www.podcastintroduction.comFind more details about the podcast and my coaching business on:www.businessgrowthtalks.comFind me onLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-hayw...Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@mjh169183YouTube Shorts - https://www.youtube.com/@markhayward-BizGrowthTalks/shorts

Dave Cole, CEO of Elemental Royalty Corporation (TSXV: ELE) (Nasdaq: ELE) joins me to outline the value proposition of the proforma combination of Elemental Altus Royalties with EMX Royalty Corporation, to form an emerging intermediate royalty company. In addition to circling the globe to highlight various partner projects and operators inside their portfolio of royalties, we also discuss the value of having Tether Investments S.A. de C.V as a key stakeholder.   We start reminding investors of the big-picture rationale for this merger; creating a larger royalty company of scale, graduating up to the intermediate category.  The new combined Company will have more analyst coverage and liquidity, a better cost of capital, the financial strength from the backing of the key strategic shareholder Tether Investments; and the potential to rerate in the future to a better price to net asset value multiple more in alignment with larger royalty peers.   Dave then takes us through a global tour of their diversified portfolio of royalties across precious metals, critical minerals, and battery metals. He touched upon their key cornerstone royalty partner projects like Caserones, Timok, Karlawinda, and Laverton, as well as a number of other solid producing royalties on Leeville, Gediktepe, Balya, and the suite of West African royalties (Korali-Sud, Wahgnion, and Bonikro).  Dave also flagged a few key large development projects with compelling royalty upside as those projects move towards development, like the Cactus and Peak projects in Arizona, Diablillos in Argentina, Viscaria & Vittangi in Sweden, and Laverton in Australia.   In addition to growing royalties year over year, there are also a number of one-off incoming payments on pre-production royalties that are still generating revenues via lease-option payments, stage-gate payments to advance properties, advanced minimum royalty payments, and that come in by way of cash and often times shares in partner companies.   Dave points to the organic development growth still on tap in their portfolio of royalties, the future upside of their continued royalty generation strategy, the potential for larger future royalty acquisitions and royalty financings to create new royalties, and that further down the road they'll keep their eyes out for accretive M&A opportunities.     Wrapping up Dave highlights the importance of having Tether Investments as their key strategic shareholder, and they financially backstop the kinds of accretive acquisitions that they can now go after. He also explains a bit more background on the use case for Tether stablecoins, how their company generates revenues holding treasuries, and why they are storing so much of their profits in gold, farmland, and royalty company equities.     If you have any follow up questions for Dave or the team ate Elemental Royalty Corp, then please email them to me at Shad@kereport.com.     In full disclosure, Shad is a shareholder of both Elemental Royalty Corp at the time of this recording, and may choose to buy or sell shares at any time.   Click here to follow the latest news from Elemental Royalty Corp   For more market commentary & interview summaries, subscribe to our Substacks:   The KE Report: https://kereport.substack.com/ Shad's resource market commentary: https://excelsiorprosperity.substack.com/     Investment disclaimer: This content is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, an offer, or a solicitation to buy or sell any security. Investing in equities and commodities involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Do your own research and consult a licensed financial advisor before making any investment decisions. Guests and hosts may own shares in companies mentioned.

Welcome to MAFFEO DRINKS. For many years, I've been known as the "built bottom-up" guy. But many people misunderstand what bottom-up actually means. Bottom-up means building at a pace that doesn't jeopardize your future. Doing the right things on the ground while managing expectations from above.That's it. It doesn't matter if your brand is small or big. It's a mindset.I'm Chris Maffeo, Drinks Leadership Advisor. 20 years in drinks across 30+ markets. I've been in the boardroom but chose to stay connected to the field. That's where I founded MAFFEO DRINKS.We help drinks leadership bridge the gap between bottom-up reality and top-down expectations. Stakeholders want numbers. Your team wants direction. You are caught in the middle. And that's where we come in.This podcast is about honest conversations with drinks builders: founders, distributors, commercial directors, CEOs, F&B directors. But this isn't a show about biographies. Every guest is here to show their thinking, not their resume.We talk commercial strategy, route-to-market, distributor relationships, trade marketing, and all the plumbing of brand building that nobody discusses on stage. How the industry actually works, not the conference version. How to master the unscalable things while building scale.Beyond the podcast, we offer Bottom-Up Intel & Principles: episode deep dives that you can buy for a monthly subscription (Patterns from drinks builders for the leaders building with them).And for leadership teams who want a thought partner who has been in their chair and still walks the field, we offer advisory.Find out more at maffeodrinks.com.And remember that brands are built bottom-up.

Success is in the eyes of the beholder. For projects, that means winning over the top decision makers in the C-suite. How can project management office leaders best share project progress with executives? How can you better engage the C-suite to manage their POVs? We discuss this with Douglas Pulini, PMP, PMI-PMOCP, head of the strategic management office at SPC Brasil in São Paulo, and Stephan Wohlfahrt, PMI-ACP, DAVSC, PMP, head of the project management office at Bosch Mobility in Stuttgart, Germany. Key themes00:56 The C-suite's role in project success02:33 How PMO leaders decide what information to share with executives05:24 Ways to engage executives to benefit project success10:26 Choosing how to best present project updates to the C-suite14:28 Must-have skills for PMO leaders to effectively manage stakeholder perceptions

Raj Sisodia has spent his life asking one question: Can business make people's lives better instead of draining them? He holds a PhD in Marketing and Business Policy from Columbia University, co-founded Conscious Capitalism with John Mackey, the founder of Whole Foods Market, and has advised global companies from Tata Group to AT&T. But his path started in a factory in Bombay, earning a hundred dollars a month, before he built one of the most influential ideas in modern business thinking. "I didn't like biology, so I became an engineer. I didn't like finance, so I became a marketing professor. But business turned out to be about head and wallet — nothing about heart or spirit." That realization led him to study companies that people love working for and trust buying from. The result became Conscious Capitalism — a way of running a business that joins purpose, profit, and care. "Profit is the oxygen that keeps you alive. But no human lives just to make red blood cells. In the same way, no company should live just to make profit." Raj's research showed that companies built on four simple pillars — Purpose, Stakeholders, Conscious Leadership, and Caring Culture — outperformed the S&P 500 by nine to one over a decade. They made more money precisely because they cared more. When he met Bob Chapman, a manufacturing CEO from Missouri, Raj saw these ideas come alive. Chapman bought a failing plant, promised no layoffs, and told workers they would figure it out together. Men who had once been laid off without warning wept as they told Raj their lives had changed. "I had sixty dollars in the bank and a new baby. That job saved my family." From that came the book Everybody Matters. Chapman told him, "Leadership is the stewardship of the lives entrusted to us." Raj calls such companies healing organizations — places that reduce suffering and bring more joy into the world. Now, with artificial intelligence reshaping work, Raj argues that AI will amplify our intentions: "A knife in a surgeon's hand saves lives. The same knife in another hand can end one. AI is the same — it depends on who we are when we use it." He believes the leaders who thrive will be those who bring consciousness to technology, not fear.

Targa Resources' plan to acquire sour-gas specialist Stakeholder Midstream will give the midstream giant an even stronger foothold in the Northern Delaware Basin, where much of the associated gas has high levels of H2S and CO2.

In Conversation with Toni Gumede, who is a seasoned Stakeholder Relations and Social Facilitation Professional with 15 years comprehensive experience. Amongst others, she has established the Stakeholder relations and Community engagement portfolio for road infrastructure develop and maintenance projects and has successfully executed multi-stakeholder collaborations within the infrastructure development, energy industry, investment promotion and nation branding, domestically and internationally.

Okay, we are pretty good storytellers... but are we telling the right story?As service design professionals, we nail it when it comes to what I call "Horizontal Storytelling". We can walk anyone through the customer journey, step-by-step, building empathy for the user's pain and frustration over time.But here is the somewhat inconvenient truth: As you might have experienced, your CEO or CFO often doesn't know what to do with that story. They are looking for something else. They need "Vertical Storytelling".They need to know how a specific pain point on the ground connects up to the strategic objectives of the business. They need to know the ROI. They need to know if the needle is actually moving.In episode 8 of the Journey Management Playbook series, Tingting Lin and I are closing the loop. We are moving from doing the work to measuring the impact.If you've ever struggled to justify prove that your journey management efforts are actually influencing the bottom line, this episode is for you.We dive into:How you can translate customer empathy into business language to get buy-in.Why you can't just rely on churn or NPS as your metrics, and how to find early warning signals that prove your work is having an effect now.How to connect your solutions back to the original business challenge to see if you actually solved the problem.And how to start measuring impact today without having to wait for perfect data integrations.This episode provides the missing link between "making mapping a journey" and "driving business outcomes."What is the one metric you struggle to track the most? Send me a reply or leave a comment on YouTube, we'd love to know where the biggest data hurdles are for you.Enjoy and keep making a positive impact!Be well, ~ Marc--- [ 1. LINKS

Last week I talked about marketing UX within your organization and how you can use internal marketing strategies to build awareness and executive support. This week, I want to dig into a more hands-on approach: getting your stakeholders directly involved in UX activities.If all my talk about guerrilla marketing and PR stunts felt a bit overwhelming, this is a simpler path. The more you can expose stakeholders and colleagues across the organization to real users, the more user-centered their thinking will become. It really is that simple.Why bother getting them involved?I know what you might be thinking. Do I really want stakeholders hovering around during user research? What if they derail everything with their opinions?Fair concerns. But here is what happens when you do invite them in.It builds support. The more stakeholders are involved, the more invested they become. And the more likely they are to support UX initiatives when it matters.It builds empathy. When stakeholders interact with users, even indirectly, they begin to empathize with their frustrations and genuinely want to improve the experience.It builds relationships. By involving your stakeholders, you get to better understand their motivations and needs. And what will actually influence them to be more user-centered.Start with the basicsAt the most basic level, you can get stakeholders trying UX activities themselves. Sit with them and let them experience what card sorting feels like. Or walk them through a usability test as an observer.Then you can teach them how to run these processes on their own. I have done this countless times, and watching someone run their first usability test is genuinely rewarding.While this may seem obvious, remember that we are looking at how to influence others and change the culture. Getting hands-on experience is powerful.Expose them to real usersOne technique I use constantly is recording sessions I run with users and then creating short videos afterwards.Low-light videos (sometimes called horror videos) are 90-second compilations of all the frustrations and irritations a user has had with an experience. Watching someone struggle, get confused, or openly curse at your interface is deeply uncomfortable. And deeply effective at building empathy.Highlight videos are the opposite. I use these when I want to show stakeholders how improvements we made to the system really do work. There is something very powerful about allowing stakeholders to see real users interacting with the system and actually succeeding.Both types of videos work because they make the user real. Not a persona slide or a data point, but an actual human being trying to get something done. Circulate these videos to stakeholders and watch how quickly conversations change.You can also invite stakeholders to attend live usability sessions. Provide lunch as an incentive. Steve Krug's book "Rocket Surgery Made Easy" describes a brilliant approach: run three morning usability testing sessions that stakeholders observe, followed by a lunch meeting where you brainstorm improvements based on what everyone just witnessed.Another option is including users in stakeholder workshops. Pay users to attend and provide their perspectives during planning sessions. This creates situations where stakeholders interact with customers in ways they may never have before.Think about it. Many people in organizations rarely have face-to-face time with customers. Marketers, senior executives, compliance officers, developers... they operate based on assumptions and secondhand information. Any direct exposure to users can fundamentally shift their thinking.Turn engagement into advocacyOnce stakeholders are interacting with users and believing in the process, they can become advocates. People who influence others in their departments and across the organization.Build communities of people who care about UX. Provide them with tools to promote it, such as branded materials or how-to guides they can share with their teams.And remember to reward their advocacy. Celebrate those who promote UX best practices. Invest time in making them feel valued. I try to publicly recognize people who are championing user-centered thinking, even in small ways. It reinforces the behavior and signals to others that this matters.In essence, we need to involve our colleagues across the organization to help them understand users and become user advocates. Getting people hands-on with real users changes everything.Next week, I will look at how to break down business silos that often hinder user experience and limit the kind of cultural change we have been discussing.

If your startup needs to speak to very different audiences — investors, corporates, consumers — this episode lays out why that skill matters more than most founders think. How you explain your work changes depending on who's in front of you, and that can decide whether people actually understand what you do. If you're selling cookies, fine. If you're building a complex solution to a complex problem, communication becomes core to the product.In this episode, you'll hear from Nina Mannheim, previously the co-founder and CPO of Klim. Klim started back in 2019 in Berlin, when “regenerative agriculture” was still a barely known term. The team had to figure out how to make a complicated topic land with groups who had completely different levels of context and completely different interests. Not easy — but they still managed to raise a 22M Series A in 2024.What Klim learned applies far beyond agriculture.00:00 – Why stakeholder communication matters00:42 – Klim's origin and early challenges02:23 – Business model and stakeholder map03:41 – Why consumers still mattered06:26 – Building credibility as a tiny startup09:07 – Which stakeholder group was hardest12:20 – Early communication mistakes with farmers23:45 – Tailoring communication for investorsLinksConnect with Steve Molino:https://www.linkedin.com/in/ninamannheimer/Check out Klimhttps://www.klim.eco/Connect with the host:⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-marina/⁠⁠marina@r2g.media

Canada's hemp sector is closely watching several policy files domestically and in the U.S. that could unlock new demand and value for the highly-regulated crop. Stakeholders from the hemp industry gathered at the historic Met Theatre in Winnipeg last week for the Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance (CHTA)'s 2025 convention. After six years of research and... Read More

Speaker: Professor Catherine Malecki (University of Rennes)Even in the context of the future EU Omnibus Package and the EU Directive n°2025/794 of 14 April 2025 'Stop-the-Clock', Companies and there directors must face an increasing climate litigation and this change cannot go back 20 years of progress in Sustainable Corporate Governance which is on the way on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean and in Asia. Indeed, the European Commission has been releasing innovative and often complex regulations at a breakneck speed since 2018 (CSRD, CS3D, Taxonomy, to name a few) and it would be inconceivable to come back to 2001 at the time of the first European Recommendation on CSR and to ignore the EU Green Deal of 2019.Directors have to take into account negatives externalities and stringent obligations such as the Transition Plans. Even if the the next generation of sustainable board directors is well aware of Climate risks, several questions may arise : is there a need to reshape the board despite the EU Directive WoB Women in board of 23 November 2022? What about the pressure of the Stakeholders and the pressure of the Sustainable Strategy ? In France, in the wake of the Due Diligence Law of 27 March 2017, climate litigation is also increasing (for example TotalEnergies, CA Paris, 18 June 2024) and France was the first State Member for having implemented the CSRD in December 2023. Didn't all this happen too quickly ? Can we stop European time when tackling Climate change is rather a race against time? La Fontaine famous fable " the Hare and the Tortoise" is full of wisdom.Biography: Catherine Malecki is Professor of Private Law Rennes 2 University France and Member of the IUF (Institut universitaire de France) Fundamental Chair.For more information see the Centre for Corporate and Commercial Law website:http://www.3cl.law.cam.ac.uk/

Paul Jones, VP of Corporate Development at Versamet Royalties (TSX.V: VMET), joins us to review the key metrics from the record Q3 financials, the recent news where Tether and the Lundin family have become strategic shareholders, and a look ahead to future mid-sized royalty and streaming transactions to grow. Additionally, we discuss the benefits of the coming big board US exchange listing.   Third Quarter 2025 Highlights    Record revenue of $8.1 million, an increase of 155% over Q3 2024.  Record attributable gold equivalent ounces (“GEOs”) of 2,699, an increase of 110% over Q3 2024.  Record operating cash flow before working capital changes of $6.1 million, an increase of 206% over Q3 2024.  Acquisition of a significant silver stream on the operating Rosh Pinah Zinc mine in Namibia and a polymetallic royalty on the operating Santa Rita mine in Brazil, both operated by Appian Capital Advisory Limited (“Appian”).  Inaugural royalty revenues from the Kiaka and Santa Rita mines.     Paul reviews the record Q3 revenues, GEOs and cash flow, and highlighted the immediate benefits of company's recent largest transaction to date with the acquisition of a significant silver stream on Rosh Pinah Zinc, a high-quality mine in Namibia that is currently undergoing an expansion, and a royalty on Santa Rita in Brazil, a top tier nickel-sulphide mine. The addition of these expanding cash-flowing assets have had a significant impact to Versamet's combined gold equivalent ounces, with ~10,000 GEOs projected in 2025, and up to ~20,000 GEOs by 2026.  This translates over to ~$70M in annual revenue targeted for next year, using consensus gold prices, and even higher than that at current spot prices.   We go on to discuss with Paul the Company's current valuation, their plans for growth through accretive acquisitions, and the advantage of the mid-size deal flow they can pursue as one of only a few mid-tier precious metals royalty and streaming companies.   Wrapping up Paul highlights the strong endorsement of the quality of their assets from the recent news of Tether Investments S.A. de C.V. and the Lundin Family Trusts both coming in as new 12.7% cornerstone shareholders of the Company respectively.  We also review the liquidity benefits, broader investor base, and potential for more ETF inclusion through the coming U.S. big board exchange listing.     If you have any questions for Paul regarding Versamet Royalties, then please email those in to us at Fleck@kereport.com or Shad@kereport.com.   Click here to follow the latest news from Versamet Royalties   For more market commentary & interview summaries, subscribe to our Substacks:   The KE Report: https://kereport.substack.com/   Shad's resource market commentary: https://excelsiorprosperity.substack.com/     Investment disclaimer: This content is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, an offer, or a solicitation to buy or sell any security. Investing in equities and commodities involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Do your own research and consult a licensed financial advisor before making any investment decisions. Guests and hosts may own shares in companies mentioned.  

The post Ganna Pogrebna on behavioural data science, machine bias, digital twins vs digital shadows, and stakeholder simulations (AC Ep23) appeared first on Humans + AI.

You can't email your way to change, especially when your audience would rather talk to patients than check their inbox.In this week's episode of the Only Constant, Daniel Peach discusses with Nellie Wartoft how face-to-face communication trumps digital noise in healthcare, why finding change champions among frontline staff matters more than targeting leaders, and how patience and presence turn skeptics into your best advocates.Connect with:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Nellie Wartoft⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠CEO of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Tigerhall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Chair of the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Executive Council for Leading Change (ECLC)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠nellie@tigerhall.com

Steve O'Neill joins Ethics Talk to discuss his article, coauthored with Dr Catherine M. DesRoches: "Whom Should We Regard as a Legitimate Stakeholder in the Accuracy of Information in a Patient's EHR?"  Recorded August 6, 2025.  Read the full article for free at JournalOfEthics.org

I am back from the FTT Fintech Festival, hosted by VC Innovations and taking place in London. I was hosting a panel on attracting the next generation of customers to mutuals, which are member-owned financial institutions offering different types of services and products. I was lucky enough to have a great group of panelists, and it was a great event over two days. To say that I learned a lot would be an understatement. The event was full of really engaging conversations and panels around a host of topics in the intersection of finance and technology. Since I'm not a finance professional, I wasn't sure how I would integrate into the event and conversations with people there. Plus it was the British and Irish financial systems that were being discussed, which I know basically nothing about. However, despite these important and obvious differences between my knowledge and the knowledge of other attendees, there was enough in common to make conversations pretty easy.The main thing we had in common was that we were all interested in creating experiences of all kinds. There were conversations around customer, user, employee, and digital experiences. There was also mention of frictionless financial experiences, security experiences, and experience-driven identity. It was pretty easy to find the common ground since everything was about experience research and design at some level. Those in industry were interested to hear what us in academia were doing around experience design teaching. Another theme was the impact of artificial intelligence as an element of fintech. Amongst all the conversations of AI was the question of whether or not a “digital first” strategy makes sense for customers seeking financial services. It was clear that people in general, and some specific populations, want to experience the authentic touch of a human being in their interactions. This led to some discussion about what to do with the bank branch. If we are moving to a digital first strategy, then why have branches? At the same time, people want to have the convenience of digital. What if we could have both? The warm touch of a human being at a branch along with the convenience of digital. Enter my guest today on Experience by Design, Victor Cho. Victor has a long career of digital transformation and now is CEO of Emovid. Emovid's product combines the authenticity of face-to-face conversations with the improved efficiency outcomes of AI through the use of video-based communication. Another element of his work is an emphasis on stakeholder capitalism, and businesses contributing to improving society. We talk about his path to CEO success, and how his interest in his Commodore 64 started it. He describes how his business education and religious upbringing combined to prioritize social responsibility over personal gain. We also talk about how we need to create authentic communication in a tech era. Victor shared updates on Emovid's progress, including their platform launch and plans for a new generative AI imaging solution focused on maintaining authenticity in communications. He highlighted the importance of considering the broader impacts of technology and the need for ethical decision-making in its implementation. This conversation would have been right at home at the FTT Fintech Festival, and it is a perfect time to share the conversation with you. Vincent Cho: https://www.linkedin.com/in/victor-cho-/Emovid: https://www.emovid.com/

Hosts: Renee Chiuchiarelli & Julie Parks Published: [Insert publish date here] Length: ~13 minutes Presented by: Global Training Center

We are moving into the most dangerous time of year for sales professionals . . . the holidays.  From now until the first week of January, you're going to face a perfect storm of distractions, excuses, and temptations that can absolutely destroy your year end number and your first quarter production next year. Sadly, most salespeople don't even see it coming. It's not until the end of December that they realize they're in trouble, but by then, it's too late.  The Trouble With the Holidays The trouble typically starts Thanksgiving week in the United States and continues as we move into the first week of December. That's when distractions start flooding in. You've got company parties, family obligations, shopping to do. All of which knock you off of your routine causing your daily prospecting and follow up activities to drop. And let's be honest, you've been grinding hard for the entire year and you're ready to let your guard down and coast a bit before the end of the year.  By the second and third week of December many of the opportunities in your pipeline that you were counting on closing start to ghost you or tell you that their pushing decisions off to next year. And by now you're so mentally checked out that you're barely doing any prospecting at all.  Once we move into the Christmas and New Years weeks your office is a ghost town, the phones are silent, your pipeline is stalled, you've missed your forecast and you convince yourself there's no point in even trying.  And just like that, you've lost an entire month of selling.   My book The LinkedIn Edge gives you the master blueprint for turning LinkedIn into an optimized, revenue-generating sales engine—whether you're deploying Sales Navigator or not. Learn to work LinkedIn like a professional with step-by-step, immediately actionable tactics that supercharge your presence on the world's largest networking platform. Get it today wherever books are sold.       Holiday Sales Math But here's the brutal truth: You didn't just lose a month. You lost three months. Because all of those prospects that pushed off decisions until the new year are not coming back; and that empty pipeline you're staring at, as you move into January, is going to haunt you through March and potentially, through the entire year.  Your average sales cycle is probably 60-90 days. That means deals you put into the pipeline over the next two to three weeks are crucial for a good January. Likewise, the ones you add in December are the key to delivering a solid February and March.  But if you allow the Holidays to take you off of your game, you might not recover until April or May. Your entire first quarter is shot.  This is the killer and how so many promising sales careers end prematurely. I've witnessed far too many salespeople get fired in March for pipeline problems that started in November when they let their discipline slip during the holidays. Do Not Allow Active Deals Stall and Die The deals currently in your pipeline are more vulnerable right now than at any other time of year. Your prospects have the perfect excuse to push decisions.  When deals sit idle for a month, bad things happen. Stakeholders change. Budgets get reallocated. Priorities shift. Your champion gets distracted by seventeen other initiatives. Your competitors slip in while you're eating fruitcake and drinking eggnog. I've watched salespeople lose six-figure deals that they thought were "locked up" in November, simply because they took their foot off the gas during the holidays.  I've said this before and I'll say it again. Pipeline opportunities that push into the new year are not coming back. Do not count on them. Do not allow yourself to be delusional about them. If you don't get forecasted opportunities closed by the end of the year, consider them dead! For this reason, you must be vigilant with follow up, assertive with your communication and do whatever it t...

What can slicing a watermelon teach us about design? Turns out… quite a lot. This week, I chat with Vitaly Friedman, founder of Smashing Magazine, to explore curiosity, inefficiency, and why the best designers obsess over process, not perfection.What if your next design breakthrough came not from a book or a course, but from learning to slice a watermelon?Vitaly Friedman has spent decades shaping how designers think about the web. But in this conversation, we go beyond pixels and patterns to talk about something much more profound: how curiosity itself becomes a design tool. From choosing the perfect watermelon to mastering the art of ironing, Vitaly reveals how everyday obsessions can teach us how to think, learn, and design better.We explore how designers can reclaim joy and curiosity in their work, especially in environments where efficiency and productivity often come at the expense of creativity. Vitaly's take? It's not about finding the perfect way to do something—it's about exploring many ways and discovering meaning in the process.From grilled watermelons to enterprise UX, we connect the dots between experimentation, self-learning, and the messy human side of design.If you've ever felt stuck chasing “best practices” or trying to find the “right” answer, this episode will remind you that sometimes, the most valuable thing you can do is play.Topics:• 03:39 – The Watermelon Metaphor• 05:37 – Choosing the Perfect Watermelon• 09:19 – Cutting Techniques and Presentation• 13:34 – Grilling Watermelon and Culinary Creativity• 14:28 – Learning and Self-Education• 15:13 – The Journey of Exploration• 18:28 – Imposter Syndrome and Asking for Help• 22:00 – Humanizing Executives and Stakeholders• 22:48 – The Importance of Curiosity• 25:34 – Ironing and Finding Zen• 30:01 – The Role of Enjoyment in Learning• 31:35 – Procrastination and Productivity• 33:46 – Procrastination and Focus• 34:48 – Memorable Conference Experience• 37:08 – Finding Joy in Enterprise UX Design• 38:50 – Challenges in Enterprise Projects• 41:35 – Building Trust and Team Culture• 50:50 – Balancing Exploration and DeliveryHelpful Links:• Connect with Vitaly on LinkedIn• Smashing Magazine• Design Patterns For AI Interfaces—Thanks for listening! We hope you dug today's episode. If you liked what you heard, be sure to like and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts! And if you really enjoyed today's episode, why don't you leave a five-star review? Or tell some friends! It will help us out a ton.If you haven't already, sign up for our email list. We won't spam you. Pinky swear.• ⁠Get a FREE audiobook AND support the show⁠• ⁠Support the show on Patreon⁠• ⁠Check out show transcripts⁠• ⁠Check out our website⁠• ⁠Subscribe on Apple Podcasts⁠• ⁠Subscribe on Spotify⁠• ⁠Subscribe on YouTube⁠• ⁠Subscribe on Stitcher

In this episode of Manager Minute, host Carol Pankow welcomes Dr. Chaz Compton and Dr. Meera Adya, co-directors of the new National Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center (NVRTAC). They discuss how the Center builds on decades of innovation in vocational rehabilitation (VR) to unify training, evaluation, and technology that strengthen state VR agencies across the nation. Partnering with The George Washington University, the National Disability Institute, CSAVR, YesLMS, Case Review Solutions, SaraWorks, and Intellitech, the NVRTAC delivers comprehensive technical assistance to enhance performance, fiscal management, and employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities. Key initiatives include AI-driven tools such as SaraWorks and Case Amplify, designed to reduce administrative burdens and capture real-world impact. The team is also launching leadership and fiscal talent development programs, expanding recruitment and retention efforts, and embedding continuous evaluation across all initiatives. Their goal is to achieve measurable outcomes, real change, and a stronger, more efficient VR system serving individuals with disabilities.   Listen Here   Full Transcript:   {Music} Chaz: Right now, not ten years from now, but right today, we have the capacity to. Turn our administrative burden into an AI driven function that alleviates that burden.   Meera: Input is getting provided at the beginning and the middle at the end all over again. It really is that measurable and real change and ongoing calibration towards that is our North star.   Chaz: And having actual measurable outcome improvements. So simple as that.   Carol: That sounds good. How about you? What do you think?   Meera: Nothing to add. Measurable outcomes. Real change. Drop the mic.   Carol: Boom! I love it.   {Music} Intro Voice: Manager Minute, brought to you by the Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center. Conversations powered by VR. One manager at a time, one minute at a time. Here is your host, Carol Pankow.   Carol: Well, welcome to the Manager Minute. Joining me in the studio today are my close colleagues, doctor Chaz Compton and Doctor Meera Adya, Co-project directors of the new National Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center, or VRTAC for short. So woohoo you guys! I'm so excited to have you here. How are things going Chaz?   Chaz: Wonderful. Very busy and very happy to be here. Thank you.   Carol: Excellent. How about you, Meera? How's it going?   Meera: Pretty good.   Carol: Awesome. Well, glad to have you both. I just want to give a little bit of history for our listeners. The Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Centers have a long and rich history rooted in the Rehabilitation Act itself. And from the very beginning, the act recognized that helping individuals with disabilities achieve meaningful employment requires more than just funding. It requires a system of continuous learning, innovation and improvement. And that's why the Rehabilitation Services Administration has long invested in national technical assistance centers to strengthen state VR agencies, build staff capacity and ensure programs stay aligned with evolving regulations, Relations, research and best practices, and over the years, these centers from the early TACE centers to WINTAC and the QM and QE and AIVR TAC and all the things, and now the new NBR tech have become the backbone of progress in our field, helping translate policy into practice and ensuring that the promise of the Rehabilitation Act remains strong for the next generation. So let's dig in. Gang, can you tell our listeners a little bit about yourselves and your journey into VR? And, Chaz, I'm going to kick it to you first.   Chaz: Okay. Gosh, it's been 40 years now. Hard to believe. I started with a community rehab program 40 years ago this year.   Carol: Wow.   Chaz: A few years later, I moved into the public VR program in California. I was a counselor, a supervisor, and then a district administrator and got my doctorate degree at San Diego State University and moved over and directed the TA Center 15 years ago, and then the WINTAC and then the VRTAC-QM and now the what we call the VR TAC, the national VRTAC.   Carol: That is awesome. I did not realize it was 40 whole years. Chaz, I think we're pretty close in age to each other.   Chaz: It's been a while.   Carol: Meera, how about you? How'd you get your journey into this world?   Meera: Well, my work has always been at the intersection of empiricism and law and policy. So I'm a researcher and evaluator. I've done projects looking at how people with disabilities can be successful in workplaces and communities, thinking about inter work and the VR system. More specifically, I became engaged first as a partner, leading the program evaluation for Interworks Wintech centre. And then Chaz convinced me to come to Interworks continue doing what I was doing by taking the lead on the program evaluation for the VR, QM, and then our portfolio at Interworks has grown. Now there are several disability innovation grants and customized employment projects in addition to the TAC that we are leading the evaluation on. And Chaz then offered me the opportunity to continue growing my work, and here I am as the co-director of the center as a whole, and I'm honored and thrilled to support Chaz and our team. Take the work with VR and its partners forward to improve outcomes for people with disabilities.   Carol: I love it Meera, and you're a good addition, and we're really happy to have you as the Co-project director, too. So what is the overarching purpose of our new VR TAC?   Chaz: It is to provide technical assistance and training that will help VR agencies and their partners improve service delivery and increase the quantity and quality of employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities being served by VR program and their partners. Our major focus areas include helping agencies effectively manage the program, the performance of the program, the fiscal side of the program and their resources, and helping them identify and implement effective employment strategies and practices that accomplish the overarching goal of helping improve outcomes and service delivery. That's the big picture.   Carol: It is cool because it's like soup to nuts. I think sometimes, you know, the previous TAC, you know, they had very kind of more specific focus. And then with the QM and like QE too, you know, it expanded. But now we've got the whole shebang in one place.   Chaz: Mhm.   Carol: Very fun. Meera do you have anything you wanted to add to that?   Meera: Sure. I was just thinking about all the work that Chaz has been doing, the messages he sends us and how we've come together and so far trying to put it into an encapsulation. I've been coming up with one team or his words, but I think just such a good representation and you'll see that now in our messaging going forward, but also a yes. And we don't say no. We find a way to work together and is so what, what is the measurable change that's going to result from the work we do? I think you're going to see that over the next five years constantly coming up.   Carol: Yeah, I like that, Meera. You got to keep us grounded in that. About the so what? So what we can do lots of activities. But so what about them? And I see, Chaz, you're smiling at me because, you know, I'm an activity person. And it's like, but what's the benefit from what we did? So how does the new TAC build on the work in the lessons that were learned from all the previous work?   Chaz: Well, to say we've learned some lessons along the way, especially in the last ten years, would be an understatement. There have been the implementation of WIOA and all of the requirements associated with that, living through all of the implementation with agencies, helping them respond to that effectively, looking at the demographic shift in the field to youth, where now the majority of the people we serve are 24 years of age or younger. Looking at going into and out of Covid and how that changed service delivery, how the fiscal landscape of the program changed accordingly, how we have seen the pendulum shift fiscally from one side to the other and now back again. All of that has helped inform, I think, the development of our technical assistance and the training and the way we go into this new center. So we have just a bunch of lived experience, if you will, along with agencies. So what they have gone through, we have gone through with them, and I think we can help them successfully navigate the future. And while at the same time responding to the challenges that they face right now. So all of that, I think, really has laid an important foundation for the VRTAC and the work we're going to be doing with agencies.   Carol: I think you hit the nail with that. I think about all the last five years, even the work I've done and our team has done and how deep we got in with agencies like it felt like we were part. I often talk when I'm in at agency, I talk about we like I'm part of them because you're enmeshed in everything they're doing and their systems and their people and their meetings and all of their things. You become so ingrained with them. It really helped you to get such a clear picture of what was happening and helps really get maybe at the root of some of the issues and to develop that work fundamentally so that the seeds we laid could really grow and germinate and keep going forever and keep growing and growing and growing. So it isn't just a one shot. We did a little quick training and we're out of there. It really became such a deep lesson. Meera, how about for you with that lessons learned? I'm sure evaluation wise there are things you were thinking about as well.   Meera: Oh, absolutely. We have all of our past evaluation reports and findings, and we can keep looking at those. And I certainly keep bringing them up whenever it strikes me that there's a relevant point that comes forward again. And you can see with the way that Chaz has put together these innovative partners and projects, a continuation of the successful approaches and partnerships as well, and just a laser focus on measurable change that evolution and improvement and lessons learned is just baked into the center. As a research and evaluator, I know firsthand how the knowledge translation pipeline takes time, but it can take less time when you work directly with stakeholders from the beginning, and that's what's happening with us. Chaz has always taken evaluation seriously, woven it into the very fabric of the work. Stakeholders are the partners. They hold us accountable. We continuously are learning what's working. Pivot when needs must.   Carol: Well said Meera. Thank you for that. What current challenges do you guys see in the VR system that make a unified national TA center so important right now?   Chaz: To say that efficiency, accountability and improved outcomes are important would be an understatement. And this is not a new focus, of course. I mean, you have to go back to the movement of the Rehabilitation Act under the Workforce Investment Act of 1988, which was really an attempt to improve efficiency and refrain from duplication of services and improve outcomes and all that stuff. And that focus has just grown and grown,   Carol: right.   Chaz: and so a unified center is I mean, it really is helpful to ensure that everything is administrated under one center that we're focused on, you know, whether it's focused on improving performance, like on the performance measures, like improving an agency's ability to manage their fiscal resources or implement employment strategies like, say, customized employment, a unified center can address all of these aspects together, holistically, understand how they interact with each other and an agency. Instead of having 2 or 3 different entities trying to work together with a VR program differently, with different ways of doing business, ways of interacting all that. So it just is a very efficient, I hope. Anyway, an enhanced holistic way of working with an agency. Ultimately, I believe that will contribute to increasing the likelihood of positive outcomes.   Carol: I like the part with the employment being in with us now. Not that employment wasn't in our mind, but it was distant because we'd always put it like we, you know, we're referring folks over to the Q2E, but now with it all integrated, it really does kind of front and center. You're thinking about the fiscal things that my group is working at and how our impact is helping the program, maybe for stability or whatever may be going on, does impact the employment outcomes in the end, and the funds that are available and whether people go on an order or not, you know, all those kind of things. So I like that having it all together, it's a little closer, at least in my head. Meera, did you have any thoughts about that one as well?   Meera: I echo everything you both have said. The unified voice. Central voice. This center has always been a supportive voice. It is always on, always available, and that continues to be really needed. That is something we've heard in the evaluation interviews and feedback that we've received is that folks really appreciate being able to just call, get someone on the other end, get an answer right away, send an email, hear back right away. The responsiveness and the targeted information that they need has been phenomenal. And so looking forward to that continuing. And now across the whole range and spectrum of what technical assistance is needed. As you both have said, It's a time of, you know, as was said, significant change requirements may be shifting again, a laser focus on efficiency and effectiveness of work, which is right. And, you know, in the broader context, we're seeing significant disruption in the work world. And the future of work has been talked about. The future of work is here today. It's the today of how we work. And agencies need help navigating all of that with their customers. There's a lot for our stakeholders and our partners to navigate. I think we've seen from the evaluation feedback, this is where our team under Chaz really excels. It just brings together the many. It brings together the a lot. It goes to the heart of it and meets it on the grant.   Carol: Yeah. You lead into my next question about the partners on the grant because we have a deep bench. I mean, I felt like we had really phenomenal folks on the QM grant. But when I look at the partners you all have brought together for this, and we're on our first meetings and you've got, you know, 30 people in the Hollywood Squares instead of a dozen or so. It's a cool bunch, and people with such interesting expertise. So Chaz, who are the partners on our grant?   Chaz: Our biggest and primary partner is the George Washington University. We've been partners with them for really since national centers were funded. They were part of the WINTAC, part of the QM, and now we'll be a obviously a critical part of the VR TAC Every single one of them is a doer. Their hands are have their hands have gotten dirty and providing like literally in the trenches to just like our own staff at work Institute at San Diego State. We just have been, practically speaking, teammates for a very long time. We know each other well, we work together well, and we're very confident in each other's work. GW a big, huge partner of ours. Then there's the National Disability Institute, which is also a longtime partner of ours. They'll be helping with the employment strategies component of things and just are a very well respected, nationally known institute that is really has some super interesting and helpful information and resources and knowledge along with the rest of the team. Of course, many of our listeners will know. Yes LMS, we're working with Linda and her team this time around, expanding our available training resources to users out there. CSAVR of course, is another long time partner. Everybody knows them. Sara Works is a partner of ours as well. Sara Works has been a partner again since the WINTAC days and, you know, has done all kinds of work with us in terms of developing Sara, the AI program to help act as an assistant to VR programs, communication tool and so on. Then we have Case Review Solutions. It's just a new partner of ours this time around focused on quality assurance, case reviews, contract monitoring. So another use of software and technology to basically provide solutions to VR programs. And another new partner this time around in Intellitech, which has created a program called Case Amplify, which is an AI driven system, which we'll talk about here in a few minutes, but we're really excited about this one as well, because it provides an opportunity for agencies to see how things could potentially be different and more effective into the future. So those are our primary partners, yeah.   Carol: yeah. It's exciting. It's a cool group of people I really was thrilled to see in the very secret proposal that you would not share with us before we went in, and then you see what all the things are that are going to happen. You are always known, though, Chaz, for being the guy. You have those little fun projects that become part of the grant that you know, live on and people are able to carry out and they've created really cool things. This proposal with the exciting AI initiatives, can you share what tools like Case, Amplify and Sara Works are going to mean for state VR agencies?   Chaz: Absolutely. And I think it's important for folks to understand the why. Right. Like, why are these it's not just because they're fun and they are super fun. You're right. But there really is a reason behind developing these projects. And the primary reason is as agencies have implemented Wioa and this kind of goes back to lessons learned, right? We know that the data elements for, for instance, for the 911 and just the recording processes and all of the administrative responsibilities associated with being in compliance with the law and the regulations is a burden. It's a struggle, and especially in a period of time where recruitment and retention has been a challenge across the country. You know, when you lose people and they're the ones responsible for gathering and reporting this data, IT becomes a real challenge on everybody else. And I honestly, in my heart of hearts, believe that embracing advanced technology is the way out of this. It's the way to effectively respond to it. It's not by hiring more people to do administrative stuff, although that would be wonderful. But, you know, we're in this situation for a reason. And now we have right now, not ten years from now, but right today we have the capacity to turn our administrative burden into an AI driven function that alleviates that burden from VR staff. And that's what the why is behind this? Why are we doing this? Because we want agencies to see and participate. If you know, if they're able and willing in these projects to see what the impact could be. Now, of course, we don't know, for instance, what the impact will fully be. We have a vision for it. But part of what this is is an experiment, right? It's a pilot, if you will, to make sure that we can see how it works. So the idea is that and I'll take Sara because Sara's been around for a while now. A lot of agencies know Sara. They know what's possible. Several of them use the program. Now, in our case, like under the VR tech, we're going to be using Sara to do something for pre-employment transition services that we haven't done yet. Now we're ten years. 11 years. Well, I guess ten years really post implementation 2016 was the full implementation. So we're approaching the ten year mark. And while we focused on implementing projects and tracking and reporting and down to the individual consumer level and all that good stuff. Making sure costs are allowable, that people are spending their 15%, all that good stuff. What we haven't done a very good job of yet is evaluating the impact of those services on individuals themselves. Like how has it impacted them? What does it mean in terms of their future employability or future involvement in post-secondary Ed or whatever it is we're trying to determine? And so using Sara specifically to communicate and gather information with students or former students on the impact of periods, and then analyzing that data and showing the impact, that's really where we're zeroed in on this project for Sara Works. Case Amplify, well let me go to CRS. So Case Review Solutions is a new software program developed by two of our former colleagues in the WINTAC and the QM, Rachel Anderson and Brittany McIvor. So they know right? Like what is it about the review system, the case review process, the process, the quality assurance process that is lacking the internal control process, right? How do we fix that or help fix it anyway? Or help states analyze where the deficiencies are and then give them information real time quickly along multiple levels to help them address it so that it's not a consistent finding and monitoring reviews so that they're on top of the changes that they need to make. So again, it's another technology solution to a challenge facing agencies. And they're also developing a contract monitoring tool that's going to be available later on in the project. That will help states monitor another big one. Right. We hear all the time is we're not sure like whether those contracts are doing what they should be doing and the quality of service delivery and all that stuff. So that's going to help with that. Case Amplify is a AI program that Intellitech has developed. It's so exciting to talk about how this could potentially change. And I mean really change the way that VR staff are gathering and populating information into the case through case management system. Ultimately, it has the capacity ultimately to make the process hands free. That is, you can talk to an individual, and this system is listening and gathering information and populating all over into the CMS important data elements, summarizing meetings. And believe it or not, like if it does what we really want it to do, it's going to actually fill in the 911 data elements automatically based on these conversations at critical points along the pathway.   Carol: That's a game changer for people that alone with those what, 400 elements like that is a game changer.   Chaz: Yeah, I could not be more excited about this one than I am. I just think it's going to be revolutionary. You know, it's still in its development phase fully. It's still going to be kind of an experiment with agencies and how it integrates into their existing CMS. But that's part of why we call it a pilot, because it's supposed to be a way to kind of see if things work the way we want it to work.   Carol: It's so cool. I am really excited. I'm also excited about the whole evaluation part of projects because I long thought, you know, when I was back in Minnesota blind and we were getting all those funds spent on students and I'm like, we're getting at these kids earlier. I just knew in my heart of hearts like, this is going to make such a difference in their trajectory is going forward and employment, they're going to start better. They're going to start better in college because they're going to have all this exposure to things they had not had any exposure to. Finally, the time we get at being able to measure, is that really coming true? I mean, I believe it to be true, but it'll be nice to actually quantify it and go, yeah, this is what's happening for people. And we can see the real difference. And that investment that Congress had said all those years ago, we're going to invest in these kids. And they did it for a reason. And now the proof is going to be in the pudding with the results. I love it. So, Chaz, one of your goals was to strengthen the workforce. So tell us a little bit about the VR Fiscal Talent Accelerator and NRLI, the National Rehabilitation Leadership Institute.   Chaz: Yeah. Great. So most people know NRLI. They've heard about it in the past and or even many participated. I remember at one point a few years ago at a conference, Steve Wooderson said, hey, how many people here have gone to NRLI. And I swear, three quarters of the room raised their hand. So it's over 20 years old now, and it's a training program specifically targeted at the executive leadership level, staff of the VR program and preparing them over a year long process where we meet in person for a week, four weeks out of the year, three times in San Diego, one time in Washington, DC. And there's coaching and training contacts that go on throughout the course of the year in a cohort model. So that is supported by the VRTAC this time around. So that's kind of our primary executive leadership training tool. Then we're developing something new this time around. For those of you who are listening, who are familiar with the management concepts training that was part of the QM, that was the VR grants management certificate program that we developed as part of that center. This time around, we are specifically zeroing in on the fiscal folks in VR and preparing a kind of like, nearly like program for them, where we'll use the same cohort model. I'm not certain of all the details yet, but obviously, Carol, you'll be a super important part of that one. And we'll provide an opportunity for fiscal staff in VR agencies who some obviously like every other position turnover at times. And when they do turnover, if they take the knowledge with them and nobody's coming behind them, it can be really challenging. So the Fiscal Talent Accelerator program will be a way to help them understand all of the responsibilities right under fiscal responsibilities in the VR grant, helping them really manage those resources and effectively so that the agency has both not just in compliance, but has the resources available to serve as many folks as possible.   Carol: Absolutely. Yeah. I'm super excited about all of these projects. We've got a lot of work ahead. I know also, we had started spending some time under the QM addressing, you know, the recruitment and retention issues and leadership development and such. So how do you see that kind of expanding in the new grant?   Chaz: Well, it's definitely expanding. And so we're very excited about that because we know clearly that recruitment and retention especially was a just a real, real issue in the last five years. So we had a recruitment and retention pilot under the QM that worked with four states. And we have some really helpful tools and toolkits developed as a result of that. That's on the QM site now, will be brought forward under the VRTAC, but more importantly will be going into phase two from that process under the VRTAC, looking again at implementing those strategies and practices for recruitment and retention with other agencies, tracking the impact of that over time, and expanding the scope of that. John Walsh was really helpful in leading that effort under the QM, and he'll be doing that again. Also, we're developing onboarding resources for VR programs this time around, helping agencies kind of identify both what to include and giving them actual stuff and resources to include in an onboarding program for VR staff. We're moving beyond just the executive level of training for nearly into mid-level management and supervisory training. Training specifically targeted at those groups, which I think will be really helpful and certainly very needed and engaging in succession planning processes with agencies, both strategic planning and succession planning understanding the two of them are clearly linked, but giving agencies some real strategies and practices on how to develop a succession plan and implement that, so that we're not faced with this sort of mass exodus of institutional knowledge. When people both retire or resign and we're like, oh no, what do we do now? Right. So hopefully we're intending to create resources, training tools to help agencies address that proactively.   Carol: And we have some really awesome staff on this grant. This time around too, that can help. Our bench is deeper. You know, even in this area that are going to be able to help do that. So definitely. Meera, you have something you want to throw in there. I didn't forget you.   Meera: Oh I don't think so. Chaz covered all the practices and new projects really well.   Carol: Okay, Meera, I want you to tackle this one about the evaluation and data driving that ongoing improvement coming forward. Do you have thoughts about that? How's that going to look?   Meera: Sure. I think I spoke to this a little bit earlier, but to pick up from that thread, I mean, that is something we are consistently doing. We have multiple channels and approaches that monitor the work and the change that are taking place. We have custom built apps and tools that our IT group has created, so we can make sure that we're setting up plans and staying on track with the agencies and the work that we're doing with them. And we have stakeholders, partners, customers, all of whom can provide feedback in different ways. We meet regularly to discuss what we are hearing and what we are seeing. Formally speaking, we have two reports that are compiled and shared broadly, internally and with stakeholders. We hold meetings, review the findings, and consider recommendations by taking that report apart and into little bite, but continuously throughout the year. We're not waiting for those big report moments. Evaluation Group has been woven into the work we do. They are a part of all the regular meetings that are taking place for the center, and input is getting provided at the beginning and the middle at the end, all over again. It really is that measurable and real change and ongoing calibration towards that is our North star. That will continue to be so.   Carol: Led by the awesome you, which will be great.   Chaz: Exactly.   Carol: My final question to you too what will success look like for the VRTAC over the next five years. And Chaz, I'll ask you first.   Chaz: Well, it will be demonstrably changing for the better outcomes in the VR program and service delivery. It will be serving individuals with the kind of commitment to meeting their individual needs and wants and desires and employment factors, and agencies operating efficiently and effectively and having actual measurable outcome improvements. So simple as that.   Carol: That sounds good. Meera, how about you? What do you think?   Meera: Nothing to add. He stole it right there at the end. Measurable outcomes. Real change. Drop the mic.   Carol: Boom! I love it. So, how do people find you?   Chaz: Our website will be VRTAC or just VRTAC.org. We have the site kind of really in its shell form right now. We're developing it. Give us a couple of months to get it fully going, but if you need to reach us, you can certainly contact any of us through the channels that you would normally reach us through the VRTAC-QM. Can send an email to me or to you or anybody else on the team. And at this point, I think most agencies are able to reach us in whatever way they want. But soon the website will be up and running and they can get us there or any number of ways.   Carol: Awesome. Well, I sure appreciate both joining me this morning. It was super cool. And we can check back in in a couple years too and go like, woo, where are things now? It'll be fun to report on some more successes. So thank you both. Have a great day.   Chaz: Thanks, Carol. Appreciate you having us.   Meera: Thank you.   Outro Voice: Conversations powered by VR. One manager at a time. One minute at a time. Brought to you by the VRTAC. Catch all of our podcast episodes by subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening.

In this episode of Workplace Stories, we sit down with Lori Niles-Hoffman, global learning strategist, EdTech advisor, and author of The Eight Levers of EdTech Transformation. With over 25 years of experience implementing large-scale learning systems, Lori brings a no-nonsense, deeply human perspective to how organizations can thrive at the intersection of technology, data, and talent.Lori reveals why EdTech success isn't about shiny tools, it's about mastering eight foundational levers that determine whether your learning strategy creates value or chaos. From ecosystem thinking to stakeholder management, she explains how leaders can future-proof learning strategies through data, design, and disciplined experimentation.You'll hear candid insights on how AI is reshaping L&D, not by changing the rules, but by exposing where we've been weak all along. Lori also shares why the “backend just got sexy,” and how the next competitive edge won't come from beautiful interfaces, but from the quality of data and insights driving them.You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in...[00:00] The eight levers shaping EdTech transformation.[06:00] Lessons from 25 years in enterprise learning systems.[09:00] Why most L&D tech investments fail before they start.[14:00] The rise of data literacy and “sexy backends” in learning design.[17:00] Why clean data matters more than new tool.[24:00] A breakdown of the eight levers and how they work together.[29:00] Stakeholder management and ecosystem thinking in practice.[35:00] The new role of AI in exposing weak learning strategies.[39:00] Why skills, not titles, will define the future of learning.[41:00] The human side of transformation: keeping people at the center.The Future of Learning Isn't About Tech, It's About LeverageLori's framework flips the script on how organizations approach learning transformation. Rather than starting with technology, she urges leaders to first clarify their target operating model, data readiness, and stakeholder relationships. The result? Smarter decisions, stronger credibility, and sustainable change.Her book's eight levers, ranging from content strategy to ecosystem alignment, help leaders navigate the “medium term” (through 2028) of rapid evolution in learning technology. As Lori puts it, the goal isn't to adopt AI or automation for their own sake, it's to make learning adaptive, outcomes-focused, and undeniably relevant.Data, Ecosystems, and the “Sexy Backend”Forget fancy dashboards, Lori believes the true revolution is happening behind the scenes. As user interfaces disappear and voice or text prompts replace them, differentiation will come from data governance, interoperability, and predictive insights. The backend, she says, is now where strategy lives.She emphasizes that AI doesn't change the levers, it exposes their weaknesses. The organizations winning in this new era will be those that invest in clean data, aligned systems, and smart stakeholder engagement.Skills as the Spine of the Future WorkforceAmong the eight levers, Lori highlights skills as the “spine” connecting every other element of learning strategy.She challenges L&D professionals to stop chasing shiny taxonomies and instead treat skills like a supply chain, measured, managed, and constantly replenished. The goal isn't just mobility or efficiency; it's resilience.Resources & People MentionedL&D Tech Ecosystem 2020Skills OddysseyLearning Strategy paperLori's bookConnect with Lori Niles-HoffmanLori on LinkedInConnect With Red Thread ResearchWebsite: Red Thread ResearchOn LinkedInOn FacebookOn TwitterSubscribe to WORKPLACE STORIES

In this bonus episode, Host Angie Dickson, President of the Inogen Alliance and EVP of Antea Group USA, speaks with Chris Perks of Tonkin + Taylor about the Te Ara Tupua Cycleway project in New Zealand.Chris explains how the team used innovative, nature-based design—like an artificial reef for stormwater treatment—to reduce costs, protect local ecosystems, and enhance community resilience. He also shares how New Zealand's approach to infrastructure combines environmental stewardship, cultural respect, and creative engineering to achieve lasting impact.Guest Quote:“From someone that's putting in some aggregates, some asphalt, and some concrete, we're actually stimulating environmental benefits and wildlife growth. That's pretty cool.” – Chris PerksTime Stamps00:45 The Tapua Cycleway: Connecting Communities Through Sustainable Design02:05 Balancing Resilience and Environmental Stewardship Along the Coast03:25 The Artificial Reef: A Smarter, Greener Stormwater Solution05:00 How Collaboration Drove Innovation and Cost Savings08:20 Lessons from New Zealand: Resourcefulness, Stakeholders, and ScaleSponsor CopyRethinking EHS is brought to you by the Inogen Alliance. Inogen Alliance is a global network of 70+ companies providing environment, health, safety, and sustainability services worldwide. Visit http://www.inogenalliance.com/ to learn more.LinksInogenalliance.com/resourcesInogenalliance.com/podcast]Angie on LinkedInChris on LinkedIn Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We have all disagreed with our nonprofit stakeholders at some point in our careers,  but speaking up and sharing that disagreement can feel hard because we tend to want to avoid conflict and not burn any bridges.However, there are times when voicing your disagreement is necessary because it's what's best for the organization and the mission.That's why, in this episode, I'm sharing a 4-step method to disagree with your stakeholders without causing division, along with powerful tips to make these conversations successful.▶️ How to Say "This Isn't a Training Issue" Without Burning Bridges with Your Nonprofit Stakeholders▶️ Key Points:03:02 The importance of having a strong relationship with your stakeholders04:34  When you need to speak up if you disagree06:36 Step 1: Discover07:34 Step 2: Align08:21 Step 3: Compliment09:11 Step 4: Propose11:48 How you can prepare yourself for these conversations13:12 Five things to keep in mind when having these conversationsResources from this episode:Catch up with these episodes to learn how to build a strong relationship with your stakeholders:Episode 134: What It Means to Be a Good Partner in Learning and DevelopmentEpisode 108: 3 Ways to Turn Your Subject Matter Expert into Your Biggest AssetEpisode 54: How Can Learning and Development Teams Work with Subject Matter Experts Without Frustration?Join the Nonprofit Learning and Development Collective Catalyst Tier this November to attend our upcoming group coaching session: https://www.skillmastersmarket.com/nonprofit-learning-and-development-collectiveWas this episode helpful? If you're listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, follow and leave a review!

✨ Welcome to Squiggly Shortcuts— a series from the Squiggly Careers podcast, bringing you quick career tips in just 5 minutes, every Thursday. In this shortcut, Helen shares three practical ways to stand out with senior stakeholders — the people who can influence your impact, support your development, and open up new opportunities. Whether it's your manager or another leader in your organisation, these ideas will help you build better relationships and be remembered for the right reasons.Episode 507

In this special Halloween episode, we follow Evelyn—a weary UX researcher trapped in a testing loop that refuses to end. Each new participant looks strangely familiar. Each test begins the same way. And no matter what she changes, they all say the same thing: “I can't find the button.” The real horror? It's not the prototype that's broken… It's her process.Today, we're trading our usual interviews for a Halloween story straight out of every designer's worst nightmare: The Infinite Usability Test.Meet Evelyn—a mid-level UX researcher running a morning of user tests that won't quit. Every time she adjusts the design, another “Alex” walks in and repeats the same fateful words: “I can't find the button.”As the day unravels, Evelyn realizes she's stuck in more than a bad sprint—she's caught in a validation loop. Each fix only pulls her deeper into the same mistakes, and each round of testing brings her face-to-face with the one insight she's been avoiding all along.Because sometimes, the scariest thing in UX isn't user feedback…It's hearing something you didn't expect.Join us for a hauntingly familiar tale about deadlines, doubt, and the difference between proving you're right and learning that you're not.Will Evelyn escape the room—or will she keep testing until the end of time?Tune in to find out… if you dare.---Featuring Actress and UX Designer extraordinaire, Stephanie TerreroIf you enjoyed this spooky UX Design scary story, check out our previous episodes:• The Stakeholder from Hell• The Tale of the Cursed Prototype• A Cautionary Tale of Deceptive UX Patterns —Thanks for listening! We hope you dug today's episode. If you liked what you heard, be sure to like and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts! And if you really enjoyed today's episode, why don't you leave a five-star review? Or tell some friends! It will help us out a ton.If you haven't already, sign up for our email list. We won't spam you. Pinky swear.• ⁠Get a FREE audiobook AND support the show⁠• ⁠Support the show on Patreon⁠• ⁠Check out show transcripts⁠• ⁠Check out our website⁠• ⁠Subscribe on Apple Podcasts⁠• ⁠Subscribe on Spotify⁠• ⁠Subscribe on YouTube⁠• ⁠Subscribe on Stitcher

In this episode of Building Texas Business Podcast, Chris Hanslik talks with Jeff Ludy, Founder of The Window Experts, about what it takes to build a purpose-driven, disruptive business in the home improvement industry. Jeff shares how he turned a small garage startup into one of the most trusted window companies in the country, with a national footprint and the most-watched YouTube channel in the industry. He explains how his faith, integrity, and commitment to treating people with honesty, dignity, and respect have guided every decision along the way. From early lessons in sales and leadership to creating a “no-haggle” model that broke the mold for his industry, Jeff reveals how character and culture drive lasting success. He also shares the systems behind his hiring process, his four “C's” of talent, and how he navigated growing pains—including scaling too fast and learning to lead through crisis. If you're interested in leadership, entrepreneurship, and building a company that stands out by doing things differently, Jeff's story is a masterclass in vision, integrity, and resilience. LINKSShow Notes Previous Episodes About BoyarMiller About The Window Experts