The Gift of Slack: Why Less Busy Means More Productive

Finding balance in today's workplace is like solving a complex riddle. Leaders are caught in a constant tug-of-war between urgent short-term demands and the need for sustainable growth that empowers people. This tension defines the modern work environment, yet only 6% of organizations have mastered it.

TLDR:

• Only 6% of organizations are making significant progress establishing human sustainability as a guiding business strategy
• High-performing organizations are 22 times more likely to openly discuss their decision-making strategies
• Workers spend a staggering 41% of their time on tasks that don't contribute real value
• AI often makes work harder by automating routine tasks and leaving humans with more complex problems

Drawing from Deloitte's 2025 Global Human Capital Trends Report, Google NoteBook LMs AI agents uncover how high-performing organizations transform these tensions into competitive advantage. They're 22 times more likely to openly discuss decision-making strategies, involving diverse stakeholders while avoiding consensus paralysis. The most successful leaders don't choose between business outcomes and human outcomes—they recognize how deeply intertwined these elements truly are.

We explore "stagility"—the delicate balance between worker stability and organizational agility. With three-quarters of workers craving security while 85% of leaders feel pressure for adaptability, companies must create new anchors beyond traditional job descriptions and career paths. The solution lies in reimagined structures, intentional work design, and understanding workers as individuals rather than job titles.

The podcast tackles surprising challenges like the 41% of time workers spend on low-value tasks, AI's hidden impacts on work complexity and isolation, the persistent experience gap, and the evolution of technology value cases beyond simple ROI calculations. We examine how hyper-personalization at the "unit of one" motivates individuals uniquely and why performance management systems need holistic reinvention.

Rather than eliminating managers, forward-thinking organizations are reinventing their roles, emphasizing judgment as the essential capability for navigating complex, unprecedented situations. The future isn't about choosing sides in workplace tensions—it's about finding profound balance that unlocks both human potential and business success.

How might you transform workplace tensions into triumph in your organization? The answer lies not in adaptation, but transformation.

Transcript

The Leadership Tug of War

Speaker 1 0:00

You know, for leaders today, it feels like being caught in this constant tug of war. You've got these urgent short-term demands right, the pressure for quick wins, but then there's this undeniable need for well long-term, sustainable growth and growth that actually empowers people.

Speaker 2 0:19

Right, it's a fundamental tension.

Speaker 1 0:20

Yeah, it really defines things now, doesn't it? And trying to navigate it feels less like making choices and more like, I don't know, solving some kind of complex riddle.

Speaker 2 0:30

That's a good way to put it.

Speaker 1 0:31

So this deep dive, we're looking at Deloitte's 2025 Global Human Capital Trends Report, and it's not just about understanding these pressures, is it? It's about helping you turn that uncertainty into well, a real competitive advantage.

Speaker 2 0:44

Exactly, that's the core message from the report. Really, leaders need to recognize these complex, often contradictory tensions, you know, in that worker organization relationship.

Speaker 1 0:53

And transform them.

Speaker 2 1:00

Yes, transform them. We're looking beyond those simple either decisions, so our mission today is basically to cut through the noise, uncover the report's well most surprising insights maybe, and give you some actionable strategies to actually thrive, balancing both the business outcomes and the human ones.

Speaker 1 1:11

Okay, so let's unpack that core idea. Meters are caught. The report suggests many are kind of stuck in this wait and see cycle.

Speaker 2 1:20

Yeah, or they just default back to the old ways.

Speaker 1 1:23

Right Hyper-focused on the short-term bottom line. Yeah. Or they just default back to the old ways, right, hyper-focused on the short-term bottom line. Yeah, it must be tempting, you know, to just hit pause or stick with what feels familiar.

Speaker 2 1:31

It is tempting.

Speaker 1 1:32

But why is that so problematic now in this like boundary-less world they talk about?

Speaker 2 1:36

Well, that hesitation or just relying on outdated thinking, it means missing huge opportunities. The world's just moving too fast for that now and what's really crucial to grasp is that these fundamental tensions, you know, short-term results versus long-term value. They aren't choices where you just pick one side.

Speaker 1 1:53

It's not either.

Speaker 2 1:54

No, it's both hand. They're both important. Last year, the report introduced this idea the human performance equation.

Speaker 1 2:01

I remember that Balancing business and human outcomes Exactly and emphasizing.

Speaker 2 2:05

they actually reinforce each other. But what's really sobering this year, it's the statistic that only 6% of organizations just 6% are making significant progress in establishing human sustainability, creating value for all the people connected to the organization as a real guiding business strategy.

Speaker 1 2:26

Almost 6%. That feels incredibly low, especially with all the talk about well-being and purpose.

Speaker 2 2:32

It's a stark gap.

Speaker 1 2:33

So, if these outcomes really do reinforce each other, what does that mean for leaders? How does it reshape what we should expect from them, especially when they're facing these tough calls in, you know, uncharted territory?

Speaker 2 2:46

Yeah, it means leadership isn't just about say optimizing for profit anymore AI is getting better and better at that. And it's not just about being guardian either, you know, only focused on preservation. This new era demands a different kind of discipline in decision making.

Speaker 1 3:00

OK, like what.

Speaker 2 3:01

Well, leaders have to consider the right data and, crucially, that now includes things like skills development, well-being metrics, career stability. So, beyond the easy financial numbers, Exactly, not just the easily quantifiable stuff, and the report found something interesting High-performing organizations are 22 times more likely to openly discuss their decision-making strategies 22 times.

Speaker 1 3:23

That's huge.

Speaker 2 3:24

It is. It's about involving multiple stakeholders, getting diverse views, but also avoiding that, you know consensus paralysis, where nothing gets decided and it can move it Right, and, critically, making sure decision-making responsibility sits at the right level, especially for complex things like AI integration, where you really need to understand the broad implications.

Speaker 1 3:45

Okay, so we've talked about the big picture challenge, that balance. Let's zoom in now on the work itself, how things actually get done day to day. And here the report brings up this really interesting paradox Stagility. What on earth is stagility, and why is it so hard to pull off?

Speaker 2 4:02

Yeah, stagility. It's basically about creating stability for workers.

Speaker 1 4:06

Okay, that feeling of security.

Speaker 2 4:07

Exactly, while also enabling organizational agility.

Speaker 1 4:10

Ah, okay, the classic tension.

Speaker 2 4:13

Right, and the numbers show it. Three quarters of workers globally say they crave stability. But then you have 85% of leaders feeling this immense pressure for agility.

Speaker 1 4:23

That's a big disconnect.

Speaker 2 4:25

Huge and those traditional anchors, you know, static job descriptions, linear career paths, they're eroding fast.

Speaker 1 4:32

So we need new anchors.

Speaker 2 4:33

We do Things like reimagined structures, really intentional work, design and understanding workers as individuals, not just job titles. Ihg Hotels and Resorts in China had a great example. Oh yeah, they wanted to balance agile crowdsourcing with stability, so they trained managers, they redesigned work into task-based chunks and they actually co-created roles with their frontline teams.

Speaker 1 4:55

Just giving flexibility, but also that sense of grounding.

Speaker 2 4:58

Precisely, it's about finding that balance.

Balancing Business and Human Outcomes

Speaker 1 5:00

You know that feeling being totally swamped, busy but not actually productive. Oh, definitely, I think everyone listening can relate, turns out. The report says nearly eight and 10 people feel busy, but workers spend get this 41% of their time on tasks that don't contribute real value 41%.

Speaker 2 5:18

It's staggering.

Speaker 1 5:20

That's almost half the week gone. So what's causing this massive leak in organizational capacity? This when work gets in the way of work, as they put it.

Speaker 2 5:30

It's a huge drain and it comes from a few places. First, you've got leadership mindsets that feel the need to fill every single minute. That creates a culture of just perpetual busyness.

Speaker 1 5:41

Right Looking busy versus being effective.

Speaker 2 5:43

Exactly. Then there are outdated processes. Workers waste hundreds of hours every year just navigating inefficient systems, doing duplicate work. Additive incentives don't help either, rewarding quantity over quality. And then there's collaboration overload.

Speaker 1 5:58

Too many meetings.

Speaker 2 5:59

Way too many. It can cost organizations over $25,000 per employee per year just in unnecessary meetings.

Speaker 1 6:07

So what's the solution?

Speaker 2 6:08

The report argues for introducing slack.

Speaker 1 6:10

Slack like downtime.

Speaker 2 6:12

Not exactly downtime, but intentional, unscheduled time where workers have the autonomy to use it for learning or innovation or just deeper thinking on problems. Think of Google's 80-20 policy.

Speaker 1 6:22

Right, which led to Gmail and AdSense.

Speaker 2 6:25

Famous examples. It gives space for creativity.

Speaker 1 6:27

That idea of intentional slack is really appealing. Google's results speak for themselves. But you know, for a lot of companies, especially ones built on lean efficiency, unscheduled time might sound like I don't know a luxury, or even losing control.

Speaker 2 6:42

Yeah, I get the skepticism.

Speaker 1 6:43

What would you say to a leader who thinks this is just a fancy way of saying less work?

Speaker 2 6:48

I'd point them straight to the results. Look at Medibank, the Australian health insurer.

Speaker 1 6:52

OK.

Speaker 2 6:53

They did a four-day workweek trial, 100% pay, 80% hours, aiming for 100% productivity.

Speaker 1 7:00

The 100.80.0.100 model.

Speaker 2 7:04

Exactly and they deliberately cut out low-value work. They called the reclaim time the gift.

Speaker 1 7:09

Huh, I like that, the gift.

Speaker 2 7:12

And guess what? Productivity stayed the same, job stress dropped nearly 10%, overall health improved by 13%.

Speaker 1 7:18

Okay, that's compelling.

Speaker 2 7:19

So it's not about less work. It's about reclaiming capacity for net new work for well-being, for better responsiveness. It needs a real work reset. How do it takes horizontal collaboration across different teams and vertical empowerment, trusting people at all levels, Like that story of the Great Britain men's rowing?

Speaker 1 7:38

team, the. Will it make the boat go faster? Question.

Speaker 2 7:41

Exactly. They use that question relentlessly to strip away anything non-essential. But the problem is right now only about a third of workers actually feel empowered to give feedback on how to make their own work more valuable.

Speaker 1 7:54

That needs to change Absolutely. That's a powerful way to think about work, design, redefining productivity. Okay, let's pivot. Let's talk about the workforce itself.

Speaker 2 8:03

Right.

Speaker 1 8:04

And the elephant in the room AI.

Speaker 2 8:07

Big one.

Speaker 1 8:08

It's changing everything, but the report points out some silent impacts that maybe we're not talking about enough. Six in 10 workers already see AI as a co-worker.

Speaker 2 8:17

Yeah, that number is striking.

Speaker 1 8:18

So what are these hidden effects organizations need to watch out for?

Speaker 2 8:22

Well, the first thing is that AI itself is neutral. Right, it's how it's used that determines if it helps or hurts the employee value proposition, the EVP. And while we often hear AI makes work easier, the reality is often it makes it harder. Harder by automating the routine tasks. So what's left for humans? The really complex, difficult problems.

Speaker 1 8:45

Ah right, Skimming the easy stuff off the top.

Speaker 2 8:47

Exactly. It can also decrease autonomy. Think about a delivery driver being given a mandatory route by an AI versus choosing their own.

Speaker 1 8:55

OK, I see.

Speaker 2 8:56

We're also seeing more isolation. A third of workers say they have less human interaction now, and for early career folks there are fewer learning opportunities. Nearly 30 percent report that because AI is taking over those entry level tasks they used to learn from.

Speaker 1 9:10

That's a real worry for the talent pipeline entry-level tasks they used to learn from.

Speaker 2 9:13

That's a real worry for the talent pipeline it is, and it all points to this era of convergence. The report talks about where the lines between tech and humans just get blurrier. Like Digital, Doug Digital.

Speaker 1 9:21

Doug.

Speaker 2 9:22

Yeah, an AI application built to preserve the knowledge of a retiring employee, so his expertise lives on digitally.

Speaker 1 9:28

Wow, fascinating and, yeah, a little chilling, maybe, thinking about the isolation, the harder work. So the big question, then, is how do organizations create an EVP, a value proposition that actually supports humans in this new world of human AI collaboration?

Speaker 2 9:45

It really comes down to being intentional about it.

Speaker 1 9:47

OK.

Speaker 2 9:48

So organizations can, for example, share the rewards that AI creates, like Shutterstock giving royalties to photographers whose images help train their AI.

Speaker 1 9:58

That makes sense.

Speaker 2 9:58

Or waste management, giving incentives to drivers who follow the AI's optimized routes, sharing the efficiency gains.

Speaker 1 10:04

Right.

Speaker 2 10:05

AI efficiencies can also directly support work-life balance. There's a Canadian law firm that used AI integration to make a four-day workweek feasible.

Speaker 1 10:13

That's a tangible law firm that used AI integration to make a four-day workweek feasible.

Speaker 2 10:14

That's a tangible benefit, definitely, and organizations should think about using AI to treat everyone like a high-potential worker. Amazon has an AI culture coach giving personalized feedback to employees.

Speaker 1 10:24

Interesting Like a personal development tool.

Speaker 2 10:26

Exactly and critically. They need to cultivate those uniquely human capabilities collaboration, emotional intelligence. Usaa is focusing heavily on that.

Speaker 1 10:36

The things AI can't replicate.

Speaker 2 10:38

Precisely and foster two-way learning. Humans learn from AI, but AI also learns from human expertise, like at the Repsol refineries.

Speaker 1 10:46

Oh, it's a partnership.

Speaker 2 10:47

It has to be, and the report notes. Generative AI can boost performance by almost 40% when used right, but performance can decline by 19% if it's misused. So empowering workers to experiment, but within clear boundaries, that's really key.

Speaker 1 11:02

We just talked about AI reshaping roles and the EVP, but even as we look ahead, there's this really persistent, almost ancient problem. The report hit on the experience gap.

Speaker 2 11:14

Yeah, yes, that old chestnut that frustrating loop right. Yeah.

Speaker 1 11:18

Employers want experience, but you can't get a job without it. How bad is it right now?

Speaker 2 11:22

It's really pervasive and actually getting worse. The survey found two-thirds of recent hires aren't fully prepared.

Speaker 1 11:27

Two-thirds.

Speaker 2 11:28

Yeah, and lack of experience is the number one reason cited. Plus, 61% of employers have actually increased their experience requirements recently.

Speaker 1 11:35

So it's getting harder. What's the fix?

Speaker 2 11:37

Well, part of it is redefining experience. It shouldn't just mean time spent in a specific role. It should be about the ability to apply skills, knowledge and those crucial human capabilities Curiosity, eq in a real world context. Medtronic is a good example here.

Speaker 1 11:56

What do they do?

Speaker 2 11:57

They re-credentialed a whole bunch of roles, 65 of them, to focus on skills and these contextual pathways, rather than just demanding a specific degree. Now half their IT workers are in roles that don't require a degree at all.

Speaker 1 12:10

That opens up the talent pool significantly. Exactly. So why is it harder to get that first foot on the ladder, to gain experience today, especially for young people or career changers?

Speaker 2 12:21

There are a few factors at play. Like we said, AI is taking on more of those entry level kind of rote tasks.

Speaker 1 12:26

Removing the traditional starting points.

Speaker 2 12:28

Right and the old apprenticeship models have eroded, partly because of remote work, less shoulder-to-shoulder learning, Hadn't thought of that remote work impact. Yeah, and lean organizations often mean fewer people with the bandwidth to mentor newcomers.

Speaker 1 12:40

So what can companies do?

Speaker 2 12:42

They need to reevaluate sourcing things like paid internships, really looking again at apprenticeships, like they do well in Switzerland or the UK's new doctor apprenticeship.

Stagility: Creating Stability Amid Agility

Speaker 1 12:52

Bringing back apprenticeships.

Speaker 2 12:53

Maybe in new forms and for development. Focus on upskilling in context.

Speaker 1 12:58

Yeah.

Speaker 2 12:58

Create micro opportunities for people to practice judgment, maybe in safe digital sandboxes.

Speaker 1 13:04

Digital playgrounds. I like that.

Speaker 2 13:05

Yeah, and AI can help here too. Actually, it can harvest that tacit knowledge from experienced people or even act as an experienced veteran coach, like that Amazon AI coach again.

Speaker 1 13:17

OK, so AI can be part of the solution to the experience gap it partly creates.

Speaker 2 13:22

Potentially yes, if used thoughtfully.

Speaker 1 13:24

That's a critical shift in thinking about skills. Ok, finally, on this tech theme, the old way of justifying tech investments isn't cutting it anymore.

Speaker 2 13:32

No, it's not.

Speaker 1 13:33

It used to be about simple efficiency games right, A clear ROI. What's fundamentally changed? Why isn't that enough now?

Speaker 2 13:39

Well, the whole tech landscape has just exploded. We've gone from maybe a few core enterprise technologies to literally hundreds.

Speaker 1 13:46

Right, it's much more complex.

Speaker 2 13:48

And the focus has shifted from just automation to augmentation and even creating entirely new ways of working. So the value case now has to capture things like innovation, potential, human performance boosts well-being.

Speaker 1 14:01

Stuff that's much harder to put a number on.

Speaker 2 14:03

Exactly Much harder to quantify, and nearly three quarters 73 percent of executives admit they struggle to define the right metrics for these new tech investments.

Speaker 1 14:13

So they know they need it, but can't easily justify it. The old way Precisely.

Speaker 2 14:17

There is a Fortune 100 food and beverage company example. They used a faster, stronger, better framework for their digital hub. Looking beyond cost savings to things like creating slack for higher value work and improving the employee experience.

Speaker 1 14:31

OK so, broadening the definition of value for higher value work and improving the employee experience. Okay so, broadening the definition of value. But if traditional ROI isn't the main driver, how do organizations decide if a new tech investment is actually worthwhile, especially if the benefits are fuzzy?

Speaker 2 14:42

They need to shift their mindset, really Adopt more of an R&D-style portfolio approach.

Speaker 1 14:47

A portfolio like venture capital.

Speaker 2 14:49

Kind of. Instead of demanding a discrete ROI for every single investment, you assemble a portfolio. You expect some bets won't pay off, but the successful ones will more than cover the costs of the others.

Speaker 1 15:00

Okay, spreading the risk and reward.

Speaker 2 15:02

Exactly, and new governance is vital. You need a broad set of stakeholders involved, including workers themselves across different functions, not just leaving it to IT.

Speaker 1 15:12

Get the business involved.

Speaker 2 15:13

Yes, salesforce is doing this with low-code AI agents. They're built by business leaders, not just IT, aiming to create a more agile, future-ready workforce. It empowers the functions to drive the tech innovation they need.

Speaker 1 15:26

That makes sense.

Speaker 2 15:27

And ultimately, you have to remember that humans are integral to technology's promise. If a tech investment harms human sustainability, it's ultimately going to undermine its own value to the organization.

When Work Gets in the Way

Speaker 1 15:38

That portfolio approach is smart, changes the perspective. Okay, let's shift gears again. Let's talk organization and culture. We know hyper-personalization works for consumers, but what about at work? The report asks this great question what moves your people Tapping into motivation at the unit of one?

Speaker 2 15:57

Yeah, it's a crucial question because, while organizations might think their standard employee value proposition covers motivation, it's often too generic. Often yes.

Speaker 1 16:07

Yeah.

Speaker 2 16:07

Real performance, true engagement. It comes from understanding individuals at a really granular level, what the report calls the unit of one unit of one. Think about Jane. Maybe she's motivated by success and recognition and Ellen doing the same job, but she's motivated by purpose and meaning.

Speaker 1 16:24

Right Different drivers.

Speaker 2 16:25

Exactly A uniform one size fits all approach is going to fail both of them, even if they look similar on paper and the research shows this disconnect. 60% of workers want increased motivation.

Speaker 1 16:37

Okay.

Speaker 2 16:37

But only 33% feel their organization actually understands what drives them personally.

Speaker 1 16:43

Wow, that's a big gap between want and reality. So what does this unit of one idea mean in practice? Yeah, how do you responsibly collect that data and then act on it to genuinely boost motivation?

Speaker 2 16:55

It needs a multimodal approach to gathering that data and always responsibly with worker opt-in. That's critical.

Speaker 1 17:01

Okay, so what kinds of data?

Speaker 2 17:02

Things like passive observation, anonymized surveys, manager interviews, but then combining that with other individual insights skills, data, stated interests, maybe even personality traits Johnson Johnson has this whole person model they use.

Speaker 1 17:16

Building a richer picture.

Speaker 2 17:18

Right and then acting on. It involves hyper-personalization. The report suggests three main ways. One is manager driven, where managers get the insights and tailor their interactions. Unilever does this with future fit plans.

Speaker 1 17:32

Makes sense.

Speaker 2 17:33

Another is Modular, offering workers choices from a menu of options like Panasonic offering a four day work week option, orlando Lakes having flexible role components.

Speaker 1 17:42

Giving people agency.

Speaker 2 17:43

Exactly. And the third is tech driven using advanced tools. Swissport has an AI communication platform that delivers tailored content based on behavioral data. There's even stuff like neuro avatar tech or IHP analytics, tracking trader stress levels with wearables to optimize their environment.

Speaker 1 18:00

Really getting personalized. Okay, next up, something probably everyone dreads performance management.

Speaker 2 18:06

Ah, yes, the favorite topic.

Speaker 1 18:08

Right. Only 2% of CHROs think their system actually works and 72% of workers flat out don't trust it.

Speaker 2 18:15

Those numbers are damning.

Speaker 1 18:16

They really are. So, with stats like that, why are we still doing it this way? What's the real problem here and what does the report suggest instead?

Speaker 2 18:26

Well, the report argues, the real issue isn't performance management itself. Fundamentally, it's that we're expecting too much from the process.

Speaker 1 18:34

Expecting it to do everything.

Speaker 2 18:35

Exactly, it's just one piece of a much bigger puzzle. The real goal should be engineering human performance.

Speaker 1 18:42

Engineering, human performance. Okay, what does that mean?

Speaker 2 18:44

It means taking a holistic approach, looking beyond just the review process, to things like workplace design, talent management practices, the organizational culture, manager connections, the technology used, all of it.

Speaker 1 18:57

So the whole ecosystem around performance.

Speaker 2 19:00

Precisely Because traditional performance management it often fails. Two thirds of workers see reviews as a waste of time.

Speaker 1 19:06

Yeah, sounds familiar.

Speaker 2 19:07

It's incredibly time consuming, costs millions. Managers often give unclear feedback. Only 26 percent are seen as effective. Expectations aren't clear and measuring individual outcomes in team settings is really hard.

Speaker 1 19:21

OK, so if the old way is broken, how do we actually engineer human performance day to day? How do we make it effective, trustworthy and move beyond that dreaded annual review?

Speaker 2 19:32

Well, first, for performance management itself, you need to clearly define its purpose, maybe decouple development conversations from assessment and pay decisions.

Speaker 1 19:40

Separate things out.

Speaker 2 19:40

Yes, and design it for trust and fairness. Co-create the process with employees. Use evidence-based assessments. Rolls-royce did this, creating differentiated rewards based on clear criteria, and simplify the process. The Rolls-Royce did this, creating differentiated rewards based on clear criteria and simplify the process. The Rolls-Royce CEO dramatically simplified theirs. You can even use Gen AI now to help synthesize feedback. Make it more manageable.

Speaker 1 20:01

Use tech to help.

Speaker 2 20:02

Right, but then for engineering performance day to day. It's about building a human performance culture. Mclaren Racing is a great example. They explicitly link team welfare and psychological sard safety to the car's performance on the track.

Speaker 1 20:15

Interesting connection.

Speaker 2 20:16

It is. It's about improving manager and people connections. Standard Chartered invests heavily in manager development, Redesigning workforce practices. Roche created a learning system that cut the time to competency for new hires from 1.5 years down to 90 days.

Speaker 1 20:31

Wow, huge impact.

Speaker 2 20:33

MELANIE WARRICK, jr. Huge Using tech and data smartly, like real-time feedback tools or IHP analytics tracking stress, to improve trader revenue by 7% and cut attrition MARK.

Speaker 1 20:43

BLYTH JR Real results.

Speaker 2 20:44

MELANIE WARRICK JR. And finally, optimizing the physical workplace design. Google's Bayviewus is designed for serendipitous interactions and well-being. Even small things like a pharma company changing coffee machine placement to increase informal collaboration and sales.

Speaker 1 20:57

So it's really about tweaking the entire system.

Speaker 2 20:59

The whole system.

AI as a Co-worker: Hidden Impacts

Speaker 1 21:00

That's a much broader view. Okay, finally, let's wrap up with managers. With all this talk about AI, new organizational models, is there still value in having managers, or are we really heading towards that bossless future some people predict?

Speaker 2 21:15

It's a valid question and you see the unbossing trend in the data 42% fewer middle management jobs advertised recently. Gartner predicts 20% of worries will use AI to flatten structures by 2026.

Speaker 1 21:28

So the trend is real, it is.

Speaker 2 21:30

But the report argues that just getting rid of managers often leads to well shadow leaders popping up or new kinds of bureaucracies forming. It suggests a third path reinvention, not elimination.

Speaker 1 21:42

Reinvention OK. Why are they still crucial?

Speaker 2 21:44

Because managers are vital for developing, coaching, nurturing people, especially as skills half-life keep shrinking. They're also uniquely positioned to redesign work and optimize those human-machine interactions in the age of AI.

Speaker 1 21:57

The human element and the tech integration.

Speaker 2 21:59

Exactly, and they enable agility, strategic problem solving innovation within teams. You lose a lot of that connective tissue without them.

Speaker 1 22:07

So if managers are being reinvented, not eliminated, what's the single most important capability they need for tomorrow, and how can organizations actually support them in developing it?

Speaker 2 22:16

The report really zeroes in on one key capability judgment.

Speaker 1 22:20

Judgment.

Speaker 2 22:20

Yeah, the ability to make those difficult decisions when there's no clear playbook Combining organizational history, culture, context, empathy, imagination, all of that.

Speaker 1 22:32

That's not something you learn from a textbook.

Speaker 2 22:33

Definitely not. It requires practice, experience and support.

Speaker 1 22:38

So how can organizations provide that support?

Speaker 2 22:41

Well for developing people. They can use AI coaches, like Intel does, or VR for practicing tough conversations. For redesigning work with AI, managers need to be involved in redesigning their own roles first, and tools can democratize process redesign. For redesigning work with AI, managers need to be involved in redesigning their own roles first, and tools can democratize process redesign. Nasa used AI to design specialized parts in hours instead of months.

Speaker 1 23:00

And empowering them with tools.

Speaker 2 23:01

Right and for enabling agility and innovation. Research shows middle managers are critical 80% of transformation programs led by them succeed. We see examples like Michelin's Responsibilization pushing authority down, or Maersk using AI-driven insights to help managers prioritize strategic KPIs like schedule reliability.

Speaker 1 23:20

So investing in manager judgment and empowering them is key.

Speaker 2 23:23

Absolutely essential for the future.

Speaker 1 23:25

We have covered a lot of ground today.

Speaker 2 23:27

Wow.

Speaker 1 23:28

From that tricky balance of stagility to AI's hidden impacts, the stubborn experience gap and this essential reinvention of management. It really feels like the future of work isn't about picking a side in all these tensions we've discussed.

Speaker 2 23:43

No, definitely not.

Speaker 1 23:44

It's about finding that critical balance. Isn't it the one that honors both what people need and what the business needs to achieve?

Speaker 2 23:51

Indeed, I think the big takeaway from this deep dive, the overarching message, is that human performance, that cycle where business outcomes and human outcomes feed each other, that's the real differentiator going forward.

Speaker 1 24:03

The secret sauce.

Speaker 2 24:05

Kind of yeah, but it requires leaders to be really intentional, really proactive, making tough choices, yes, but also supporting their people and designing systems that don't just cope with change but actually embrace it and turn it.

Speaker 1 24:16

So, as you, our listener, reflect on your own company, your own career, maybe the question to ask is how can you lean into one of these tensions, not to choose a side, like we said, but maybe to find a more profound balance, one that unlocks both that human potential and business success?

Speaker 2 24:32

Well put.

Speaker 1 24:33

Because the future isn't just about adapting to whatever comes next. It really is about transforming all this uncertainty into well, into triumph.