The Remarkable Leadership Podcast

What would it take for your organization to become truly superintelligent in the age of AI? In this episode, Kevin sits down with Stephen Wunker to explore how leaders must move beyond simply layering AI onto existing processes and instead rethink their organizations from first principles. Steve uses the metaphor of the octopus, with its distributed intelligence and interconnected yet autonomous arms, to explain how AI enables a shift from rigid, top-down hierarchies to flexible, horizontally connected "work charts" where information gets to the right people at the right time. They discuss why electrification and the railroads offer powerful historical parallels, what most organizations are getting wrong about AI adoption, and why middle managers are not becoming obsolete but must evolve into change leaders. This conversation challenges leaders to stop bolting AI onto yesterday's structures and instead reimagine how work gets done.
Stephen's Story: Stephen Wunker is the co-author with Jonathan Brill of AI and the Octopus Organization: Building the Superintelligent Firm. He is the Managing Director of New Markets Advisors, a global consulting firm that helps ambitious innovators—including 29 of the Fortune 500—find their next wave of growth. He's founded four pioneering companies, developed one of the world's first smartphones, and worked with AI initiatives for over a dozen years. A longtime collaborator of Harvard Business School legend Clayton Christensen, Wunker has advised hundreds of organizations and is considered one of the world's leading authorities on innovation. He's written over 100 articles for Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and others, and authored four other bestselling books. Steve holds an MBA with Honors from Harvard Business School, a Master's of Public Administration from Columbia University, and a BA cum laude from Princeton University. 
https://www.newmarketsadvisors.com/books/ai-and-the-octopus-organization
https://www.newmarketsadvisors.com/speaker
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenwunker/
Looking to Develop Stronger Leaders?

Want help developing the leaders in your organization? Reach out to explore how the Kevin Eikenberry Group can support your team at [email protected]. 
Book Recommendations

AI and the Octopus Organization: Building the Superintelligent Firm by Jonathan Brill and Stephen Wunker

Why New Technologies Don't Transform Incumants - an HBR article

Like this?

How AI Can Help You Create a SuperIntelligent Enterprise with Nada Sanders
The Octopus Organization with Phil Le-Brun
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Are you unintentionally slowing your team down by rewarding overpreparation?
In this episode of Remarkable TV, I explore a leadership trap many of us fall into: equating more preparation with better results. But in today's fast-moving, uncertain world, that assumption can cost us time, momentum, and better decisions.
You'll learn:
Why "what gets rewarded gets done" matters more than you think
The difference between progress and polish
How overpreparation is often fear in disguise
Why more prep doesn't always lead to better decisions
How leaders set the tone for speed, clarity, and results
If you want a team that moves faster, thinks better, and delivers results—not just polished presentations—this episode is for you. 
Get my free Your Remarkable Day newsletter: https://KevinEikenberry.com/newsletters 
My name is Kevin Eikenberry and I'm here to help you reach your goal as a leader and a human being with Remarkable TV and the Remarkable Leadership Podcast.
I am also the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group. We provide speaking, training, consulting, and coaching services to organizations who believe in investing in their most valuable assets – their people. Whether we are leading a training workshop, speaking to a group, facilitating a planning meeting, consulting with a leadership team, helping with team building, writing or developing products, our vision will be clear in everything we do – We want to be Your Leadership Help Button.
Learn more about our offerings:
➡️ FREE NEWSLETTERs: Sign up for any of our newsletters: https://kevineikenberry.com/newsletters
➡️ LEADERSHIP WORKSHOPS: Sign up for any of our online workshops to help you become a better leader: https://kevineikenberry.com/store/?product_type=Workshops
➡️ SPEAKING: Learn more about our Speaking opportunities for your next event: https://kevineikenberry.com/how-we-can-help-speaking/ 
Connect with Kevin Eikenberry on Social Media: 
https://kevineikenberry.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevineikenberry
https://instagram.com/kevineikenberry
https://www.facebook.com/KevinEikenberryFanPage/
About Kevin Eikenberry: Kevin Eikenberry is the Chief Potential Officer of the Kevin Eikenberry Group, a world expert on leadership development, best-selling author, sought-after speaker, popular blogger, husband and dad, a fan of Purdue athletics and antique tractors (especially John Deere's).
About The Remarkable Leadership Podcast: The Remarkable Leadership Podcast with Kevin Eikenberry is dedicated to all things leadership. Twice a week Kevin shares his thoughts about leadership development and ideas to help you lead more confidently and make a bigger difference for those you lead. He also has weekly conversations with leadership experts discussing a wide range of topics including teamwork, organizational culture, facilitating change, personal and organizational development, human potential and more.

What if you treated every meeting you lead as a product you were responsible for designing? In this conversation, Kevin sits down with Rebecca Hinds to explore why meetings—arguably the most important product in any organization—are often created with less intention than the products and services we sell. Rebecca shares why meetings become organizational "junk drawers" and explains how applying a product-design lens can transform them from time drains into high-leverage leadership tools. Drawing on the seven principles from her book, she challenges leaders to rethink meeting volume, confront "meeting debt," clarify communication systems, and use meaningful measures like return on time investment to evaluate effectiveness.
Rebecca's Story: Rebecca Hinds is the author of Your Best Meeting Ever: 7 Principles for Designing Meetings that Get Things Done. She is a leading expert on organizational behavior and the future of work and holds a BS, MS, and PhD from Stanford University. Rebecca founded the Work Innovation Lab at Asana and the Work AI Institute at Glean, first-of-their-kind corporate think tanks dedicated to conducting cutting-edge research on the future of work. Her research is consistently featured in top-tier publications and has appeared in places like Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fast Company, Wired, TIME, CNBC, Bloomberg, Axios, the Washington Post, and more. Rebecca has been invited to speak on major stages all across the world, including Dreamforce, SXSW, INBOUND, Ai4, Cloudfest, and the Gartner Digital Workplace Summit. She regularly appears on podcasts, webinars, and online education programs, including appearances on Adam Grant's Worklife podcast, Deloitte's Capital H podcast, and as an instructor for CNBC's Make It Masterclass, "How to Use AI to be More Productive and Successful at Work."
https://www.rebeccahinds.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-hinds/
Looking to Develop Stronger Leaders?

Want help developing the leaders in your organization? Reach out to explore how the Kevin Eikenberry Group can support your team at [email protected] 
Book Recommendations

Your Best Meeting Ever: 7 Principles for Designing Meetings That Get Things Done by Rebecca Hinds
When the Dove Appears by Steve Barley


Like this?

Making Meetings Matter with Elise Keith
Managing the Modern (Hybrid) Meeting with Karin Reed
Reducing Meeting Fatigue (in 20 minutes or less) with Jennifer Moss
Leave a Review

If you liked this conversation, we'd be thrilled if you'd let others know by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. Here's a quick guide for posting a review.

Review on Apple: https://remarkablepodcast.com/itunes 

 
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How often do you think about your habits?
The reality is that a large portion of what we do every day is automatic. And while habits help us function efficiently, they can also quietly limit our growth—especially if we never stop to examine them.
In this episode, I explore the double-edged nature of habits: why they are essential, why they can be dangerous, and how unexamined habits may be holding you—and your organization—back from improving.
If you want to grow as a leader, it starts with awareness.
Resources & Next Steps
If you'd like help improving your leadership or your organization's results, reach out: [email protected] 
My name is Kevin Eikenberry and I'm here to help you reach your goal as a leader and a human being with Remarkable TV and the Remarkable Leadership Podcast.
I am also the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group. We provide speaking, training, consulting, and coaching services to organizations who believe in investing in their most valuable assets – their people. Whether we are leading a training workshop, speaking to a group, facilitating a planning meeting, consulting with a leadership team, helping with team building, writing or developing products, our vision will be clear in everything we do – We want to be Your Leadership Help Button.
Learn more about our offerings:
➡️ FREE NEWSLETTERs: Sign up for any of our newsletters: https://kevineikenberry.com/newsletters
➡️ LEADERSHIP WORKSHOPS: Sign up for any of our online workshops to help you become a better leader: https://kevineikenberry.com/store/?product_type=Workshops
➡️ SPEAKING: Learn more about our Speaking opportunities for your next event: https://kevineikenberry.com/how-we-can-help-speaking/ 
Connect with Kevin Eikenberry on Social Media: 
https://kevineikenberry.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevineikenberry
https://instagram.com/kevineikenberry
https://www.facebook.com/KevinEikenberryFanPage/
About Kevin Eikenberry: Kevin Eikenberry is the Chief Potential Officer of the Kevin Eikenberry Group, a world expert on leadership development, best-selling author, sought-after speaker, popular blogger, husband and dad, a fan of Purdue athletics and antique tractors (especially John Deere's).
About The Remarkable Leadership Podcast: The Remarkable Leadership Podcast with Kevin Eikenberry is dedicated to all things leadership. Twice a week Kevin shares his thoughts about leadership development and ideas to help you lead more confidently and make a bigger difference for those you lead. He also has weekly conversations with leadership experts discussing a wide range of topics including teamwork, organizational culture, facilitating change, personal and organizational development, human potential and more.

Are you designing your employee experience or just letting it happen? Most leaders talk about employee experience, but few intentionally shape it. In this episode, Kevin sits down with Dean Carter to explore why that's a costly mistake. Dean gets to the point: What do your employees actually experience every single day? Because while culture is what your organization is, employee experience is what your people feel. Dean emphasizes that designing employee experience must be intentional, continuous, and co-created with employees rather than imposed on them. He also shares real stories showing how listening in real time, acting on feedback, and giving people genuine agency can transform engagement, trust, and performance, even in struggling organizations.
Dean's Story: Dean E. Carter is the co-author of Employee Experience Design: How to Co-create Work Where People and Organizations Thrive. He is newly named CEO at Instill.ai and has over two decades of experience as an executive officer for renowned, and Fortune50 companies, such as Patagonia and Sears, as well as a board director for private and publicly traded companies. His views on employee experience and the future of work are frequently featured in global publications, podcasts, corporate events, and mainstage keynotes.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/deancarter/
Looking to Develop Stronger Leaders?

Want help developing the leaders in your organization? Reach out to explore how the Kevin Eikenberry Group can support your team at [email protected]. 
Book Recommendations

Employee Experience Design: How to Co-create Work Where People and Organizations Thrive by Dean E. Carter, Samantha Gadd , Mark Levy 
Primal Intelligence: You Are Smarter Than You Know by Angus Fletcher

Like this?

Understanding the Employee Experience with Jacob Morgan
Leading Change Intelligently with Barbara Trautlein
Building Community (in 20 minutes or less) with Jennifer Moss
Join Our Community
If you want to view our live podcast episodes, hear about new releases, or chat with others who enjoy this podcast join one of our communities below.
Join the Facebook Group
Join the LinkedIn Group
 
Leave a Review

If you liked this conversation, we'd be thrilled if you'd let others know by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. Here's a quick guide for posting a review.

Review on Apple: https://remarkablepodcast.com/itunes 

 
Podcast Better! Sign up with Libsyn and get up to 2 months free! Use promo code: RLP