Keynote Presentations

Sometimes I am asked to talk more about some of my work. The topics below are my three most-requested presentations:  

An Engineer's Guide to Organizational Change: Diagnosing Before You Design

As an engineer, I designed telescopes for space satellites where there was no room for error. The first rule was simple: you never start building until you've rigorously diagnosed the system's requirements and potential points of failure. Yet, in business, we often launch major change initiatives with a fraction of that diagnostic rigor. This presentation makes the case for bringing an engineer's mindset to organizational strategy. I explain how principles like root-cause analysis and systems thinking can be applied to human organizations to surface hidden risks and assumptions. I share practical, engineering-inspired tools that leaders can use to design change initiatives that are resilient and built to work in reality, not just on a PowerPoint slide. 

Solving the Problem Behind the Problem: Why Smart Teams Get Stuck

We’ve all seen it: a strategic initiative with strong executive backing and a talented team loses momentum and stalls. The common response is to push harder on execution, assuming the plan was right but the effort was wrong. But what if the problem you're trying to solve isn't the real problem? In this presentation, I explore the hidden reasons progress grinds to a halt—misaligned incentives, unclear decision rights, or competing definitions of success. Drawing on my experience as an engineer and a strategist, I introduce a diagnostic framework for uncovering the issue behind the issue. I’ll share stories of how asking "What would success actually look like here?" can reframe a challenge entirely, helping leaders move from fighting symptoms to fixing the core system.

The Human Barrier to AI: Navigating the Professional Identity Crisis

Most conversations about AI in the workplace focus on tools, technical specs, and productivity gains. But the biggest barrier to adoption often has little to do with technology. It's about professional identity. When a tool threatens to automate the very skills that made someone an expert, you don't get adoption; you get resistance. In this talk, I shift the focus from technology to psychology, revealing how AI adoption is often an identity crisis masquerading as a technical problem. Using real case studies from my work with research organizations and executives, I provide leaders with a new language and practical frameworks for guiding their teams through this transformation, turning fear of obsolescence into an opportunity for evolution.

How Professionals Prepare for and Respond to Surprise

Like it or not, surprises are a fact of life. Yet, how we prepare for and respond to them is what separates the best from the rest. 

I start this talk by telling two stories about a pair of professions that love comparing themselves to one another but prepare for surprise in very different ways: NFL coaches and Navy SEALs. Using their different approaches as a starting point, I introduce a simple framework for classifying professionals based on two distinguishing characteristics: (1) how much time they typically have to respond and (2) the level of complexity that exists within their work environment. 

Drawing upon a rich series of narratives that I outlined in detail in my book on this topic, I offer a series of lessons for how knowledge capital workers can become more effective at preparing for and responding to the unknown.