Blog

Insights, updates, and thought leadership from our team

The Invisible Job Description: Why Alignment Is the Work No One Sees

In today’s workplace, alignment is everything, but it rarely happens on its own. Leaders spend their days connecting dots, clarifying priorities, and ensuring everyone’s moving in the same direction. It’s vital work, yet almost entirely invisible. The modern leader has become part strategist, part translator, part air-traffic controller, holding the organization together through sheer communication. But that constant coordination comes at a cost: attention, energy, and time that could be spent leading forward instead of keeping up. This article explores the hidden labor of leadership, the emotional and cognitive load of maintaining alignment, and how AI-facilitated systems like Quisdom are helping teams share that responsibility in real time.

By Jenna Ward • 10/28/2025

The Chatbot Trap: Why Companies Keep Mistaking Search for Intelligence

Every new AI product seems to start with chat. It’s the simplest way to look intelligent—but speed and access aren’t the same as understanding. This post explores why chat became the default AI experience, and what needs to change for AI to actually make teams smarter.

By Jenna Ward • 10/22/2025

From Telephone to TikTok: Why Good Communication Still Has to Be Learned

In a world where we can ping, post, or project across dozens of channels, communication has never been easier, but it’s also never been more fragile. Each generation enters the workplace with its own defaults for how to talk, how much to explain, and how fast to move. When these styles collide, we don’t just mishear one another, we miss opportunities, delay decisions, and lose clarity. At its core, good communication isn’t a tool you pick up, it’s a muscle you build. This article explores how our communication habits were shaped by the technologies we grew up with, and why mastering the tools still doesn’t mean we’ve learned how to truly communicate.

By Jenna Ward • 10/15/2025

Leading Through Change in a Hybrid World

This article looks at how hybrid work has reshaped what it means to lead teams through transition. It explores why traditional playbooks fall short when teams are distributed, and how AI is giving leaders new ways to read the room, keep people aligned, and move forward together.

By Jenna Ward • 10/6/2025

Getting the Best of Both Worlds: In-Person Depth and Digital Scale in Hybrid Work

This article explores how hybrid work challenges leaders to balance two seemingly opposite strengths: the depth of in-person conversations and the scale of digital communication. It examines why face-to-face dialogue produces richer insights, how digital platforms expand reach and inclusivity, and where AI can step in to bridge the gap—nudging, probing, and contextualizing to make online exchanges more like the best kitchen-counter chats. The piece highlights the risks of shallow documentation in the AI era and offers practical steps leaders can take to preserve depth, accuracy, and adaptability as conversations become both data and direction for the organization.

By Jenna Ward • 9/29/2025

Your Data, Your Future: Why Portability Is the Real Competitive Advantage in AI

This article unpacks the real source of competitive advantage in the AI era: data. While AI models are multiplying across every tool and workflow, their impact depends on the information they can access and share. The piece explores why portability matters, how connected datasets compound value, and what leaders can do to design open ecosystems that fuel smarter, faster, more resilient AI.

By Jenna Ward • 9/23/2025

The Art of the Conversation: Why Good Questions Matter More Than Ever at Work

This article discusses the key leadership skill that will matter a lot as AI takes on more of our day-to-day work: conversation. Too often, workplace dialogue stays at the surface, focused only on tasks and status. The piece explores why that’s a problem, the types of questions that unlock deeper insight, and how leaders can strengthen this skill, especially in remote and hybrid teams.

By Jenna Ward • 9/18/2025

Rise of the ‘Great Flattening’: Why Fewer Managers Could Mean Weaker Signals to Leadership

This post explores the hidden costs of the “Great Flattening”—the trend of companies reducing layers of management and expanding manager-to-employee ratios. While AI and productivity tools are filling gaps, the shift risks weaker signals, disengagement, and cultural drift. The article argues that AI should not replace human connection but instead help surface weak signals, strengthen communication, and preserve the feedback loops that keep organizations healthy.

By Jenna Ward • 9/18/2025

The Hidden Risk of Employee–AI Collaboration: Disengagement

This post examines the hidden risk of employee–AI collaboration: disengagement. As AI reduces everyday human interactions, teams face greater risks of loneliness, burnout, and missed signals—especially in remote and hybrid settings. The article shares real-world examples and offers practical strategies for leaders to re-humanize AI-enabled work, ensuring teams stay connected, engaged, and resilient.

By Jenna Ward • 9/17/2025