Finding Leverage in Innovation Strategy with Scott Ehrlich | #12

Creative Leadership As Invitation with Mark Canlis | #14

What if your company isn't defined by what it delivers—but by the human experience it exists to create? In this episode of What If?, Leslie Grandy sits down with Mark Canlis, owner of Seattle's iconic Canlis restaurant, for part one of a two-part conversation about creative leadership, legacy, hospitality, and culture. For more than 75 years, Canlis has been one of America's most celebrated restaurants. But Mark does not describe the business first as fine dining, cuisine, service, or even customer experience. He describes it as invitation. An invitation to matter. An invitation to be seen. An invitation to turn toward one another. That distinction becomes the heart of this conversation. Because when an organization understands what it is truly here to create, it can adapt without losing itself. Together, Leslie and Mark explore: * Why hospitality is not performance, but an invitation into relationship * How legacy brands can evolve without becoming rigid or nostalgic * Why constraints often become fuel for creativity * How Canlis reimagined itself during the pandemic by asking what it meant to "turn toward" when traditional dining was impossible * Why culture is built through ritual, vulnerability, humor, and shared story * How employee experience shapes customer experience long before a guest sits down * Why Mark does not train staff to follow scripts, but asks what kind of human they are hoping to become * How rituals like the Canlis "Candy Awards," Christmas Eve toasts, open mic nights, shared meals, and playful traditions create trust inside the team Mark challenges a common leadership impulse: to control behavior from the outside in. Instead of scripting hospitality, he starts with desire, humanity, and intrinsic motivation. What does the employee want? Who are they becoming? How can the restaurant help unlock that person? That approach creates a culture where people are not merely executing service standards. They are trusted to create deeply personal, meaningful experiences for guests because they have first experienced belonging, vulnerability, and relationship with one another. Because the invitation to the guest begins with the invitation to the team. And in a world increasingly shaped by automation, monitoring, and efficiency, that kind of human-centered leadership may become more valuable than ever. Reflection question: Are you building a culture that tells people what to do—or one that helps them become the kind of people who know how to care? Next week: Part two continues the conversation with Mark Canlis into creativity, emotional labor, AI, and why deeply human experiences may matter even more in a technology-shaped future.

Can You Teach Creative Thinking with GenAI? with Leonard Boussioux | #13

What if the real skill of working with AI isn't knowing what it can do—but knowing when you need to lead? In this episode of What If?, Leslie Grandy sits down with Leonard Boussioux, assistant professor at the University of Washington's Foster School of Business and adjunct assistant professor at the UW Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering, to explore how humans can collaborate with AI to solve complex problems, build new ideas, and expand creative capacity. Leo's work sits at the intersection of operations, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and creative problem solving. His research investigates how humans and AI can work together more effectively—and why simply adding AI to the process doesn't automatically produce better or more original outcomes. Together, Leslie and Leo explore: * Why AI can make people more creative—but may also reduce diversity of ideas if everyone gets the same "excellent" suggestions * The difference between human-in-the-loop and AI-in-the-loop thinking * Why there is no single formula for when humans should lead and when AI should take more of the exploratory role * How students can build confidence, agency, and creative capacity by using AI to bring their own ideas to life * Why "vibe coding" is more than a technical skill—it's a way to learn orchestration, judgment, and problem framing * How AI-native students may enter the workforce with skills and expectations that leaders are not yet prepared to recognize * Why organizations need AI champions, safe access to the best tools, and cultures that encourage knowledge sharing * How education must evolve to teach not just AI literacy, but ethics, lifelong learning, metacognition, and leadership Leo also shares how he designs his classroom as a kind of adventure—one where students don't just learn tools, but discover what they are capable of building. By asking students to create real products from their own ideas, he helps them move from anxiety about AI to a sense of creative agency. But the conversation also surfaces a critical warning: AI often recombines what it already knows. It may give you good ideas, but it may give everyone else the same good ideas, too. That means the human role is not disappearing. It is becoming more important. Because the future of human-AI collaboration won't be defined by who can generate the most ideas. It will be defined by who can push beyond the obvious, recognize what matters, and steer the system toward something more original, useful, and human. Reflection question: When you work with AI, are you letting it lead you toward the probable—or are you pushing it toward what only you can imagine?

Finding Leverage in Innovation Strategy with Scott Ehrlich | #12

What if the biggest opportunity with AI isn't doing more with less—but doing what wasn't possible before? In this episode of What If?, Leslie Grandy sits down with Scott Ehrlich, Chief Innovation Officer and Head of Corporate Strategy at Sinclair Broadcast Group, to explore how media, technology, and business model innovation are changing as AI reshapes what can be created, personalized, distributed, and scaled. Scott has spent his career navigating major platform shifts—from early OTT subscription services at RealNetworks to digital-first studios, streaming platforms, FAST channels, and AI-enabled media strategy. His perspective is grounded in a simple but powerful idea: A strategy without leverage isn't really a strategy. Today, the mechanics of making things are no longer the biggest constraint. Production is faster. Distribution is broader. AI can generate, iterate, and adapt at speeds that would have been impossible just a few years ago. But that creates a new challenge. When everything can be made, the real question becomes: What should exist at all? Together, Leslie and Scott explore: * Why value is shifting from production capability to judgment, relevance, and timing * How AI changes the creative process by making iteration faster and less expensive * Why personalized storytelling may become a new frontier for media innovation * Why AI-native platforms may become the next operating systems for content discovery * How business models must evolve when audiences consume information inside AI interfaces * How leaders can drive adoption by focusing on one powerful promise: eliminating the toil of work Scott also offers a grounded view of where most organizations are in the AI adoption curve. Before companies can transform workflows, they often need to use AI to improve existing ones. The breakthrough, he argues, starts with helping people remove the frustrating, repetitive work that drains their time and attention. But the bigger opportunity is still ahead. Too much of the current AI conversation is focused on efficiency: fewer people, fewer steps, faster processes. Scott challenges leaders to look beyond that and ask a more expansive question: What new things can we do now that we could never do before? Because the future of innovation won't belong only to those who move faster. It will belong to those who can recognize where new leverage is forming—and use it to create something more meaningful. Reflection question: Are you using AI only to streamline what already exists—or to imagine what could exist next?

Culture As The Real Corporate Operating System with Kelly Wright | #11

What if culture isn't what your company says—but what your people actually experience when it matters most? In this episode of What If?, Leslie Grandy sits down with Kelly Breslin Wright, veteran executive, former President and COO of Gong, and founder of Culture Driven Sales, to explore a leadership challenge that becomes impossible to ignore as organizations scale: Misalignment. As companies grow, what once felt clear and shared begins to fragment. Leaders use the same words—innovation, customer obsession, growth—but mean different things. Teams move in parallel, not together. And the gap between stated values and lived experience quietly widens. Then AI enters the picture—and amplifies everything. AI doesn't just accelerate work. It exposes inconsistencies. It surfaces where culture is unclear, where leadership signals are mixed, and where organizations say one thing—but reward another. Together, Leslie and Kelly explore: * Why culture is defined by what happens when people take risks, not what's written on the wall * How to diagnose misalignment by asking a simple question: Does everyone describe our purpose the same way? * Why companies often lose sight of their "why" as they scale—and what that costs them * The critical role of leaders as "Chief Belief Officers" in aligning and inspiring teams * How AI is leveling the playing field, making people and leadership the true differentiators * Why psychological safety and honest conversations matter more in moments of disruption * How to build cultures where experimentation is expected—and failure is not punished * The risk of treating employees like outputs instead of humans—and how that erodes performance Kelly also shares lessons from her early experience running a door-to-door sales business—where resilience, adaptability, and emotional intelligence weren't theoretical concepts, but daily survival skills. Those same capabilities, she argues, are now essential for navigating modern organizations. Because while AI can increase speed, efficiency, and access to information, it cannot replace what great cultures create: Belief, trust, and the willingness to take risks together. This episode is a clear reminder that in a world where technology is advancing rapidly, the organizations that win won't just be the most technically capable. They'll be the most aligned. Reflection question: If you asked your leadership team to describe your company's purpose, would you hear one answer—or many?

Maximizing Your Return On People with Cynthia Bentzen-Mercer | #10

What if the biggest risk to your career isn't AI—but waiting for someone else to decide your future? In this episode of What If?, Leslie Grandy sits down with Dr. Cynthia Benson Mercer, human capital strategist, executive coach, and author of Human Capital Investment Strategy, to explore a fundamental shift happening inside organizations: Agency is no longer optional. It's required. As AI reshapes work—automating execution, accelerating analysis, and leveling access to information—the rules of value creation are changing. Effort alone is no longer enough. Titles are less stable. And the idea that "if I work hard, someone will notice" is quickly becoming outdated. Instead, both individuals and organizations are being forced to rethink what human contribution actually means. Together, Leslie and Cynthia explore: * Why human capital should be treated as a compounding investment, not a cost center * The critical difference between having value and articulating value * Why employees must take ownership of their careers—rather than outsourcing it to managers or companies * How to define your "aspirational next" and actively build toward it * The danger of reducing people to roles, titles, or "boxes"—instead of seeing them as adaptable "puzzle pieces" * What leaders get wrong about layoffs, talent mobility, and long-term workforce strategy * Why transparency, communication, and intentionality matter most during disruption * How AI is shifting value toward creativity, judgment, empathy, and complex problem-solving Cynthia also offers a powerful reframe: every individual carries their own human capital—their skills, knowledge, and potential—and they have the agency to deploy it wherever it can create the most value. Organizations don't own that value. They invest in it—and must continuously earn the right to keep it. This creates a new kind of tension. Companies say people are their greatest asset. But how they hire, develop, move, and sometimes let go of those people reveals what they actually believe. Because in a world where technology is advancing rapidly, the advantage doesn't go to those who simply adapt. It goes to those who take ownership.