Inflect

Michael Daehne discusses the people side of AI with Tony Peleska, Chief Information Officer at Kraus-Anderson and a seasoned leader at the intersection of technology, business strategy, and organizational leadership. They cover common AI pitfalls and how to avoid them, as well as rethinking team structures and leadership mindsets in the age of AI.

Find transcripts and more episodes of Inflect at https://flexpointconsulting.com/podcast, and engage with the FlexPoint team on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/flexpoint-consulting.

Michael Daehne sits down with Joe Han to talk about his path to leading wilderness-based leadership development experiences and his passion for praxis – the cyclical process of experiential learning. Joe describes how he has lived out the spirit of praxis in various environments, from sales leadership and enablement to mentorship-focused outdoor adventures. 

Stay tuned all the way through the lightning round to hear what Joe brings on every wilderness retreat – we couldn’t have guessed it with 100 tries!

Find transcripts and more episodes of Inflect at https://flexpointconsulting.com/podcast, and engage with the FlexPoint team on...

Our guest this episode is Justin Nguyen, a senior data leader at the Home Depot with previous data leadership roles at organizations like Chewy and 7-Eleven. 

Justin talks with Michael Daehne about data engineering’s critical inflection point, the importance of organizational culture and intellectual curiosity in the teams he’s led, and some of his favorite AI hacks for parenting.

Find transcripts and more episodes of Inflect at https://flexpointconsulting.com/podcast, and engage with the FlexPoint team on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/flexpoint-consulting.

Michael Daehne and Lynda Garcia discuss the value of real world, on-the-job training, the often-overlooked common-sense test, and some tips and tricks for talent calibration and succession planning.

Lynda is a passionate HR executive with a proven track record of developing and implementing organizational effectiveness strategies across a number of industries. Her expertise and dedication to putting people first in org design and talent management really shine through in this conversation.

And in the lightning round, Lynda shares her favorite thing to do outside of work, a book that has helped her navigate stressful situations...

In this episode, Michael Daehne and Biron Pickens, Vice President of Organization Effectiveness and Change Leadership at McKesson, discuss culture and ways to effectively lead an organization through change.

Biron has an impressive background in change management, including time at Amdocs, Nieman Marcus, Southwest Airlines, and now McKesson. Biron shares lessons he’s learned in leadership and cultivating a rich culture from employers like Southwest. Additionally, Biron and Michael discuss the implications of Artificial Intelligence and other technological advancements for people and how organizations can best prepare for these looming changes. 

In the lightning round, Bir...

Michael Daehne goes behind the scenes of preparing for business transformation with FlexPoint business readiness experts Pedro Cortez and Liz Pryor. 

This conversation builds on a three-part blog series on making the most of the on-ramp to major programs, including preparing the team, defining the transformation, and preparing for transformation.

Liz and Pedro add color to the recommendations based on their experience in consolidating tools in a merger, building custom software, leading major transformation programs, and more. You’ll hear what has worked well for them, as well as natural tensions to navigate throughout business tra...

Michael Daehne is joined by Amy Mills, fellow animal lover and CEO of Emancipet, a veterinary care non-profit.

Amy reflects on her tenure at Emancipet, sharing about her journey transitioning from youth service to veterinary care and into leadership at a rapidly growing non-profit. Amy explains Emancipet’s mission to address the access-to-care gap that 60 million pets are challenged by in America. Amy also shares about Emancipet’s large cultural shift when expanding beyond only spay/ neuter services to provide more holistic veterinary care for pets in need. 

There’s no doubt that Amy has had an...

Michael Daehne is joined William Wu, fellow Longhorn, public accountant, and expense optimization aficionado. 

William describes his path from public accounting to management consulting focused on ERP implementations and then to expense optimization consulting, sharing lessons learned from across his expertise. He then takes us behind the scenes at his firm, Expense Reduction Analysts, and talks through the process of assessing, baselining, and optimizing spend.

William’s passion for coaching his son’s baseball team shines through near the end of the episode, which is particularly delightful.

Find transcripts and more episo...

In this episode, Michael Daehne talks with Ben Rogers, Assistant Professor of Management and Organization at the Carroll School of Management at Boston College, where he teaches and conducts research around management and organizational behavior. 

They discuss Ben’s research around the meaning of work and narratives in the workplace, and specifically how the hero’s journey is a way for us all to find meaning in our work. He shares how using the seven hero’s journey elements that he and fellow researchers identified – protagonist, shift, quest, allies, challenge, transformation, and legacy – can apply from large-scale business tr...

Kim Ehrman takes the mic from Michael Daehne to share what barbecue and business transformation have in common – and what we can learn from their similarities. 

Since at FlexPoint, we care deeply about both barbecue and business transformation, and excelling in them can be tricky, we compiled five lessons that apply to both. They include:

We hope this playful comparison will equip you for success in one or both...

In this episode, Michael Daehne talks with Dan McDermott, Chief Information Officer at Tank Holding Corp., about lessons learned from mergers and acquisitions and Dan’s unique philosophy on managing and developing talent.

Dan shares his four principles of performance management, which guide him in selecting, managing, and developing talent:

In this episode, Michael Daehne, Founder and CEO of FlexPoint Consulting, talks with Shikhar Singh, Enterprise Solutions Lead at Copy.ai. 

Shikhar describes how the team at Copy.ai has built and personally used generative AI tools not just to boost productivity but to solve new business challenges. 

He invites us all to ask: if capacity weren't a constraint, what would your 2024 business plan look like? What initiatives would you put on the list? And how would you go about tackling these initiatives with the benefit of generative AI? 

Mentioned<...

To celebrate the second anniversary of FlexPoint Consulting, the FlexPoint team turns the microphone on Michael Daehne, Founder and CEO, for an ask-me-anything episode.

Michael fields questions about his entrepreneurial journey and the first two years of running FlexPoint. The group also discusses working through common challenges in business transformation. Then we close with a lightning round of more casual questions.

MENTIONED

--- Books & Podcasts ---
The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek: https://simonsinek.com/books/the-infinite-game/
HBR IdeaCast: https://hbr.org/2018/01/podcast-ideacast
How I Built This with...

In a special mini episode of Inflect, Kim Ehrman, Director of Business Transformation, makes a special announcement from the FlexPoint Consulting team.

The new FlexPoint Community Investment program includes three unique ways for non-profit and community organizations to receive strategic consulting, totally free of charge:

In our fifth episode of Inflect, FlexPoint Consulting Founder & CEO Michael Daehne talks with Gloria Chan Packer, Principal and Founder of Recalibrate, about her big inflection point of shifting from management consulting to founding a workplace mental wellness firm. 

Gloria describes several symptoms of unhealthy stress, to help us be more aware of when stress and anxiety ramp up too much, and she shares three tips for navigating transformative change well.

Find transcripts and more episodes of Inflect at https://flexpointconsulting.com/podcast, and engage with the FlexPoint team on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.c...

FlexPoint Consulting Founder & CEO Michael Daehne is joined by Rachel Lockett, Chief Information Officer at Pohlad Companies, to discuss Carousel Motor Group's innovative new pre-owned car-buying experience, Carousel Online. This unique opportunity to "look under the hood" reveals that the Carousel Online team followed many best practices for successful digital transformation and avoided common mistakes that often result in digital disappointment.

Inflect is previously known as FlexPoint Fireside Chats.

Find transcripts and more episodes of Inflect at https://flexpointconsulting.com/podcast, and engage with the FlexPoint team on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/f...

FlexPoint Consulting Founder & CEO Michael Daehne is joined by Rachel Lockett, Chief Information Officer at Pohlad Companies, to discuss the innovations and business applications of generative AI and unpack the explosive growth of tools like ChatGPT.

Inflect is previously known as FlexPoint Fireside Chats.

Find transcripts and more episodes of Inflect at https://flexpointconsulting.com/podcast, and engage with the FlexPoint team on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/flexpoint-consulting.

FlexPoint Consulting Founder & CEO Michael Daehne is joined by Steve Abernathy, Vice President of Service Excellence and Advanced Analytics at Archrock, to share wisdom on leadership, key differentiators in transformation, and change management.

Inflect is previously known as FlexPoint Fireside Chats.

Find transcripts and more episodes of Inflect at https://flexpointconsulting.com/podcast, and engage with the FlexPoint team on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/flexpoint-consulting.

FlexPoint Consulting Founder & CEO Michael Daehne is joined by Dan Ritch, CEO of SunStream Business Services, to discuss the importance of building a world-class team, being intentional about culture and brand, and striving for transparency every day. Additionally, Dan shares about his journey as a technology and business leader and his pearls of wisdom for leading teams through complex digital transformations. 

Inflect is previously known as FlexPoint Fireside Chats.

Find transcripts and more episodes of Inflect at https://flexpointconsulting.com/podcast, and engage with the FlexPoint team on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/f...