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ELE brings leaders together across companies and industries to work through the messy stuff: decisions, risk, handoffs, execution drag, and what it takes to move from idea to action.

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Figure out if ELE is for you. Straight answers on what ELE is, who it’s built for, and how contributing members actually work together. Still have a question? Contact us.

Abbott

For senior HR and L&amp;D leaders, the greatest challenge isn't implementing change, but managing the cumulative human exhaustion from constant change. As Jennifer Rainey, IT Change Management Leader at Abbott, emphasized, "Change is no longer an event. It's the environment we live in."

This session delivered a powerful, practical case study on how Abbott IT successfully navigated large-scale transformations by embedding human-centered methodologies—shifting focus from process compliance to people adoption and empowerment.
<h3>Key Takeaways for Talent and L&amp;D Leaders:</h3>
<ul>
 	<li>The Power of Behavioral Economics: Attendees learned how to leverage behavioral science to identify the specific human barriers to adoption (e.g., status quo bias, loss aversion) and design targeted interventions that move people from passive resistance to active acceptance.</li>
 	<li>The Three Pillars of Change Success: The session detailed Abbott's successful framework for managing concurrent change waves, focusing on:
<ol start="1">
 	<li>Sponsorship Alignment: Ensuring senior leaders don't just approve change but actively model the new behaviors.</li>
 	<li>Stakeholder Empathy: Using deep listening and feedback loops to tailor communications and training, rather than delivering generic mandates.</li>
 	<li>Adoption Measurement: Moving beyond system completion rates to measure the quality of skill application and the true adoption of new ways of working.</li>
</ol>
</li>
 	<li>Building the Muscle of Adaptability: The core insight was that the goal is not just to survive the current change, but to build organizational adaptability as a core, measurable capability—preparing the workforce to innovate and adapt continuously.</li>
</ul>
This post-session review provides the blueprint for leaders to replace generic change models with a human-centric approach that secures adoption, reduces employee burnout, and ensures strategic IT investments deliver on their business value.

Innovate and Adapt | A Human-Centered Approach to Managing and Leading Change in Abbott IT

future of work

leadership

Future of Work

Leadership

Change Management

leadership development

talent development

Learning Agility

Talent Strategy

psychological safety

reskilling

organizational change

emmployee engagement

CHIE2025

jennifer.rainey

future skills

adaptability

HR leadership

Change Readiness

hybrid work

adaptive leadership

innovation culture

Coaching Culture

human-centered design

Innovate and Adapt

Leading Change

Navigating Change

wellbeing at work

empathy mapping

Executive Learning Exchange (ELE)

The workforce is changing fast—with an estimated 78 million new jobs expected globally by 2030, widening skill gaps, and the rise of AI as a “cognitive industrial revolution.” In this environment, adaptability isn’t optional; it’s the core of how we work.

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This video discussion provided a powerful reminder: in a world accelerating with AI, change, and complexity, adaptability starts—and ends—with people.

<blockquote data-start="738" data-end="873">
“Even in the age of AI, we’re human beings at heart—and our work must always be human-focused.” — <a href="https://www.ele.llc/members/jennifer-rainey" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jennifer Rainey</a>, Abbott
</blockquote>
Jennifer challenged us to rethink empathy not as sentiment, but as a strategic tool for leading transformation. When teams feel seen and supported, agility follows naturally.
From redefining inclusion to designing AI-enabled learning that stays human-centered, participants explored how connection and adaptability go hand in hand. This conversation offered practical, human-centered strategies for building future-ready talent systems—where empathy fuels innovation, belonging drives performance, and AI enhances (not replaces) human judgment.


<hr data-start="1435" data-end="1438" />

<h3 data-start="1440" data-end="1462">🔑 Key Takeaways</h3>
<ul data-start="1463" data-end="2013">
 	<li data-start="1463" data-end="1571">
Empathy drives performance. It’s the foundation for psychological safety, inclusion, and innovation.
</li>
 	<li data-start="1572" data-end="1683">
AI should amplify, not replace. Use it to personalize learning, surface insights, and scale capability.
</li>
 	<li data-start="1684" data-end="1793">
Connection is a KPI. Loneliness and isolation are now measurable business risks in hybrid workplaces.
</li>
 	<li data-start="1794" data-end="1894">
Agility defines success. Build just-in-time learning labs and iterate like product teams do.
</li>
 	<li data-start="1895" data-end="2013">
Inclusion must evolve. Extend belonging to neurodivergent employees, caregivers, and all who work differently.
</li>
 	<li style="text-align: left;">Transforming culture starts with being human. <a href="https://www.ele.llc/members/azizeh-constantinescu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Azizeh Elias Constantinescu</a> expands on this in her latest book, which shows how servant leadership and empathy can heal toxic cultures and help people—and performance—flourish.
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://wp.ele.llc/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Becoming-a-Human-Organization-book.jpg" alt="" /></li>
</ul>
<a href="https://www.ele.llc/members/bookshelf/becoming-a-human-organization-transforming-work-touching-lives" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Becoming a Human Organization: Transforming Work, Touching Lives</a>


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<h3 data-start="2020" data-end="2046">🚀 Practical Actions</h3>
<ul data-start="2047" data-end="2589">
 	<li data-start="2047" data-end="2158">
Integrate empathy mapping into change and learning design to see programs through your employees’ eyes.
</li>
 	<li data-start="2159" data-end="2250">
Equip managers as connection multipliers who create psychological safety and trust.
</li>
 	<li data-start="2251" data-end="2360">
Use AI tools like Copilot or NotebookLM to automate administrative tasks and personalize development.
</li>
 	<li data-start="2361" data-end="2470">
Redesign “return-to-office” strategies around purposeful moments that matter, not attendance metrics.
</li>
 	<li data-start="2471" data-end="2589">
Launch bite-sized learning labs to close emerging skills gaps quickly and keep capability building continuous.
</li>
</ul>

<hr data-start="2591" data-end="2594" />
In an era when technology moves faster than people can adapt, empathy becomes a competitive advantage. Jennifer’s words still resonate: empathy isn’t soft—it’s strategic.
Join the ongoing conversation in the <a href="https://www.ele.llc/idea-exchange" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ELE Idea Exchange</a> as we explore how empathy, AI, and adaptability are reshaping talent development.

</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
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</div>

Innovate and Adapt: Reimagining Talent Development for a Changing Workforce

dirk.tussing

azizeh.constantinescu

edward.desrosiers

marty.murrillo

matt.sernaker

diana.anderson

erin.joslin

4Q2025

cindy.pinkstaffmiller

tonja.sasser-bonds

sam.amelio

laura.ruff

In Being Mortal, bestselling author Atul Gawande tackles the hardest challenge of his profession: how medicine can not only improve life but also the process of its ending

Medicine has triumphed in modern times, transforming birth, injury, and infectious disease from harrowing to manageable. But in the inevitable condition of aging and death, the goals of medicine seem too frequently to run counter to the interest of the human spirit. Nursing homes, preoccupied with safety, pin patients into railed beds and wheelchairs. Hospitals isolate the dying, checking for vital signs long after the goals of cure have become moot. Doctors, committed to extending life, continue to carry out devastating procedures that in the end extend suffering.

Gawande, a practicing surgeon, addresses his profession's ultimate limitation, arguing that quality of life is the desired goal for patients and families. Gawande offers examples of freer, more socially fulfilling models for assisting the infirm and dependent elderly, and he explores the varieties of hospice care to demonstrate that a person's last weeks or months may be rich and dignified.Full of eye-opening research and riveting storytelling, Being Mortal asserts that medicine can comfort and enhance our experience even to the end, providing not only a good life but also a good end.

Being Mortal

Strategy

systems thinking

workforce readiness

decision making

jim.orheim

ethical leadership

experience design

human-centered systems

autonomy and purpose

organizational empathy

leadership in transition

strategic resilience

peer-powered insights

quality of life

resilience strategy

<div style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #333; line-height: 1.8; max-width: 850px; margin: auto; text-align: justify; font-size: 18px;">
<h4 style="font-size: 1.75rem; color: #1a1a1a; margin-top: 2.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.2rem; border-left: 5px solid #cc0000; padding-left: 15px; text-align: left; line-height: 1.3;">The Rebellion Against Command and Control</h4>
We’ve inherited a version of leadership that was designed for the industrial age—built on hierarchy, standardization, and the illusion of control. In Dare to Un-Lead, Céline Schillinger argues that these legacy models are not only outdated but are actively harming our ability to innovate and connect.
For ELE members, this book provides the intellectual "permission" to stop being a enforcer of corporate policy and start being a catalyst for collective agency. Schillinger invites us to "un-lead"—to strip away the ego-driven, top-down structures and replace them with something far more potent: shared purpose and active participation.


<hr style="border: 0; border-top: 1px solid #eee; margin: 2.5rem 0;" />

<h4 style="font-size: 1.75rem; color: #1a1a1a; margin-top: 2.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.2rem; border-left: 5px solid #cc0000; padding-left: 15px; text-align: left; line-height: 1.3;">The Blueprint: Liberty, Solidarity, and Equality</h4>
Schillinger reinterprets these classic values through the lens of modern organizational design, providing a framework for what she calls "leadership for the 21st century":

<ul style="padding-left: 25px; margin-bottom: 2.5rem;">
 	<li style="margin-bottom: 1.2rem;">Liberty: This is about autonomy and trust. Instead of monitoring inputs, un-leading means creating a space where individuals have the freedom to decide how they contribute to the mission.</li>
 	<li style="margin-bottom: 1.2rem;">Solidarity: Moving beyond the "individual contributor" mindset. It’s about building communities within organizations where people feel a genuine sense of belonging and mutual responsibility.</li>
 	<li style="margin-bottom: 1.2rem;">Equality: This challenges the traditional pyramid. It doesn't mean removing all structure, but it does mean ensuring that everyone’s voice has the potential to influence the direction of the work, regardless of their title.</li>
</ul>

<hr style="border: 0; border-top: 1px solid #eee; margin: 2.5rem 0;" />

<h4 style="font-size: 1.75rem; color: #1a1a1a; margin-top: 2.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.2rem; border-left: 5px solid #cc0000; padding-left: 15px; text-align: left; line-height: 1.3;">Why It Matters for the ELE Community</h4>
As senior Talent and L&amp;D leaders, you are often the guardians of the employee experience. Schillinger’s work offers a roadmap for high-level transformation:

<ul style="padding-left: 25px; margin-bottom: 2.5rem;">
 	<li style="margin-bottom: 1.2rem;">From Engagement to Activism: Instead of measuring "engagement" through surveys, this book teaches leaders how to spark internal "movements" that drive change from the bottom up.</li>
 	<li style="margin-bottom: 1.2rem;">Redefining Management: It provides a compelling argument for moving away from the "manager as a hero" trope and toward "manager as a host"—someone who facilitates the success of others.</li>
 	<li style="margin-bottom: 1.2rem;">Culture as a Living Organism: It aligns with the ELE philosophy that culture isn't something you "impose"; it’s something that emerges when you get the human dynamics right.</li>
</ul>

<hr style="border: 0; border-top: 1px solid #eee; margin: 2.5rem 0;" />

<div style="font-style: italic; color: #444; background-color: #f4f4f4; padding: 30px; border-radius: 12px; border-right: 5px solid #cc0000;">Un-leading is not an abdication of responsibility; it is a higher form of it. It requires the courage to let go of the steering wheel so that the collective intelligence of the organization can take over. When we stop trying to lead people and start leading with them, we unlock a level of agility and passion that no traditional hierarchy could ever produce.</div>
</div>

Dare to Un-Lead: The Art of Relational Leadership in a Fragmented World

Engagement &amp; Culture

talent management

agility

servant leadership

employee experience

organizational culture

Community Building

decentralized leadership

L&amp;D strategy

employee agency

social movement

workplace community

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We’ve all been there: you launch a world-class leadership program, the feedback scores are off the charts, and yet… six months later, nothing has changed on the ground.
In Designing for Behavior Change, Stephen Wendel tackles the "Intention-Action Gap" head-on. This isn't a book about the psychology of why people want to change; it’s a rigorous, practical manual on how to design environments that make change inevitable. For ELE members, this represents a shift from being "content providers" to "architects of behavior."


<hr style="border: 0; border-top: 1px solid #eee; margin: 2.5rem 0;" />

<h5 style="font-size: 1.75rem; color: #1a1a1a; margin-top: 2.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.2rem; border-left: 5px solid #cc0000; padding-left: 15px; text-align: left; line-height: 1.3;">The Blueprint: Understanding the CREATE Model</h5>
Wendel moves beyond vague theories of habit-building and introduces the CREATE framework—a mental checklist for any leader trying to influence how their team operates. To drive a specific action, an individual must go through these stages:

<ul style="padding-left: 25px; margin-bottom: 2rem;">
 	<li style="margin-bottom: 1rem;">Cue: Is there a clear trigger that tells the person it’s time to act?</li>
 	<li style="margin-bottom: 1rem;">Reaction: What is their immediate, intuitive response to that trigger?</li>
 	<li style="margin-bottom: 1rem;">Evaluation: Do they consciously see the value in performing the action?</li>
 	<li style="margin-bottom: 1rem;">Ability: Is the action actually easy to do, or is there too much "friction"?</li>
 	<li style="margin-bottom: 1rem;">Timing: Is the person being asked to act at the exact moment they are able to?</li>
 	<li style="margin-bottom: 1rem;">Experience: Does the action feel rewarding enough to make them want to do it again?</li>
</ul>
<blockquote style="background-color: #fdf2f2; border-left: 5px solid #cc0000; padding: 20px 30px; margin: 2.5rem 0; border-radius: 0 8px 8px 0; font-style: italic;">
The Core Insight: Most corporate training focuses heavily on "Evaluation" (convincing people it matters), while neglecting "Ability" and "Cues" (making it easy and obvious).
</blockquote>

<hr style="border: 0; border-top: 1px solid #eee; margin: 2.5rem 0;" />

<h5 style="font-size: 1.75rem; color: #1a1a1a; margin-top: 2.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.2rem; border-left: 5px solid #cc0000; padding-left: 15px; text-align: left; line-height: 1.3;">Why It Matters for the ELE Community</h5>
As senior leaders in HR and Talent, your product isn't just "training"—it’s transformation. Wendel’s approach is relevant to ELE members for three specific reasons:

<ul style="padding-left: 25px; margin-bottom: 2.5rem;">
 	<li style="margin-bottom: 1.2rem;">Moving Beyond Motivation: We often blame "lack of engagement" for failed initiatives. This book argues that if an employee isn't changing, the problem is likely in the system design, not the employee's willpower.</li>
 	<li style="margin-bottom: 1.2rem;">Data-Driven Design: Wendel provides a structured way to measure and iterate on behavioral outcomes, turning "soft" HR initiatives into hard, measurable results.</li>
 	<li style="margin-bottom: 1.2rem;">Practical Lab Alignment: This aligns perfectly with ELE’s "Action Lab" philosophy. It gives us a shared language to deconstruct complex organizational challenges and rebuild them into seamless employee experiences.</li>
</ul>
<div style="font-style: italic; color: #444; background-color: #f4f4f4; padding: 30px; border-radius: 12px; border-right: 5px solid #cc0000;">Designing for the future of work requires us to move past mere information delivery and toward intentional habit architecture. By applying these behavior design principles, we can shift the needle on culture and performance in a way that is both measurable and sustainable. It’s time to stop asking if our people are "learning" and start asking if our design is making it easy for them to succeed.</div>
</div>

Designing for Behavior Change

learning design

Performance Improvement

patricia.ouzounian

behavioral science

Habit Formation

performance architecture

behavior design

frictionless growth

CREATE model

Designing Your New Work Life offers a practical, design-thinking approach to helping employees navigate an ever-changing work landscape—without assuming they need a new job to thrive. For HR Talent leaders and managers supporting upskilling and reskilling, the book provides a clear framework for having more effective, future-focused skill conversations.
Burnett and Evans introduce a designer mindset—curiosity, reframing, rapid experimentation, and a bias toward action—that helps employees and managers explore possibilities together. Instead of treating dissatisfaction or skill gaps as problems to fix quickly, the book encourages teams to slow down and practice problem-finding: identifying what’s actually getting in the way of performance, growth, or engagement. That clarity leads to better coaching, better development plans, and more targeted reskilling pathways.
A core contribution is the ARC model—Autonomy, Relatedness, and Competence—three levers managers can pull to strengthen motivation and help employees build confidence during change. The book provides language and examples managers can use to redesign tasks, clarify expectations, encourage new skill practice, and create conditions where learning feels doable and supported.
Crucially, the authors emphasize small, low-risk experiments. Employees try micro-shifts in responsibilities, workflows, or skill application—giving managers a practical way to test and tailor reskilling efforts in real work, not theoretical plans. It’s a structured way to help people “design forward” while staying productive in their current roles.
And when a role truly cannot evolve to match a person’s strengths or growth goals, the book offers guidance on “generative quitting”—a respectful, future-oriented transition that preserves relationships and keeps talent connected to the organization’s broader ecosystem.
For organizations investing in reskilling, this book strengthens the manager’s toolkit: better conversations, clearer diagnosis of needs, and a shared mindset that supports continuous learning. It helps managers and employees co-create pathways that keep both the work and the workforce adaptable, motivated, and aligned to what’s next.

Designing Your New Work Life: How to Thrive and Change and Find Happiness--and a New Freedom--at Work

design thinking

newton.moore

angie.zeigler

Mike.Slepikas

janice.simmons

performance management

learning &amp; development

missy.gonzales

katrina.williams

Coaching

employee engagement

organizational development

skill development

career pathing

yolanda.mangram

brian.gold

retention strategies

deepa.kartha

ali.glaser

workplace design

career redesign

dan.kwong

jerry.oliveira

david.chodak

<div style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #333; line-height: 1.8; max-width: 850px; margin: auto; text-align: justify; font-size: 18px;">
<h4 style="font-size: 1.75rem; color: #1a1a1a; margin-top: 2.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.2rem; border-left: 5px solid #cc0000; padding-left: 15px; text-align: left; line-height: 1.3;">Adaptation and Decentralized Leadership</h4>
In a corporate world obsessed with five-year plans and static roadmaps, adrienne maree brown’s Emergent Strategy offers a radical alternative. Inspired by Octavia Butler’s science fiction and the patterns found in nature—like the murmuration of starlings or the resilience of mycelium—brown argues that our strategies should be "emergent" rather than forced.
For the ELE community, this book serves as a masterclass in complexity. It suggests that if we focus on the small, high-quality connections within our organizations, the large-scale transformation will take care of itself. It is a shift from "command and control" to "facilitate and flourish."


<hr style="border: 0; border-top: 1px solid #eee; margin: 2.5rem 0;" />

<h4 style="font-size: 1.75rem; color: #1a1a1a; margin-top: 2.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.2rem; border-left: 5px solid #cc0000; padding-left: 15px; text-align: left; line-height: 1.3;">The Blueprint: Principles of Emergence</h4>
The book is organized around a set of core principles that challenge traditional management theory. These are the "biological" rules for organizational health:

<ul style="padding-left: 25px; margin-bottom: 2.5rem;">
 	<li style="margin-bottom: 1.2rem;">Fractals: The health of the whole is found in the smallest part. "What we practice at the small scale sets the patterns for the whole system."</li>
 	<li style="margin-bottom: 1.2rem;">Adaptive Nature: Change is constant. Leaders should not try to stop change but instead learn to "ride" it, staying intentional about their direction while being flexible about their methods.</li>
 	<li style="margin-bottom: 1.2rem;">Decentralization: Power and intelligence should be distributed. Just as a forest doesn't have a single "CEO tree," a resilient organization empowers every individual to sense and respond to the environment.</li>
 	<li style="margin-bottom: 1.2rem;">Interdependence: We are in a constant state of relationship. Success isn't about individual "rockstars" but about the strength and trust of the web between people.</li>
</ul>

<hr style="border: 0; border-top: 1px solid #eee; margin: 2.5rem 0;" />

<h4 style="font-size: 1.75rem; color: #1a1a1a; margin-top: 2.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.2rem; border-left: 5px solid #cc0000; padding-left: 15px; text-align: left; line-height: 1.3;">Why It Matters for the ELE Community</h4>
For senior HR and Talent leaders, Emergent Strategy provides a necessary bridge between "business as usual" and the future of human-centric work:

<ul style="padding-left: 25px; margin-bottom: 2.5rem;">
 	<li style="margin-bottom: 1.2rem;">Resilience Over Robustness: While robust systems resist change (and eventually break), emergent systems adapt. This book helps ELE members design cultures that thrive during market volatility and organizational pivots.</li>
 	<li style="margin-bottom: 1.2rem;">Authentic DEIB: brown’s work is rooted in social justice. It helps leaders move DEIB initiatives away from "compliance checklists" toward deep, relational work that actually shifts how people belong within a company.</li>
 	<li style="margin-bottom: 1.2rem;">Facilitation as a Superpower: It reframes the role of the L&amp;D leader as a facilitator of emergence. Instead of just delivering "content," you are creating the conditions for collective intelligence to surface.</li>
</ul>

<hr style="border: 0; border-top: 1px solid #eee; margin: 2.5rem 0;" />

<div style="font-style: italic; color: #444; background-color: #f4f4f4; padding: 30px; border-radius: 12px; border-right: 5px solid #cc0000;">As leaders, we often feel the pressure to have all the answers and to map out every mile of the journey. brown reminds us that the most sustainable growth is that which happens naturally through trust, adaptation, and small-scale intentionality. By embracing emergence, we stop trying to predict the future and start practicing the future we want to inhabit.</div>
</div>

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