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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<blockquote class="ml-2 border-l-4 border-border-300/10 pl-4 text-text-300">
"I went from a blank to having a pretty good rough draft that I can go then and edit, and makes my time much more productive." — <a href="https://www.ele.llc/members/dirk-tussing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dirk Tussing</a>
</blockquote>
Here's the business problem that kicked this off: small and mid-sized companies know leadership development isn't working. Classroom training isn't building AI-ready leaders. And the people who do understand AI can't always translate it into what a 500-person manufacturing company actually needs to do differently on Monday morning.
That was the challenge Mike Grubich brought to ELE's April 10th <a href="https://www.ele.llc/insights/design-charrette-stop-talking-start-building-ai-leaders" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Design Charrette — </a><a href="https://www.ele.llc/insights/design-charrette-stop-talking-start-building-ai-leaders" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Stop Talking, Start Building Leaders</a>. The charrette generated raw peer insight and a partially filled action planning worksheet. April 16th was about turning that raw material into something a leadership team could actually use.


<hr class="border-border-200 border-t-0.5 my-3 mx-1.5" />
This one was open to anyone — members, guests, and curious colleagues alike. No slides, no formal structure. Just Dirk walking through the live workflow with a small group willing to watch AI do the heavy lifting in real time.


<hr class="border-border-200 border-t-0.5 my-3 mx-1.5" />
The workflow: Charrette → Action Plan → Playbook
ELE's new sprint model is a three-step sequence. The Design Charrette starts with a real business problem and generates peer-tested insight. That becomes the input for an AI Action Planning hour — where AI tools help complete Aaron Olson's Action Planning Worksheet (from Strategy and Change), a structured tool designed for exactly this kind of high-disruption, hard-to-focus moment. The completed worksheet then feeds an AI Practical Lab, where the community co-creates customized implementation playbooks.
As <a href="https://www.ele.llc/members/patricia-ouzounian" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Patti Ouzounian</a> put it during the discussion:

<blockquote class="ml-2 border-l-4 border-border-300/10 pl-4 text-text-300">
"You're taking what was done in the charrette and all of the transcript items and pieces to come up with a new and improved, updated action planning worksheet — so it can stand as the premise for the AI practice sessions, and then ultimately the playbook."
</blockquote>
That's the architecture. And the April 16th hour was proof it works.


<hr class="border-border-200 border-t-0.5 my-3 mx-1.5" />
AI doesn't replace the thinking — it accelerates it
Dirk walked the group through the live workflow: drop in the Zoom transcript, the group chat, and the partially filled worksheet; run a CRIT prompt (Context, Role, Interview, Task); let the AI interview you with three targeted questions to sharpen the focus; then watch it fill out the worksheet with situation framing, insights, choices, risks, opportunities, and measurable actions.
The output wasn't perfect. It wasn't supposed to be. The point was to go from blank page to credible rough draft — fast — and then scrub it before sharing.

<blockquote class="ml-2 border-l-4 border-border-300/10 pl-4 text-text-300">
"Senior leaders need to stop treating AI leadership as a content rollout and start treating it as an execution choice."
</blockquote>
That line came out of the AI-assisted worksheet completion, drawing directly from Mike's business challenge. It's the kind of reframe that takes a room an hour to land on. The AI surfaced it in minutes — because the charrette had already done the real work of naming the problem.


<hr class="border-border-200 border-t-0.5 my-3 mx-1.5" />
The part that surprised the room
<a href="https://www.ele.llc/members/david-scherer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">David Scherer</a> raised something worth flagging:

<blockquote class="ml-2 border-l-4 border-border-300/10 pl-4 text-text-300">
"I love these features — I really appreciate how we can leverage ELE in so many different ways outside of the organization."
</blockquote>
That's not just a compliment about the platform. It's pointing at something real: when you contribute to an ELE Design Charrette, you're building a documented, shareable artifact of your thinking. One you can actually point to. For senior leaders navigating career transitions or gig work, that matters.


<hr class="border-border-200 border-t-0.5 my-3 mx-1.5" />
What to try next

<ol class="[li_&amp;]:mb-0 [li_&amp;]:mt-1 [li_&amp;]:gap-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ul]:pb-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ol]:pb-1 list-decimal flex flex-col gap-1 pl-8 mb-3">
 	<li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Run your own CRIT prompt on a current challenge. You don't need ELE's full workflow to start. Take a business problem you're stuck on, give an AI tool the Context, assign it a Role, ask it to Interview you (max 3 questions), then name the Task. Notice how different the output is from a generic prompt.</li>
 	<li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Use the worksheet as a pre-read filter. Before your next leadership team conversation about AI adoption, run the Action Planning Worksheet on the situation yourself — even partially filled. It forces you to separate symptoms from signals before you walk in the room.</li>
 	<li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Identify whose "business why" is missing. In most organizations, AI adoption stalls because senior executives haven't articulated why it matters for this business, this team, this year. Name one executive in your organization who should own that framing — and who isn't yet.</li>
</ol>
Early evidence signal: Within two weeks, can you get one senior leader to articulate AI adoption as a business execution decision — not a training initiative?


<hr class="border-border-200 border-t-0.5 my-3 mx-1.5" />
If any of these insights resonate — and you've got a top-of-mind talent business problem you'd like the ELE community to work on — send it our way.
Members can submit their business challenge here: <a class="underline underline underline-offset-2 decoration-1 decoration-current/40 hover:decoration-current focus:decoration-current" href="https://www.ele.llc/faqs/share-top-of-mind-business-challenges">Submit My Business Challenge Now</a>
Looking to turn these ideas into action? Access the <a href="https://community.ele.llc/t/pre-chat-post-chat-leadership-development-drives-ai-transformation/5860/2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Idea Exchange Post-chat</a> for an updated Action Planning Worksheet.

Co-create Live with ELE | From Charrette to Action Plan: Watching AI Do the Heavy Lifting

Digital &amp; AI

Leadership

dirk.tussing

onboarding

deborah.lenchard

leadership development

peer-learning

HR and learning trends

patricia.ouzounian

david.scherer

clarity

ai practical lab

networking

Workforce Transformation

AI Adoption

organizational learning

knowledge sharing

ELE Office Hour

idea exchange

fresh ideas

new members

re-engagement

Q&amp;A

mike.hoyt

2Q2026

Design Charrette

confidence

capability

ELE 2026

action planning

business problem

CRIT prompting

senior leaders

execution strategy

<div class="insight-content-wrapper" style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.6; color: #333;">

When <a href="https://www.ele.llc/members/aaron-olson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Aaron Olson</a> keynoted in person at ELE’s October conference at Zurich North America (Schaumburg campus), he launched his new book <a href="https://www.ele.llc/members/bookshelf/strategy-and-change" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Strategy &amp; Change</a>—and the room lit up because it wasn’t theory. It was usable.

So we invited him back for a live interactive workshop discussion on Feb 27, and he delivered again—this time with the group applying the ideas to real decisions, in real time.

In the simplest terms, Aaron’s message was this: stronger teams get better at avoiding blind spots → making clearer choices → naming risk early—because that’s where real opportunities get unmasked. He also walked through how to prepare yourself with a simple Action Planning Tool.

And the best part? The community didn’t just nod along—we sharpened the framework with the kind of reflections you only get when experienced leaders are willing to be honest about what actually happens inside organizations.

<hr style="margin: 40px 0; border: 0; border-top: 1px solid #eee;" />

The takeaway that hit hardest: don’t outsource your judgment
As <a href="https://www.ele.llc/members/marty-murrillo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Marty Murrillo</a> put it - especially with AI in the mix:
<blockquote style="border-left: 5px solid #ccc; margin: 1.5em 10px; padding: 0.5em 20px; font-style: italic;">“You can’t… abdicate your critical thinking to a machine, nor should you ever give your voice to a person or a machine."</blockquote>
That line landed because it names a very real risk pattern: teams move faster, they generate more output… and leaders slowly stop owning judgment.

The point wasn’t “don’t use AI.” The point was: don’t give away your voice. When leaders do that—whether to a tool or to the loudest person in the room—capability erodes quietly.

Why “challenge” is the hidden lever in better decisions.
One reflection that really stuck with the group was how culture shapes decision quality—even before the decision starts. <a href="https://www.ele.llc/members/rachel-kaberon1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rachel Kaberon</a> named the blocker we all recognize when we’re being honest:
<blockquote style="border-left: 5px solid #ccc; margin: 1.5em 10px; padding: 0.5em 20px; font-style: italic;">“The word challenge becomes a choice… that interpersonal exchange is part of the choice architecture."</blockquote>
That’s it. That’s the whole game. If challenging assumptions feels socially risky, people avoid it. If people avoid it, blind spots stay protected. And if blind spots stay protected, the “choice” is basically pre-decided—just with nicer language around it. So when we say “we need clarity,” what we often really mean is: we need a better room for real challenge.

Insight isn’t just “more data.” It’s sensing what others miss.
<a href="https://www.ele.llc/members/jean-ryan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jean Ryan</a> added a strategic layer that sharpened the “Insight” part of Aaron’s framework: if you only listen to the loud, obvious signals, you’re already behind.

She described the power of going after weak signals—especially outside your industry—because they challenge your current assumptions before the change becomes unavoidable.

Strong signals are easy to spot. They’re already loud. Weak signals take intention. But that’s where the early advantage lives: noticing shifts in behavior, expectations, education, and adjacent markets before they turn into urgent problems. This is one of those leadership muscles that looks “soft”… until you realize it’s the difference between being prepared and being surprised.

What made this practical: a one-page tool teams can actually use
Here’s where Aaron made it actionable.

The Strategy &amp; Change | Action Planning Worksheet is a practical tool for senior leaders because it turns the framework into a single page teams can work through together—in the flow of real decisions. (<a href="https://ideation.ele.llc/LC_Reskilling/20260227_Strategy-and-Change-Worksheet-editable.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">click here to download the editable worksheet</a>)
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://cdn.ele.llc/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Strategy-and-Change_Action-Planning-Worksheet.jpg" alt="Strategy and Change Worksheet" width="972" height="562" />
It helps teams:
<ul style="margin-bottom: 25px;">
 	<li>surface blind spots without turning it into a debate club</li>
 	<li>clarify the real choice being made (and the tradeoffs)</li>
 	<li>name risk early enough that it helps—not late enough that it hurts</li>
</ul>
And there’s a bigger reason we’re excited: Even better: this worksheet is the backbone for ELE’s next Design Charrette—because it forces the exact moves teams need to build Confidence, Capability, and Clarity while they’re solving something that actually matters.

<hr style="margin: 40px 0; border: 0; border-top: 1px solid #eee;" />

Want to go deeper?
This mini-workshop draws on ideas from Strategy and Change by Aaron Olson and co-authors—focused on insight, choice, and risk when leaders face disruption.
<ul>
 	<li>Explore the book on ELE’s Bookshelf (<a href="https://www.ele.llc/members/bookshelf/strategy-and-change">learn more or purchase</a>)</li>
</ul>
</div>

Strategy & Change in Practice: Turning Uncertainty into Better Decisions

Strategy

jean.ryan

aaron.olson

critical thinking

Talent Strategy

marty.murrillo

matt.sernaker

rachel.kaberon

cindy.pinkstaffmiller

risk management

strategic thinking

1Q2026

strategy and change

Human-Centered Transformation

insight choice risk

learning in the flow of work

team capability building

team-based learning

decision-making under uncertainty

choice architecture

design charrettes

L&amp;D leaders

LAK Group

Human Synergistics

<h3 style="text-align: center;">Culture Isn’t Soft. In Business, It’s a Compounding Asset.</h3>
This real-time live discussion surfaced a CEO-level reminder that talent leaders can’t afford to treat culture as “values messaging.” Culture is an operating system—and the ROI shows up in revenue, productivity, and execution risk when values actually translate into day-to-day behavior.

<img class="aligncenter wp-image-44495" src="https://wp.ele.llc/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/CHIE2025-Kern-Keynote-80-vs-25-percent-slide.jpg" alt="Michael Kern presenting a slide showing a contrast between “&gt;80%” and “&lt;25%” to illustrate gaps between stated values and lived behaviors." width="725" height="428" />
Cathleen Cooke named the uncomfortable part of why so many culture initiatives stall:

<blockquote data-start="480" data-end="572">
“Leaders are often blind to it.” -- <a href="https://www.ele.llc/members/cathleen-cooke" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cathleen Cooke</a>, Human Synergistics
</blockquote>
“It” is the lived reality inside the organization: the default behaviors people experience in meetings, handoffs, decisions, and moments of pressure—often far from what’s posted on the wall.
Then  <a style="font-size: 16px; background-color: #ffffff;" href="https://www.ele.llc/members/angie-zeigler" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Angie Zeigler</a> brought in culture research that landed like a boardroom gut-check:

<blockquote data-start="1050" data-end="1131">
“…those that lacked good company culture grew at only 166%… It was actually… 682% over an 11-year period”
</blockquote>
If 682% feels abstract (it does), translate it into boardroom math:

<ul data-start="958" data-end="1066">
 	<li data-start="958" data-end="1012">
166% growth ≈ 3× revenue (about 9% a year)
</li>
 	<li data-start="958" data-end="1012">
682% growth ≈ 8× revenue (about 21% a year)
</li>
</ul>
Or put a simple story on it: start at $100M revenue → end around $266M vs. $782M.
That’s the pivot when the conversation stops being “values work” and becomes a 2026 business question: Are leaders designing the conditions where constructive behavior repeats—at scale?
As our peer-group of ELE’s senior talent leaders reflected on Angie’s culture research, the lightbulbs went on. Most companies publish values and hope they guide behavior. In practice, the organization runs on what gets rewarded, tolerated, repeated—and what gets ignored. Three capability-building moves surfaced, designed for leaders building team capability inside real work, not just delivering training:

<ul>
 	<li data-start="1756" data-end="2140">
Clarity (make the invisible visible): Stop debating values in the abstract. Pick a few “culture moments that matter” (a weekly meeting, a cross-team handoff, a customer escalation, a performance conversation). Define the Superhero behaviors that accelerate execution there—and the Saboteur behaviors that quietly slow it down—so teams can actually spot them in the wild.
</li>
 	<li data-start="2142" data-end="2488">
Capability (design for practice, not awareness): If values can’t be rehearsed, they won’t show up under pressure. Build tiny “reps” into existing routines: a quick role-play before a hard stakeholder conversation, a 10-minute retro after a messy handoff, a two-minute reset on how decisions get made. This is where values become executable.
</li>
 	<li data-start="2490" data-end="2772">
Confidence (build reinforcement loops): Culture compounds when leaders consistently recognize the behaviors they say matter—and interrupt what undermines them early. If a saboteur behavior gets tolerated, it gets normalized. If a superhero behavior gets reinforced, it scales.
</li>
</ul>
Cathleen reminds us that fewer than 25% of employees say they even understand their organization’s values—and even when they do, daily behavior often doesn’t match.
That’s ELE’s POV for the 2026 shift in one sentence: Move from values declared to behaviors designed—where execution actually happens.
Consider this test: Can the team describe what “collaboration” (or any value) looks like in a real decision, a real meeting, a real conflict—without sliding into buzzwords? If not, that’s not a training gap. That’s a design opportunity.

From Values to Behavior: Navigating Superheroes and Saboteurs

Engagement &amp; Culture

angie.zeigler

missy.gonzales

Culture Change

business impact

jenny.heitman

rahul.sharma

change leadership

Values Alignment

cathleen.cooke

ali.glaser

performance culture

executive alignment

leadership accountability

learning experience design

manager enablement

values in action

talent experience design

confidence capability clarity

capability over training

behavior-based leadership

culture to behaviors

leadership behaviors

observable behaviors

reinforcement loops

real-work practice

in-work coaching

Superheroes and Saboteurs

Values-to-Behavior Gap

Culture ROI

Culture Compounding

Culture as an Operating System

Behavioral Design

Constructive Behaviors

Culture Signals

Culture Measurement

2026 Strategy

C-Suite Narrative

Alter Domus

AI adoption is moving fast—but in most organizations, it’s still fragmented across teams.
Different functions experimenting. Different tools. Very little consistency in how work actually gets done.
This AI Practical Lab builds on a recent ELE design charrette with leaders in financial services and insurance, where a clear pattern emerged:
AI isn’t failing— it’s just not yet embedded in decisions and day-to-day work.


[caption id="attachment_44940" align="aligncenter" width="835"]<img class=" wp-image-44940" src="https://wp.ele.llc/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Gemini_Generated_Image_CRIT-model.jpg" alt="Infographic of the CRIT model for AI leading, breaking down Context, Role, Interview, and Task with icons and descriptions for each step." width="835" height="455" /> The CRIT Model for AI-driven leadership, from Geoff Woods. (Credit: Google Gemini Banana)[/caption]

What we’ll do (live working experience):
You’ll work through ELE’s Action Planning Worksheet to move from scattered experimentation → to focused, repeatable practice.

<ul data-start="843" data-end="1194">
 	<li data-start="843" data-end="929">Define one real decision or workflow where AI should change how work gets done</li>
 	<li data-start="930" data-end="992">Clarify what managers must do differently this quarter</li>
 	<li data-start="993" data-end="1062">Apply the CRIT model to structure better prompts and thinking</li>
 	<li data-start="1063" data-end="1133">Identify what’s already working—and what to scale across teams</li>
 	<li data-start="1134" data-end="1194">Build a 30-day action plan you can apply immediately</li>
</ul>

<hr data-start="1196" data-end="1199" />
Who was in the room:

<ul data-start="1227" data-end="1290">
 	<li data-start="1227" data-end="1246">Internal Client</li>
 	<li data-start="1247" data-end="1267">AI Learning Guru</li>
 	<li data-start="1268" data-end="1290">Real-world Skeptic</li>
</ul>

<hr data-start="1292" data-end="1295" />
What you’ll walk away with:

<ul data-start="1330" data-end="1488">
 	<li data-start="1330" data-end="1358">A 30-day action plan</li>
 	<li data-start="1359" data-end="1423">One AI-enabled decision or workflow to apply immediately</li>
 	<li data-start="1424" data-end="1488">A way to turn AI use into shared practice across your team</li>
</ul>
Below is the Action Planning Worksheet we’ll use live:
<img class="aligncenter wp-image-44983" src="https://wp.ele.llc/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/2026-03MAR-Zurich-Charrette-Action-Planning-Worksheet-Updated-2026APR09.jpg" alt="Action planning worksheet for ELE AI Practical Lab showing sections for Situation, From-To shift, Insight, Choice, Risk, Opportunities, and Actions (Next 30 Days) focused on applying AI to real decisions and workflows." width="922" height="560" />
If AI isn’t changing how decisions get made, it’s not adoption yet.
Join us to move from experimentation → to real work.


<hr data-start="1292" data-end="1295" />

ELE produces this member-only monthly AI Practical Lab on Zoom.
Collaborate online with your peers on our <a title="ELE's Idea Exchange" href="https://www.ele.llc/idea-exchange/">Idea Exchange</a> to keep the conversation going!

&nbsp;

✨ AI Practical Lab: Framing the Why — Leadership Development for AI at Scale

single-event

future of work

Team Leaders

Learning Circles

Virtual Cohort

upskilling

anton.maletich

online event

Adding Value

agile mindset

Digital

career mobility

learning trends

ChatGPT

AI tools

HR future

AI in HR

GenAI

talent-talk

nicole.defalco

human and AI collaboration

AI reskilling

AI Disruption

job market transition

Zurich North America

Session Focus:  A peer design charrette focused on moving AI adoption beyond training programs toward shared practice and sustained learning.
Many organizations can launch AI upskilling. Far fewer build the change conditions that make it stick—communication, manager support, and reinforcement in real work.
This design charrette builds on insights from Kate Haney’s October  <a href="https://www.ele.llc/insights/ai-practical-lab-from-whiteboard-to-workflow">✨ AI Practical Lab: From Whiteboard to Workflow</a> and recent community discussions around enterprise AI deployment.

<blockquote>
Borrowed from architecture, a design charrette brings experienced practitioners together to solve complex problems quickly. ELE Design Charrettes—introduced by <a href="https://www.ele.llc/members/alaska-fu">Alaska Fu</a>, ELE’s Experience Designer—are focused, peer-powered working conversations that help leaders co-create and refine practical approaches in 50–90 minutes.
</blockquote>
Together, we’ll examine what it takes to move AI adoption from training to shared practice—where communication, support, and reinforcement drive real use. The focus is not on vendor selection, but on how leaders create conditions for experimentation, feedback, and real use.
<img class="aligncenter wp-image-44503" src="https://wp.ele.llc/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/ELE-POV-AIQ-EQ-IQ.png" alt="Diagram showing AIQ overlapping with IQ and EQ, illustrating how AI-enabled human judgment drives performance." width="699" height="393" />
Expect thoughtful peer input, design questions, and early patterns leaders can adapt inside their own organizations.
In our October AI Practical Lab, Kate Haney—leading enterprise AI reskilling at Zurich North America for more than a year—shared what’s working (and what’s stalling) in real organizations. One insight resonated deeply across the group:

<blockquote>
Successful AI upskilling isn’t just about training programs—it’s about communication, support, and real success stories that make it stick.
</blockquote>
That insight frames the AI Transformation model below—and why human-centered transformation requires far more than content or tools.

<img class="aligncenter wp-image-44471" src="https://wp.ele.llc/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/AI-Transformation-Upskilling-in-AI-Maturity-e1766111773634.png" alt="Upskilling in AI Maturity" width="501" height="481" />

Who Should Join

Leaders who are past experimenting with AI and now wrestling with a harder question: Why isn’t it sticking?
If you’re responsible for scaling AI use across managers, teams, or functions—and you’re seeing uneven adoption, stalled momentum, or “great tools, little behavior change”—you’ll be in the right room. This is especially relevant for HR, talent, learning, and transformation leaders who know AI adoption is no longer a training problem, but a practice, support, and reinforcement challenge.
How This Works

This 50-minute ELE Design Charrette isn’t a presentation. It opens with a short framing insight, then quickly moves into peer work. Participants compare notes on what actually shifts behavior at scale—how communication, manager support, and real success stories accelerate adoption, and where well-intended efforts quietly break down.
You’ll leave with clearer design patterns and sharper questions—not a framework to admire, but practical moves you can test immediately inside your organization.
Join the ELE Conversation
These every-other-Friday discussions are part of ELE’s ongoing peer exchange for leaders shaping talent and work in the AI era. Come ready to listen, contribute, and learn alongside peers testing ideas in real organizations and sharing what they’re learning.
Recordings are posted to <a href="https://www.ele.llc/insights">ELE Insights</a> within 2–4 business days.

Design Charrette: From AI Adoption to Shared Practice at Scale

learning strategy

Your Teams

digital transformation

tracey.wik

teri.hart

innovation

Change Management

talent development

Complimentary

complimentary event

communication

collaboration

jason.gallo

Future of Work

continuous learning

reskilling

organizational change

L&amp;D

HR leaders

AI transformation

workplace adaptation

michael.hruska

actionable insights

practical strategies

AI literacy

alaska.fu

AI maturity

manager capability

AI and learning

ai resk

reframing hr

scaling AI

practice at scale

reinforcement

manager support

BARYONS

Session Focus: A design charrette exploring how AI mentors can support managers in building more inclusive, scalable NextGen talent pipelines.

<div class="group/conversation-turn relative flex w-full min-w-0 flex-col agent-turn">
<div class="flex-col gap-1 md:gap-3">
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<div class="flex w-full flex-col gap-1 empty:hidden first:pt-[3px]">

<hr />

</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
This interactive design charrette brings talent and learning leaders together to explore how AI mentors can support managers as coaches—especially in apprenticeship and early-career pathways.

<blockquote>Borrowed from architecture, a design charrette brings experienced practitioners together to solve complex problems quickly.
<ul>
 	<li>Design Charrettes—introduced by <a href="https://www.ele.llc/members/alaska-fu">Alaska Fu</a>, ELE’s Experience Designer—are focused, peer-powered working conversations that help leaders co-create and refine practical approaches in 50–90 minutes.</li>
 	<li>In ELE design charrettes, peers work through challenges using three complementary lenses—internal client, AI learning guide, and real-world skeptic—to strengthen judgment before committing to action.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
Building on ELE’s <a href="https://www.ele.llc/insights/apprenticeships-building-belonging-into-the-nextgen-talent-pipeline">October discussion on apprenticeships and belonging</a>, this conversation shifts from concept to design. Participants will examine where AI can strengthen manager capability, reinforce inclusion, and support learning closer to real work—without replacing human judgment.
<img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-44083" src="https://wp.ele.llc/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Apprenticeships-e1766102315299.jpg" alt="Apprenticeships" width="1020" height="436" />
Here’s what that looks like in practice—leaders working through real decisions together.
<img class="aligncenter wp-image-44501" src="https://wp.ele.llc/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/WISE2025-Hruska-Listening.jpg" alt="Mike Hruska, CEO of Baryons, participating in a peer panel discussion during ELE’s May 2025 Milwaukee conference." width="1027" height="685" />
This work builds AIQ—helping managers use AI as a thinking partner, not a replacement.
<img class="aligncenter wp-image-44503" src="https://wp.ele.llc/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/ELE-POV-AIQ-EQ-IQ.png" alt="Diagram showing AIQ overlapping with IQ and EQ, illustrating how AI-enabled human judgment drives performance." width="1115" height="627" />

This design charrette brings leaders together to explore how AI mentors can support real managerial decisions—before scaling anything.

<blockquote>
“AI mentors work when they help managers make better decisions—not faster guesses. That’s where confidence and capability actually grow.” — Mike Hruska, co-founder Baryon
</blockquote>
AIQ sits alongside IQ and EQ. It’s the ability to know what to delegate to AI, how to integrate its output into real workflows, and when human judgment matters most. Managers can tap the collective intelligence of AI mentors to move faster—without losing trust, context, or accountability.
Who Should Join
This discussion is designed for senior HR, talent, learning, business, and change leaders who are actively navigating AI-driven transformation. If you’re balancing experimentation with real organizational constraints—and want to learn from peers facing similar tradeoffs—you’ll be in the right room.

How This Works
Each discussion runs for 50 minutes and blends a short framing insight with open, peer-driven exchange. There are no slides to sit through and no pitches—just focused conversation designed to surface what’s working, what’s not, and what leaders are trying next as AI reshapes work.

Join the ELE Conversation
These every-other-Friday discussions are part of ELE’s ongoing peer exchange for leaders shaping talent and work in the AI era. Come ready to listen, contribute, and learn alongside peers testing ideas in real organizations and sharing what they’re learning.
Recordings are posted to <a href="https://www.ele.llc/insights">ELE Insights</a> within 2–4 business days.

Design Charrette: Building the NextGen Talent Pipeline with AI Mentors

matthew.huston

NextGen Talent Pipeline

AI Mentors

Lead Belay

HumanSide

Session Focus: Mike Kester sets the frame with a concise keynote on leading with humanity in the AI era, followed by a robust peer discussion on human-centered transformation.

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As we kick off 2026, this interactive video discussion invites you to rethink what human-centered transformation means in the age of AI. We’ll kick things off with Mike Kester’s keynote on human-centered leadership and then jump into a peer-powered conversation grounded in real leadership tradeoffs.
In this robust ideation, you’ll move beyond the AI hype and dive into how to shape workforce transformation that truly puts people first. We’ll reframe upskilling strategies, share real challenges, and leave with practical insights you can use as we co-create a human-centered future together.
<img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-44497" src="https://wp.ele.llc/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/WISE2024-Kester-and-Lead-Belay.jpg" alt="Mike Kester facilitating a small-group breakout discussion with senior talent and business leaders." width="1920" height="1116" />
If you missed <a href="https://www.ele.llc/members/kate-haney">Kate Haney</a> in our <a href="https://www.ele.llc/insights/ai-practical-lab-from-whiteboard-to-workflow">October AI Practical Lab</a>, you missed one of ELE’s brightest minds—and a talent leader who has been leading enterprise AI reskilling at Zurich North America for more than a year.
Kate shared practical, hard-earned lessons from the field. One insight resonated deeply across the group:

<blockquote>
Successful AI upskilling isn’t just about training programs—it’s about communication, support, and real success stories that make it stick.
</blockquote>
That insight frames the AI Transformation model below—and why human-centered transformation requires far more than content or tools.
<img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-44471" src="https://wp.ele.llc/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/AI-Transformation-Upskilling-in-AI-Maturity-e1766111773634.png" alt="Upskilling in AI Maturity" width="1200" height="1200" />
Every other Friday, ELE brings senior talent, HR, business, and change leaders together on Zoom—not to deliver a generic webinar, but to exchange what’s actually working as organizations reskill for the AI era.
<img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-44489" src="https://wp.ele.llc/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/ELE-Fluno-Center-with-Teri-Hart.jpg" alt="Here’s the final alt text I’d use (clean, descriptive, accessibility-friendly, and ELE-appropriate):" width="640" height="311" />
These discussions are built for peers who are navigating real tradeoffs: what to scale, what to slow down, and where human judgment still matters most as AI reshapes work.
Bring your questions, your specific challenges, and your ideas. You’ll learn from leaders facing similar decisions—and contribute your perspective to a shared, evolving understanding of human-centered transformation in practice.
Who Should Join
This discussion is designed for senior HR, talent, learning, business, and change leaders who are actively navigating AI-driven reskilling and workforce transformation. If you’re balancing experimentation with real organizational constraints—and want to learn from peers facing similar tradeoffs—you’ll be in the right room.
How This Works
Each discussion runs for 50 minutes and blends a short framing insight with open, peer-driven exchange. There are no slides to sit through and no pitches—just focused conversation designed to surface what’s working, what’s not, and what leaders are trying next as AI reshapes work.
Join the ELE Conversation
These every-other-Friday discussions are part of ELE’s ongoing peer exchange for leaders shaping talent and work in the AI era. Come ready to listen, contribute, and learn alongside peers testing ideas in real organizations and sharing what they’re learning.
Recordings are posted to <a href="https://www.ele.llc/insights">ELE Insights</a> within 2–4 business days.

Co-Creating Human-Centered Transformation in the Age of AI

mike.kester

Talent Leadership

dustin.brewer

AI Era Leadership

Leadership Tradeoffs

Executive Learning Exchange

AI and Work

Journyz

Theme: Turning AI adoption into a culture of practice and shared learning.

<blockquote data-start="487" data-end="574">
“Practice, training, and sharing wins—that’s how we build momentum.” — <a href="https://www.ele.llc/members/kate-haney" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kate Haney</a>, Zurich North America.
</blockquote>
This lab reminded us that the real differentiator in AI maturity isn’t the number of tools—it’s how people learn to use them, together.
As L&amp;D leaders, we often focus on technology readiness. But as the discussion showed, cultural readiness is what truly moves the needle. Momentum comes when teams have space to experiment, share early wins, and learn from one another’s prompts and missteps.

<blockquote data-start="984" data-end="1074">
“Make it OK to say things like, ‘I have no idea how to get started.’” —<a href="https://www.ele.llc/members/laura-ruff" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Laura Ruff</a>
</blockquote>
That simple idea captures what every organization needs to unlock AI fluency: psychological safety. Before we can scale responsible AI use, we have to normalize not knowing—and create environments where questions are as valued as answers.

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“L&amp;D’s role isn’t making content anymore—it’s enabling the organization’s adoption journey.” — <a href="https://www.ele.llc/members/nicole-defalco" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nicole DeFalco</a>
</blockquote>
The takeaway is clear: in this new era, L&amp;D is the architect of adoption. Our work isn’t just to teach tools—it’s to cultivate curiosity, reinforce responsible experimentation, and connect peer learning into enterprise workflows.
When learning becomes daily practice, AI stops being “another initiative” and starts becoming how work gets done.


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<h3 data-start="1802" data-end="1859">🔑 6 Key Takeaways for Talent Development Leaders</h3>
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Culture beats capability. True AI maturity grows from a culture of experimentation, not from a stack of tools.
</li>
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Psychological safety is the new prerequisite for learning. Curiosity thrives where leaders model vulnerability.
</li>
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Governance drives confidence, not control. Clear use policies and shared frameworks reduce fear while accelerating responsible adoption.
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Peer learning multiplies ROI. When employees share their AI experiments and “quick wins,” adoption scales faster than formal training alone.
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Iteration is the new instruction. Learning leaders should design systems that evolve—updating playbooks, prompts, and governance as the organization matures.
</li>
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L&amp;D’s role is shifting from teacher to orchestrator. We’re no longer just building courses; we’re building ecosystems for continuous learning and safe innovation.
</li>
</ol>

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<h3 data-start="2743" data-end="2773">⚙️ 6 Practical Actions</h3>
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Create an internal “AI Practice Lab.” Dedicate space for employees to test tools, share results, and surface new use cases.
</li>
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Host quarterly “Show &amp; Share” sessions. Celebrate practical wins from across teams to make learning visible and contagious.
</li>
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Develop a Responsible AI Playbook. Combine governance guardrails, example prompts, and decision frameworks to simplify adoption.
</li>
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Launch a manager toolkit. Equip people leaders with talking points, FAQs, and reflection prompts to lead AI conversations confidently.
</li>
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Build micro-learning paths. Deliver quick, contextual lessons on prompt writing, bias checks, and validation for real workflows.
</li>
 	<li data-start="3461" data-end="3619">
Measure adoption through stories. Track momentum not just by tool usage, but by examples of efficiency, creativity, and collaboration improved by AI.
</li>
</ol>

<hr data-start="3621" data-end="3624" />
Momentum doesn’t come from mandates—it comes from moments of learning shared across a community. And that’s exactly where L&amp;D leaders have the power to turn whiteboard ideas into real-world workflows.
👉 Continue the conversation: share your own AI experiments, prompts, or success stories with fellow ELE members in our <a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-BgyQdBV4ixZKIZlUS6_KFq0Q1slyg2s?usp=drive_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AI collaborative workspace</a>.


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Skillsoft's AI Maturity Model: A Roadmap to Transformation outlines four distinct phases that organizations navigate as they move from initial learning to fully integrated, value-delivering AI operations.

Their approach emphasizes that achieving the full transformative potential of AI requires a concerted, strategic effort across four key dimensions: people, platforms, processes, and policies. By following this roadmap, organizations can chart a course to successfully embed AI into the core of their business.
<h3>Which Phase Describes Your Organization?</h3>
<ul>
 	<li>Phase 1 - Exploration: Nascent phase focused on learning and discovery; understanding AI applications with an opportunistic approach.</li>
 	<li>Phase 2 - Experimentation: Testing AI technologies through pilot projects and proofs-of-concept to validate use cases.</li>
 	<li>Phase 3 - Innovation: Moving beyond pilots to extensive implementation; AI becomes an integral part of business processes, actively driving innovation.</li>
 	<li>Phase 4 - Realization: AI is fully embedded across operations, delivering measurable value and driving strategic decisions; efforts are governed, measured, and optimized.</li>
</ul>
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://wp.ele.llc/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Skillsoft-Phases-of-AI-Maturity.jpg" alt="" />

<a href="https://www.skillsoft.com/blog/understanding-your-organizations-ai-maturity-a-roadmap-to-transformation">Understanding Your Organization’s AI Maturity: A Roadmap to Transformation</a> (Source: Skillsoft)

✨ AI Practical Lab: Framing the Why — Leadership Development for AI at Scale

Design Charrette: From AI Adoption to Shared Practice at Scale

Design Charrette: Building the NextGen Talent Pipeline with AI Mentors

Co-Creating Human-Centered Transformation in the Age of AI

Designing Collaborative Cohort-based Learning

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