The timing of major events is often uncanny.

Right at the time our society is reaching the end state of its journey towards replicating human intelligence in artificial systems, we are realizing that there is more to human intelligence than we have accounted for over the past century.

We are simultaneously at the cusp of creating systems that replicate human intelligence as we’ve understood it, and also realizing that our understanding of human intelligence was too narrow.

Let’s start this story with our old friend the Scantron.

I’m 39. While it’s being phased out now, the Scantron was a core part of my education experience. It was likely also for you too. A great invention at the time for high-scale standardized assessment. Typically used to evaluate knowledge recall. What date did this happen? Who invented the whatever? Or the answer to a math problem (have a scratch sheet of paper ready and show your working; but did they ever really check it?).

I don’t have the fondest memories of the Scantron, but I’ll admit it was a good invention for the need of the time.

And that need was to scale high-volume assessment of learning. Reduce the number of hours it would take a teacher to grade. A noble goal. But, as it turns out, only a narrow slice of human capability can be evaluated in this way. Those capabilities being (1) fact retention and recall and (2) analytical reasoning (given some numerical or written information, can you arrive at the right conclusion). What it can’t measure well is creative thinking and innovative problem solving, social and emotional intelligence, or adaptability and decision making under uncertainty. The stuff that actually helps navigate the complexity of the real world.

So it was a tradeoff. Perhaps unknown at the time. Though there is a deeper part of this story in which highly influential people, including John D. Rockefeller, at the turn of the 20th century, intentionally designed education around punctuality, conformity, and rote tasks over independent critical thinking in order to produce “obedient factory workers.” I haven’t been able to verify this concretely, but the general idea and theme of the time does hold up. It was peak industrial era after all.

Either way, as the saying goes, “what gets measured gets managed.” And in education this has shown up as “teaching to the test.” The entire education system began leaning towards the capabilities that were being measured at scale, not because they were the most important capabilities, but because they were the most visible. And so we got really good at knowledge recall (memorizing facts) and analytical thinking (apply logic and formulas to written or numerical information), yet progressively worse at creative thinking, judgment, adaptability, and emotional intelligence.

The Intelligence Quotient (IQ) test then solidified this narrow focus as the crux of “intelligence.” But its original purpose was to identify children who needed additional support to learn the facts and analytical reasoning that were being taught in school at the time. And it all seemed to make sense, especially as developed countries shifted towards the “knowledge” economy and the knowledge-worker become the prestigious line of work. The knowledge-worker being a person who has memorized the facts and procedures of their given field, be it medicine or law or engineering or otherwise.

And so fact recall and analytical thinking became the be-all-end-all of intelligence, and the backbone of the knowledge economy, driving substantial economic productivity. We valued these capabilities so highly that we spent the better part of a century building the machinery to automate them. To automate intelligence. To improve upon it, even. And we’ve seemingly achieved that goal. The two things that AI models already do exceptionally well is information recall and analytical reasoning.

So as far as I can tell, we’ve already achieved the goal of automating human intelligence as we came to see it.

Some people are ecstatic about this. Others are very concerned. Many are somewhere in the middle.

No matter which group you are in, you may find it quite interesting that in parallel to the technological developments (of the neural networks and computer chips and massive datasets) that led to AI over the past few decades, there has been parallel discoveries of equal importance in the social sciences and humanities which are broadening our understanding of human intelligence and what it means to be human (though rediscovering or remembering might be better terms here).

Human intelligence and the conditions that support it.

To keep this article short, I’ll just give a quick overview of what I think is the emerging big picture of human intelligence. This newsletter and the associated podcast, The Alive Conversations, explores this topic from multiple angles and perspectives, so its something we’ll keep returning to. Subscribe below if you’re interested.

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As an industrial/organizational psychologist I’ve spent over a decade researching and assessing human capabilities. I’m familiar with the published literature, the research methods, where there’s general consensus versus open questions, and where the blindspots are (there are many). To address the blindspots, I’ve cross trained in machine learning and AI, anthropology, and novel approaches to learning (e.g., equine-assisted learning). In the podcast, I continue to meet people from other disciplines to try and get a holistic and accurate understanding of what human intelligence is and how we can develop it.

I want to share with you my current understanding of the full range of human intelligence, as well as the conditions that support it. Here it is:

Human intelligence is composed of three different, yet overlapping capabilities. For convenience of explanation, each can be described by referring to parts of the body that, for some reason, our language and mental models already have words for. These are useful heuristics only.

• The Head. The seat of reason. The head thinks about known information and reasons it through. It’s what we mean when we say to someone “use your head.” It performs well in structured environments where information is known and effective procedures have already been established. This is what we teach in schools and what our economy has rewarded over the past century.

• The Gut. The seat of insight and judgment. The gut takes in more information than we are aware of and identifies patterns. It enables us to sit with complex, difficult, uncertain situations and eventually commit to a decision. It’s the insights that come out of nowhere, the sudden creative idea. It’s also the deep intuition and “gut feel” behind confident decision making and judgment calls. The gut develops through experience.

• The Heart. The seat of relationship. The heart sees another person clearly and shows up honestly enough to earn their trust. It is the seat of emotional intelligence. It is both the perspective taking and empathy referred to when we say that someone “has a big heart,” yet also the courage and drive to stand up for one’s values that we are referring to when we say “they showed real heart” and “they wear their heart on their sleeve.”

Human intelligence, from my current perspective, is the capability to express all three of these and to be able to move fluidly between them as the situation demands. AI is capable of doing only the first of these three. For now at least. But my hunch is that humans will always excel at Gut and Heart capabilities. So we might be automating Head intelligence, but Gut and Heart intelligence are likely to always stay human. I strongly believe this and just obtained certifications in teaching creative thinking and emotional intelligence because of it.

Crucially, this full range of human intelligence depends on the surrounding environment of the Culture, the Space, and the Work. These categories apply to professional, educational, and also personal life. We’ll explore them more, and their relationship with the three capabilities of human intelligence, in the coming weeks and months.

For now, I’ll leave you with some tips for remembering how to be human in an artificial world.

Today’s tips:

• Creativity, gut feel/intuition, or emotional intelligence. Pick one of these topics and spend five minutes reading about it. They are going to become more important very soon.

• Educational assessment will begin moving towards evaluating these other components of human intelligence (though it might not call it that). The way this will happen is via portfolios of students’ work. Spend five minutes reading about this if you have kids in school, or listen to episode 21 of The Alive Conversations.

• Human judgment is becoming a bottleneck and therefore very valuable. But judgment is built upon our underlying values, which we’ve never been invited to explore. Spend five minutes reading about personal values and how to identify and think about yours. This topic is also discussed in episode 20 of The Alive Conversations.

If you try any of these, let me know what you found and took away by replying to this email.

Now take a real breath, feel the temperature of the air on your face, and notice what its like to be alive in this moment.

Your friend,

James

Takeaways

• Naming is the precondition for developing. You can’t teach or measure a skill you haven’t named. The schools doing this best make their skills explicit: on posters, in rubrics, in language students can articulate. That’s what opens a skill up to investment and measurement.

• Name it, make it authentic, integrate it. Beyond naming, effective schools build authentic experiences — internships, client projects, not the poster board tossed after class — and weave skills throughout rather than bolting on a module. It works best when schools act as porous community institutions, letting parents, employers, and students help define what’s worth developing.

• AI raises the value of durable skills but tempts us to game them. As AI automates technical work, skills such as judgment, communication, and creativity become relatively more valuable. But the moment these skills drive high-stakes decisions, Campbell’s Law kicks in, and could lead to test prep and coached performance on these durable skills. The fix is evidence and triangulation (portfolios, references, real work).

• These skills live in the gray, and that’s largely the whole point. Unlike a fact with a right answer, durable skills operate in probability. The aim isn’t a perfect measure but a steadily better one. That irreducible gray is part of what keeps them human, and why the work of developing them has no end.

Takeaways

• The mind isn’t just a computer in a box, and that model is starting to shift. Mental models are powerful but sometimes limiting, which is exactly why philosophy, far from being just abstract, can become practical in moments of change.

• As clear-cut decisions get automated, what’s left are the gray-area judgment calls: subjective, often ethical, and impossible to fully specify. Navigating them well depends on understanding values, both personal and organizational.

• A new Renaissance may be taking shape, with new mental models, new technology, and new ways of seeing the world and our place in it. It calls for the cross-domain curiosity of a Leonardo da Vinci, the polymath within all of us.

A Seasonal Attunement:

June arrives with a fullness all its own. Gardens overflow, fireflies begin their evening dance, and the year reaches its longest day. After months of emergence and growth, June invites us to bloom.

An Historical Tidbit:

The month of June is named for Juno, the Roman goddess of marriage, women, and protection. Because of this association, June has long been considered an auspicious month for weddings and celebrations of partnership.

Alive in June:

A few seasonal aliveness offerings for this month:

In body:

• Take a barefoot walk through grass, sand, or another natural surface and notice the sensations beneath your feet.

• Go for an evening stroll during the "golden hour" and soak in the lingering daylight of the season.

In nature:

• Choose one flowering plant in your neighborhood and observe it throughout the month as it blooms, attracts pollinators, and changes.

• Spend a few minutes at dusk listening for the sounds of summer: crickets, frogs, birds settling in for the night, or rustling leaves.

In community:

• Attend a community event like an outdoor concert, farmers market, Juneteenth celebration, library program, or neighborhood gathering.

• Invite a friend, neighbor, or family member to share a picnic, porch visit, or evening walk.

In creativity:

• Create a “summer field guide" by sketching, photographing, or journaling about the plants, insects, birds, and treasures you encounter this season.

• Create a jar of summer intentions to revisit in August.

In home:

• Bring summer indoors by arranging fresh flowers, clipping herbs for the kitchen, or creating a seasonal centerpiece using items gathered from nature.

• Create a summer reading nook with a stack of books, a soft blanket, and a pitcher of something refreshing nearby.

Take what’s useful, leave the rest, and let this new month meet you where you are.

-Kristen

There is a voice inside your head that never really stops.

It analyses, weighs, compares. It rehearses conversations that haven’t happened and replays ones that have. It narrates your own experience back to you, in real time, as you move through the day. It has opinions about everything, and shortly it will have an opinion about this article.

We call this thinking. We celebrate it. It is the faculty that education spends twelve years developing and professional life rewards almost exclusively. Logical. Analytical. Reasoned. The capacity to hold a problem in mind, turn it over, and arrive at a conclusion you can defend.

It is genuinely impressive.

But it is only one way of knowing. There are three others.

#1: You’ve been in a conversation that changed direction before anyone said a word. Something shifted in the room, in the air, and you felt it before you could name it. Not a thought. A knowing, arriving somewhere below the thinking. And you’ve also trusted someone immediately, without evidence. Or distrusted someone you had every reason to trust. And later, sometimes much later, you found out you were right. Not because you reasoned your way there. Because something in you read the situation more accurately than your rational mind could.

This is the gut. Not a metaphor, not a cliché. A real form of intelligence, registering what the analytical mind cannot reach, and communicating in a way that has nothing to do with words. More on that in a moment.

#2: You’ve also known what someone needed before they asked. Maybe before they knew themselves. A friend who said they were fine, and you knew they weren’t. A colleague whose question wasn’t really the question. A moment when you stayed, just stayed, without trying to fix or advise or move things forward, and something between you shifted.

This is the heart. Again, not a metaphor, not a cliché. A form of knowing that operates entirely outside language, in the space between people, in what is sensed rather than said.

#3: And sometimes, perhaps not that often, but on occasion, you’ve seen something that wasn’t there yet. A possibility that felt more real than the present situation. A direction that was simply, suddenly, obvious in a way that no amount of logic or reasoning had produced, and no amount of it could produce.

This is vision. The eyes, in the deepest sense, seeing new possibilities, new perspectives, new ways through.

Now, back to language.

These three other ways of knowing — the gut, the heart, the eyes — have almost no language for what they know or how they know it. “When you know, you know” is about as far as words get when trying to describe how the heart communicates. These are forms of intelligence that speak in a felt sense, a signal, a quality of knowing that disappears the moment you try to fully encapsulate it in words. It is the realm of poetry. And you cannot learn about love by reading a million poems. You have to have experienced it first to know what the poet is pointing toward. It escapes language.

This is not a limitation of vocabulary. It is the nature of these ways of knowing. They live beyond what language was built to carry.

Which is why the rise of AI clarifies something important.

Today’s AI systems are also known as Large Language Models. They are called this because they are trained on more text than any human could read in a thousand lifetimes. When it comes to analytical thinking, they are extraordinary, and they operate in exactly the medium the analytical mind operates in. Language.

But the gut, the heart, the eyes. You cannot train a model on what they know. Because what they know never made it into text. It was felt, sensed, seen. Lived but not recorded.

You cannot train a Large Language Model on intelligence that is beyond language.

If you are familiar with some of my work, you might already sense, perhaps in the gut, where this is heading.

Over the last few centuries (millennia, really, but we’ll stay focused) our culture has become incredibly head-centric. The kind of intelligence that powered our institutions, our sciences, our economies was the analytical kind. The verbal, analytical mind above all else. The gut, the heart, the eyes were deprioritized. At times, actively suppressed.

We built systems of education and professional life that are extraordinarily good at developing analytical intelligence, and equally good at training the other three out of us. Enough time passed that we largely forgot they were ever there. Yet we went further still. We began to identify ourselves with the analytical mind entirely, as though the voice in the head were the whole of what we are. Of who we are.1

And so our other ways of knowing, which had always helped us navigate life, grew quieter and quieter. But they are still there. Still speaking, in their own language, in their own way.

We learned to ignore them, to override their signals. But they are a part of us. Still there, waiting to be heard.

And now, ironically, the very cultural systems that suppressed them are calling for their return. Professional and educational institutions are investing in what they call “human skills”, you might’ve heard about this. And when you dig into what they mean, they are pointing, without fully realizing it, at the gut, the heart, and the eyes. A return of the fullness of human intelligence.

The reason value is shifting isn’t simply that AI does the analytical work faster. It’s that the analytical work was never the whole of what made us human, never the whole of human intelligence.

AI is shinning a spotlight on what we aren’t using.

It is a correction. A return. An invitation, finally, unavoidably, to come back to the parts of ourselves we let go quiet. To our full self. Our whole self. Because the unintended consequence of taking up permanent residence in the analytical mind, rather than visiting when needed, is a life that is somehow thinner than it should be. More mechanical, less alive. Less fully lived.

And here is what is remarkable: these other ways of knowing return faster than you would expect. All it takes is for the active cultural suppression to be removed, even slightly.

These ways of knowing were always there.

They are also, not coincidentally, the things that make us feel most fully alive.

In the weeks to come, we’ll explore each of them in turn: what they are, what they feel like when they’re working, and what they need to return.

Your friend,

James

For most of human history, presence was not a skill. It was the only way to work.

Immediate feedback. Physical consequence. Learning by watching and doing. The environments humans occupied for nearly all of our existence were ones that demanded your full attention, right now. You could not abstract your way through reading a river or tracking an animal. Presence did not need to be practiced, it was the natural cognitive state.

Then came what I’ll call the “production revolutions.”

Agriculture, industrialization, the computer, knowledge work. Each automated the most repeatable layer of the previous era and pushed human labor, from physical to cognitive, into something more complex. More abstract. Further from the physical, deeper into the conceptual. The feedback loops stretched. The sensory anchors dissolved. Each revolution asked more of the mind and less of the body, less of the immediate moment.

We have been moving in that direction for ten thousand years. And now, for the first time, the direction might be changing.

AI does not push human workers into a new production layer. It compresses the entire production stack. The procedural — the codified, the documentable, the analytically correct — arrives faster and cheaper than any specialist could deliver it. What remains, after that compression, is the thing every revolution has been moving us away from.

Presence. Judgment. Genuine human relationship.

MIT Sloan researchers Isabella Loaiza and Roberto Rigobon recently tried to measure this shift at scale. Their EPOCH framework — Empathy, Presence, Opinion, Creativity, Hope — identifies the human capabilities that complement rather than compete with AI. Using network-based methods to map task interdependencies across all U.S. occupations, they found that new tasks emerging in 2024 carry significantly higher EPOCH scores than pre-existing tasks. Jobs with high EPOCH scores showed stronger employment growth from 2015 to 2023, higher hiring rates in 2024, and more favorable projections through 2034.

The P in EPOCH is Presence. The economy is already pricing it.

Last week, NPR ran a story about special education teachers using AI, and it is the clearest illustration of this I have seen in the news.

Special educators in the U.S. are overwhelmed. Forty-five states reported teacher shortages in the 2024-25 school year, and the paperwork burden is a major reason people leave. For each student with a disability, teachers must develop an Individualized Education Program — a detailed, legally required document tailored to that child’s specific needs. A teacher named Mary Acebu described spending 45 minutes developing just three or four IEP goals per student, cross-referencing a five-inch-thick binder of state standards.

She now uses AI for that. The time savings are real. But the reason the story matters is what she does with that time: she is with her students.

A researcher at the University of Central Florida who has been studying AI in special education put it plainly: the more face time a student with a disability has with a teacher, the better the outcomes, across every dimension. In Acebu’s class, a student who couldn’t read last year is now reading.

AI compressed the production layer. The presence layer expanded. Outcomes improved.

This is not a soft story about technology being helpful. It is a preview of what the economy is beginning to require. Presence as a hard skill.

Because using AI well — actually well, not just efficiently — also requires presence, the very capacity we have spent decades training away. You have to read AI output with genuine judgment. Know what good looks like before the analysis confirms it. Sense when the problem itself needs to be reframed, not just answered. A tool built on pattern recognition is structurally limited when the task legally requires individualization. You cannot catch that limitation without genuine discernment — and discernment is precisely what years of abstraction-heavy knowledge work quietly erodes. Concerningly, CDT’s research found that 15% of special education teachers are already relying on AI to develop IEPs entirely on their own.

My research on how environments shape cognition suggests that the presence underlying human judgment and relationship is not simply a matter of effort or intention. Sustained knowledge work trains abstraction as the default cognitive mode, progressively eroding the capacity for the concrete, present-moment processing that presence actually depends on. That erosion happens slowly, over years, and rest alone does not reverse it. The environment has to change.

We evolved for presence. The production era, for a relatively short moment in human history, moved us away from it. The AI era might make it economically indispensable again.

- James

A Seasonal Attunement:

May: the month of steadily lengthening days, mothers, and strawberry harvesting. A sublime bridge between spring and summer. Enjoy the sense of hope and anticipation that comes with the unfolding of seemingly endless warm days on the horizon.

An Historical Tidbit:

May is thought to be named for Maia, a Roman goddess, who signifies growth and fertility. It’s fitting, then, that we celebrate Mother’s Day this month, formally designated a U.S. holiday by Woodrow Wilson in 1914.

Alive in May:

A few seasonal aliveness offerings for this month:

In body:

• Channel your inner child and dance around the maypole. Or celebrate Dance Like a Chicken Day on 5/14.

• Celebrate the unofficial start of summer by taking a dip in the nearest body of water. Cold showers also count.

In nature:

• With warming early morning temperatures, plan a sunrise hike or walk. Listen to the birds greet the day.

• Find a cozy outdoor spot to sit and watch the bees and butterflies float from blossom to blossom.

In community:

• Host a movie marathon to celebrate Star Wars Day on 5/4. May the fourth be with you.

• Send a note or simple gift to an educator in your or your child’s life during Teacher Appreciation Week from 5/4-5/8.

In creativity:

• Collect wildflowers to create a flower crown to wear or wreath to decorate your home with.

• Plan your summer bucket list or seasonal bingo card. Here is an example for children or the young at heart.

In home:

• Farmers markets begin to open in many areas this month. Visit one and use your haul to cook a homemade seasonal meal. Dine al fresco if you have access to outdoor space.

• Let go of what doesn’t belong anymore. Whether it’s a major declutter and donate day or simply recycling a stack of old magazines, anything counts.

Take what’s useful, leave the rest, and let this new month meet you where you are.

-Kristen

Connect with Lauren:⁠ ⁠⁠https://linkedin.com/in/laurenhenkin⁠

Humane Space Website: https://thehumane.space

Takeaways:

• Curiosity isn’t a childhood trait or a creative luxury — it’s the fundamental expression of who we are as human beings. It runs from birth to death, and we’ve simply forgotten how to practice it as adults.

• The modern workplace is structurally hostile to curiosity. The relentless drive toward efficiency and scale asks people to repeat the same steps over and over — and when employees do bring ideas, the instinct is to shut them down rather than follow the thread. Engagement and curiosity are deeply connected, and organizations are paying the price for that disconnect.

• AI is pulling everything toward the mean. Its outputs reflect the average of what it was trained on. The greatest human innovations have always come from the outliers — from someone wondering about something in a way that couldn’t be predicted. That capacity is not something AI can replicate, and it’s becoming more visible as a competitive differentiator.

• When Lauren started relying on AI for email, she noticed she was losing her voice. Not just thinking less — losing a felt sense of identity and connection. Going back to writing everything herself, she felt more alive and more present with the people she was writing to.

Connect with Sandra: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandraloughlin/

Takeaways:

• AI is commoditizing. If every organization has access to the same models, the model cannot be the competitive differentiator. The advantage has to come from somewhere else.

• Two new sources of competitive advantage are emerging: organizational knowledge — the contextual understanding of your business that only exists inside your organization — and people, specifically the human capabilities AI cannot replicate.

• Neither organizational knowledge nor people capability can be purchased. Both have to be built. Building them requires changing how organizations fundamentally operate.

• The organizations now most at risk are those that spent decades optimizing around what AI can do and systematically underinvesting in what it cannot.

A Seasonal Attunement:

Greetings, April. Trees and plants that were brown and bare just weeks ago burst with color and texture, each taking their place in the steady onward march of the season. Spring’s brief, blink-and-you'll-miss-it show reminds us to notice and savor each day.

An Historical Tidbit:

Thought to be derived from the Latin aperire (“to open”), April includes a number of seasonal celebrations. The origin of April Fool’s Day, celebrated on the first day of the month, remains a mystery, though a less popular theory suggests the holiday is related to Mother Nature “fooling” us with shifting and unpredictable weather during this time of year.

Alive in April:

A few seasonal aliveness offerings for this month:

In body:

• Find a quiet spot to listen to (or dance in) the rain. If it’s a passing shower, make sure to look for the rainbow.

• Take your regular workout or exercise routine outside or try something new like pickleball.

In nature:

• Head to the woods to look for edible spring treats like ramps or wild garlic.

• Peep returning migratory birds on a nature walk.

In community:

• Grab your favorite people, some portable snacks, and a blanket, and head to the park in honor of National Picnic Day (4/23).

• Celebrate Arbor Day (4/24) by planting a tree or mulching and cleaning up around the trees in your neighborhood.

In creativity:

• Pick wildflowers, press them in a book or flower press, and frame or use them in a creative art project.

• Go for a walk and try to find items in nature that match every color of the rainbow.

In home:

• Make a spring dessert, such as carrot cake or lemon bars.

• Spring clean just one thing in your home - mop the floors, wash the windows, clean out your closet - your choice!

Take what’s useful, leave the rest, and let this new month meet you where you are.

-Kristen

Connect with Rachael: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachael-casterlin/⁠

Takeaways:

• Burnout and stress aren’t the same thing. Stress has a natural recovery arc; burnout doesn’t. Rachael’s own experience, and her work with others, shows that recognizing the difference is what finally lets you hear the “burnout bus” coming before you get on.

• Presence is built in transitions, not retreats. A breath before your next meeting, five seconds before you walk out of your home office. These small pauses are where the practice actually lives.

• Your calendar reflects your values, whether you intend it to or not. Rachael encourages listeners to find one 15-minute block and protect it for something that reflects who they really are.

Connect with David: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidchestnut/⁠

Takeaways:

• AI readiness is about capability, not speed. The real risk isn’t that AI replaces people. It’s that organizations use it to move faster instead of using it to develop deeper expertise and better judgment.

• Expertise still requires effortful learning. If AI removes the “reps and sets” that build real skill, organizations risk creating a workforce that can produce outputs quickly but lacks the understanding needed to evaluate or improve them.

• The bottleneck in knowledge work is shifting to human judgment. As AI dramatically increases the speed of information processing and content generation, the most valuable human roles will increasingly center on discernment, accountability, and deciding what work is actually good enough to stand behind.

Connect with Hanne: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannekristiansen/⁠

Takeaways

• Creativity is often equated with artistic skills, but it encompasses much more.

• Awareness is crucial for understanding one’s own creativity and work style.

• The question should shift from ‘How creative are you?’ to ‘How are you creative?’.

• Holding labels lightly allows for greater flexibility in self-identity.

• Creative intelligence involves understanding one’s own preferences and those of others.

• Mindfulness and awareness are foundational to enhancing creativity.

• The interplay between routine and rhythm can lead to a more fulfilling work life.

• AI should be leveraged creatively rather than seen as a separate challenge.

• Understanding the ‘why’ behind actions is essential for meaningful engagement.

• Collaboration benefits from recognizing and utilizing diverse creative styles. Awareness is essential but must lead to action.

• Starting small in self-awareness can lead to curiosity about others.

• Creativity is a skill that can be developed over time.

• Human skills are crucial in the face of technological advancements.

• Soft skills should be rebranded as hard-hitting skills.

• Creativity is increasingly recognized as vital in various fields.

• Education systems need to incorporate creativity into their frameworks.

• Experiential learning is key to understanding creativity.

• The journey of learning creativity should be tailored to individual needs.

• Research is ongoing to understand barriers to accessing creative intelligence.

Chapters

00:00 The Rhythm of Work vs. Routine

06:22 Understanding Creativity and Awareness

12:55 The Importance of Labels and Identity

16:46 Creative Intelligence in the Age of AI

22:22 Questioning Assumptions and Creative Styles

32:04 The Interplay of Awareness and Action

35:05 Embracing Human Skills in the Age of Technology

38:58 Cognitive Flexibility and Creativity

43:07 The Role of Education in Fostering Creativity

57:01 Understanding Creative Intelligence

01:01:09 Research and Community Building for Creative Growth

Takeaways

• AI has matured and is now embedded in organizations.

• Leadership models are changing due to AI’s influence.

• Resilience and adaptability are crucial for modern leaders.

• Next-gen leaders face unique challenges with technology.

• Experiential learning significantly enhances retention and understanding.

• Behavioral change is more impactful than knowledge acquisition.

• Trust and integrity are essential in leadership today.

• Organizations must adapt to the changing workforce dynamics.

• Equine-assisted learning provides valuable insights into leadership.

• The future of leadership will focus on uniquely human skills.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Equine Assisted Leadership

03:01 The Intersection of Horses and Leadership

06:07 Transitioning from Engineering to Leadership Development

09:06 AI’s Role in Modern Leadership

11:58 The Unique Challenges of Next-Gen Leaders

14:52 Resilience and Adaptability in Leadership

17:59 The Perfect Storm of Change in Leadership

21:08 Behavioral Change vs. Knowledge Acquisition

23:57 Experiential Learning in Leadership Development

27:04 The Future of Leadership in an AI-Driven World

Connect with Britney: https://www.linkedin.com/in/britneyacole/

Takeaways

• AI can enhance human creativity rather than replace it.

• Discernment is crucial in deciding when to use AI.

• Authenticity in communication remains vital despite AI assistance.

• Organizations must adapt to the changing expectations of employees due to AI.

• The future of work will require a focus on uniquely human skills.

• Young people need guidance to redefine their value in the workplace.

• Leadership development should be an ongoing journey, not a one-time event.

• Self-agency is essential for individual contributors in their careers.

• Education systems must evolve to prepare students for an AI-driven world.

• The integration of AI in organizations requires careful consideration of accountability.

Chapters

00:00 Exploring Identity in the Age of AI

03:06 The Integration of AI and Human Creativity

06:01 Discernment and Judgment in AI Utilization

08:57 The Impact of AI on Work Expectations

11:58 The Future of Learning and Development

15:01 Authenticity and Human Connection in AI

18:03 Empowering the Next Generation of Workers

20:56 The Role of Leadership in a Changing Workforce

24:02 Navigating the Challenges of AI in Organizations

26:54 The Importance of Human Skills in the Workplace

30:05 Self-Agency and Personal Growth in Careers

33:03 The Future of Work and Education

35:57 Embracing the Messy Middle of Innovation

• Connect with Betsy: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/betsygardner22/⁠

• Order Betsy’s book “Human in the Room”: https://www.humanintheroombook.com/

• B Student podcast: ⁠https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOsTZD_zoKsvctm4ggdkelvfugZ70XaeU&si=4dps1RQ6FQ9-xFvZ⁠

Takeaways

• Soft skills training comprises only 10% of learning and development budgets.

• Leaders express frustration over people-related issues in their teams.

• Trust and relationship capital are essential for navigating business challenges.

• Young professionals often lack training in trust-building activities.

• The educational system has over-indexed on technical skills at the expense of soft skills.

• Mentorship is crucial for developing the next generation of leaders.

• Presence in the workplace can significantly impact professional relationships.

• AI is changing the landscape of work, necessitating a focus on human skills.

• Organizations must create a culture that values and develops soft skills.

• The crisis of trust in institutions affects workplace dynamics.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Olive and Betsy

02:45 The Importance of People Skills in Business

05:10 The Disconnect Between Spending and People Skills

11:22 Building Trust and Relationship Capital

15:09 The Three Pillars of Soft Skills

19:29 The Role of Presence in Professional Settings

23:30 Navigating Workplace Dynamics and Mentorship

30:38 The Human Element in Leadership

35:50 The Impact of AI on Human Skills

40:42 The Crisis of Trust in Modern Workplaces

A Seasonal Attunement:

Greetings, March. Daylight stretches a few minutes more each day, birds offer a tentative song, green shoots burst through the hard ground, and we begin to remember the bliss of the sun’s warmth upon our skin.

An Historical Tidbit:

March was originally the first month of the calendar year until the Romans added January and February as the first and second months around 450 BCE. So it’s no surprise, then, that the month that marks the return of the sun and the first days of spring is the one that actually feels like the beginning of a new year for many of us.

Alive in March:

A few seasonal aliveness offerings for this month:

In body:

• Go for a walk in the rain or put on some boots and go puddle jumping.

• Open the windows on a sunny day. Breathe the cool air and let it refresh your living space.

In nature:

• Take a spring hike or walk in the woods and look closely for early signs of life.

• Use a windy day to fly a kite at a local park.

• Take a photo each week of the same tree or hillside and watch how it changes throughout the month.

In community:

• Attend a maple syrup festival and learn about the time-honored art of syrup making.

• Visit a St. Patrick’s Day event or parade and take in the sights and sounds of bagpipes and Irish dancers.

In creativity:

• Use pinecones, peanut butter, and seeds (or other materials) to make a DIY bird feeder.

• Create a new dish using green seasonal ingredients like asparagus or artichokes.

• Sketch or paint your favorite early spring blooms like crocus or daffodils.

In home:

• Create an energizing spring playlist to serve as the soundtrack for your spring cleaning.

• Plant herbs or start seeds indoors for your spring garden.

Take what’s useful, leave the rest, and let this new month meet you where you are.

-Kristen

Connect with Luke: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmontuori/⁠

Follow Luke’s thought leadership: ⁠https://www.lumosinsight.co.uk/posts⁠

Takeaways

• Cognition is the transformation of information from one type to another.

• Embodied cognition suggests that the body plays a crucial role in cognitive processes.

• The future of work is tied to understanding new economies and cultural values.

• AI challenges traditional notions of cognition and embodiment.

• System zero represents a new layer of cognitive interaction with AI.

• Motivation and individuality will be key differentiators in the future economy.

• Designing for human-AI interaction requires understanding cognitive ergonomics.

• Cognition is not limited to the brain; it includes the body and environment.

• The ability to create and connect ideas will be essential skills.

• Curiosity and personal resonance drive exploration and learning.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Embodied Cognition

06:05 The Future of Work and Value

12:45 Understanding Embodied Cognition

18:00 Cognition Beyond the Brain

24:02 The Role of AI in Cognition

30:06 Human-AI Interaction and Design

36:01 Motivation and Individuality in the New Economy

42:05 Conclusion and Reflections

Connect with Aga: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/agnieszka-jacobs-ab030734/⁠

Learn about SQUARELY Copenhagen: ⁠https://www.squarely-copenhagen.com/⁠

Takeaways

• AI replaces human interactions, leading to a loss of humanity.

• The economy is shifting towards valuing human connection skills.

• Biophilic design incorporates nature into architecture for better well-being.

• Natural environments enhance cognitive performance and creativity.

• Workspaces should be designed to foster creativity and connection.

• Soft transitions in design can improve the work environment.

• Natural materials reduce toxins and enhance well-being.

• Corporate culture often prioritizes aesthetics over functionality.

• Measuring the impact of nature on creativity is essential.

• Organizations need to embrace innovative design principles.

Chapters

00:00 The Impact of AI on Human Communication

02:55 The Shift Towards Human Connection in Work

05:58 Understanding Biophilic Design

09:02 The Benefits of Nature on Human Wellbeing

11:56 Designing Workspaces for Creativity

14:58 The Role of Natural Elements in Office Design

18:05 Creating Functional and Inspiring Work Environments

20:52 The Future of Workspaces and Nature Integration

23:57 Measuring the Impact of Nature on Creativity

27:02 The Importance of Soft Transitions in Design

30:01 The Role of Sensory Experience in Design

33:04 Creating Spaces for Reflection and Introspection

35:57 The Need for Change in Office Design

39:02 The Challenge of Corporate Culture in Design

42:01 Innovative Approaches to Office Design

44:56 The Path Forward for Organizations

48:01 Conclusion and Future Collaborations

Connect with Christie:https://www.linkedin.com/in/christiedecarolis/

Christie’s website: https://christiedecarolis.journoportfolio.com/

Christie’s newsletter: https://teachingtech.substack.com/

Takeaways

• Learning is not just about content; it’s about experience and emotion.

• Emotional experiences in learning lead to better retention and understanding.

• Psychological safety is crucial for effective learning environments.

• AI can assist in content creation but cannot replace human insight in learning design.

• The shift to online learning has forced educators to rethink their teaching methods.

• Cohort-based learning can enhance emotional engagement and motivation.

• Personalized learning should be balanced with collaborative experiences.

• The learning ecosystem requires collaboration across different teams.

• Connection and community are essential for effective learning.

• Future learning design must prioritize emotional engagement.

Chapters

00:00 The Heart of Learning: An Introduction

03:00 Understanding Learning: Experience vs. Content

05:50 The Role of Emotion in Learning

08:52 The Importance of Psychological Safety

11:57 AI’s Impact on Learning and Content Creation

15:05 The Evolution of Learning in the Digital Age

17:56 Designing for Emotional Engagement in Learning

20:55 The Future of Learning: Personalization vs. Collaboration

24:09 Building a Learning Ecosystem

26:59 The Role of Connection in Learning

29:55 Looking Ahead: The Future of Learning Design