Hi Reader! Summer has a rhythm and cadence that is all its own. People are navigating kid schedules, vacations, and the straight-up seasonality of “maybe it is okay to slow down a little.” Anyway, we are trying to lean into it over here and allow for a little less structure and a little more weirdness. Take the trip. Try the thing. In Elise & Anna - land, that means lake time with kids, porch sitting with dogs, rowing on the river, and revisiting a past career (ballroom dancing) that was long...
23 days ago • 2 min read
Congratulations, your LLM has become your newest direct report. Think of it like you are now responsible for managing a very booksmart intern. And for those of us who have experience managing interns, you know that it is not as easy as you might think. The integration of AI into workflows has become inevitable. It is no longer a novelty tool that sits alongside work. We need to start thinking of it as part of the operating system of how work gets done. We have crossed the threshold....
2 months ago • 3 min read
Hi Reader! As a grown-up human, I am consistently amazed at how often I have to remind myself to chill the hell out, have a little more fun, and hold life just a tad more lightly. I don’t know exactly how it happens, but somehow, somewhere, the work of adulting just takes over. I have been thinking about it a lot, particularly as we have been diving deep into the creativity and curiosity work. At some point, the grown-ups have gotten confused and started treating innovation like something...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader! It recently occurred to us that if we wanted an example of “How to utilize The Human Solution toolkit for the powers of good,” we need look no further than directly at ourselves. Because Anna and I are the perfect example of two very different archetype profiles that combine forces to create magic (and occasionally drive each other nuts). 😈 So we're pulling back the curtain of our office. Because nothing says "professional launch strategy" quite like emailing your entire list to...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader! The word pivot needs to be put in the corporate-jargon-recycling-bin. It can hang out in there with its friends, synergy, and disrupt. Raise your hand if you are so freaking sick of pivoting. Can we just get off the rollercoaster for a second? The answer to that question is probably “no,” but maybe just acknowledging our collective exhaustion has value. Okay… Let’s take a collective pause. Close your eyes. Breathe in deeply. Imagine the word pivot being trampled by horses and set...
3 months ago • 3 min read
Greetings People Leader! You're subscribed to The Resilience Report — the often funny, occasionally sweary newsletter that will name your specific discomfort pattern before your team does it for you. For 10 days, one email lands in your inbox. Each one builds the case. By day four you'll have taken the assessment. By day ten you'll know exactly which pattern has been running your leadership under pressure — and what's on the other side of naming it. Monday Morning Translation 67% of employees...
4 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader! Before we get into everything happening this May, let me tell you about the rabbit hole we've been down this month. What started as casual experimentation with AI quickly turned into building our own platform and rethinking how we approach creativity, problem-solving, and change. One thing became very clear: speed is increasing, but clarity isn’t guaranteed. If you’ve ever found yourself in the messy middle of building something new, this one’s for you. READ MORE... 🎤 Catch us in...
4 months ago • 2 min read
Every terminal is a leadership workshop with worse snacks. The airport is basically a live-action leadership lab. The personalities. The stress. The emotional baggage, both literal and metaphorical. The collective agreement that we are all adults, and yet somehow we’re barefoot in security holding a plastic bin like it’s a life raft. After co-facilitating dozens of retreats around the world, (Shout out to Wandering Roots) I can confirm: travel brings out ALL the archetypes. Not the polished...
5 months ago • 1 min read
It's spring break here in west Michigan and before you run off, here’s a little something to read poolside, planeside, or from the sacred silence of a house with fewer Slack notifications. In this week’s blog, we explore why AI is not replacing human leadership nearly as much as it is exposing what great leaders already know: communication, judgment, feedback, and direction were never “soft” skills. They were always the real infrastructure. We built a company around helping humans interact...
5 months ago • 2 min read