At Work with The Ready

Starting a company with a blank slate sounds like a dream—but it’s also a trap. In this mini episode, Rodney and Sam respond to a listener question about how to design an organizational operating system from scratch, without inheriting all the baggage of traditional management.

They argue for resisting the urge to over-design early, letting real tension (not theory) drive structure, and focusing on a few foundational practices that scale. From operating rhythms and Kanban boards to experimentation and “sky sensing,” this episode breaks down what’s actually worth putting in place early—and what’s better left until it hurts.

Mentioned references:

"op rhythm": BNW Ep. 118

"strategy": AWWTR Ep. 2

"experimentation": AWWTR Ep. 38

"retrospectives": BNW Ep. 10 with Jordan Husney

Kanban board

The Ready's Experiment Proposal Template

"The Sky" from Depthfinding

Mia Wise

Schedule a Sky Session with us!

Got a work question like this one you'd like us to answer? Email us at [email protected]

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Sound engineering and design by Taylor Marvin of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Coupe Studios⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Enterprise AI adoption is still stuck in the teens and the gap between the hype and the reality is getting harder to ignore. People are finding pockets of productivity, but they’re often keeping the gains to themselves, worried that “using AI well” is just speed-running their way into a layoff. Meanwhile, many leaders treat it like another piece of software without touching the messier truth: AI changes how work actually happens, and it doesn’t care about your org chart, your approval chains, or your performance theater.

In this episode, Rodney sits down with Section CEO Greg Shove to name what’s really blocking adoption and what it takes to break through. They talk about AI as “co-intelligence”, why most “AI layoffs” are PR cover, and the non-negotiables for real transformation. They also get into how to build a robust AI strategy for 2026, Section’s own AI disruption, and why the next era may be dominated by super companies built around small human teams + a fleet of agents.

Learn more about Greg:

His website

Section's website

Prof.AI

AI Truth Serum podcast

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Mentioned references:

Edelman's AI creators

Chegg's downfall

Moderna's AI usage

Zapier's AI usage

BOX's AI usage

Dual Transformation

Skunk Works

Mary Barra

"amazon.bomb"

Stanford AI study

00:00 Intro + Check-In: What’s something happening in the AI hype cycle that drives you nuts right now?

03:21 Enterprise AI adoption stall out

08:58 AI as truth serum for lies in your company

11:49 Required ingredients for real AI transformation

19:04 Balancing risk with AI usage in startups and large enterprise

24:10 “Head of AI” roles are an uphill battle

27:48 First principles for an AI-lead organization

30:10 Disrupting your business model with AI and dual transformation

35:29 Greg and Section disrupting themselves with AI

37:44 Role of leadership in an AI future

44:40 Future of companies and careers

47:54 Role of companies in future of society

52:07 Wrap up: Leave us a review and share the show with a coworker!

Sound engineering and design by Taylor Marvin of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Coupe Studios⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Leaders often ask for a clear, immediate ROI on org design and transformation work—but that question can derail the conversation before it even starts. When ROI is framed purely as short-term financial return, it misses how organizations actually change and improve over time.

In this mini Ask Us Anything episode, Rodney and Sam unpack how to approach ROI conversations in org design more productively. They explore why separate “transformation metrics” usually miss the point, how to anchor ROI to what leaders already care about, and why leading indicators like decision speed, cycle time, and meeting effectiveness matter more than tidy quarterly savings.

Mentioned references:

W. Edwards Deming

Got a work question like this one you'd like us to answer? Email us at [email protected]

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Sound engineering and design by Taylor Marvin of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Coupe Studios⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

As 2025 comes to a close, AI hype is still everywhere, workers are feeling the strain of constant change, and organizations are quietly reorganizing who (or what) does the work. We’re ending the year with some big questions: What happens to the “middle” of organizations? How do humans fit into increasingly AI-driven systems? And where does real value—human and otherwise—get created?

With only a few days left until the new year, Rodney Evans and Sam Spurlin look ahead to how AI, jobs, and organizational life will shift in 2026—from real white-collar displacement and the rise of internal org-design teams to employees quietly choosing AI over difficult human teammates.

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Mentioned references:

"⁠US military met recruiting goals ahead of schedule"

"AI workslop"

"Steam game marketplace, AI labeling"

00:00 Intro + Check-In: What’s a reflection you have on 2025?

03:44 Prediction 1: Hype cycle around AGI will break

05:03 Prediction 2: 2026 is tipping point for white collar AI job disruption

09:53 Prediction 3: Demand for internal OD teams increases

12:11 Prediction 4: People will start choosing AI over their coworkers for collab

15:04 Prediction 5: Divide between legacy orgs and AI-native micro orgs will grow

17:48 Prediction 6: New premium on human-crafted products and experience

21:57 Wrap up: Leave us a review, and see you in 2026

Sound engineering and design by Taylor Marvin of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Coupe Studios⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Many people who want to work in organizational change hit the same question: is it better to do this work from inside an organization, or from the outside as a consultant?

In this AUA mini episode, Rodney Evans and Sam Spurlin respond to a listener who’s considering a career shift into org change and wrestling with whether internal transformation teams can really drive meaningful change—or whether outside consultants have more leverage.

They unpack why internal org design teams are often constrained by design, where they can work when positioned well (hint: it’s probably not HR), and why external consulting offers faster learning through sheer volume of reps. They also explore how you can start doing work design and change work without holding a formal transformation title.

Hear the episode this question was in response to: AWWTR Ep. 28

Got a work question like this one you'd like us to answer? Email us at [email protected]

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Sound engineering and design by Taylor Marvin of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Coupe Studios⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.